As a part of a missions class, my daughter has to interview a missionary about their experiences. We just dug through the bookshelf to find some great biographies for her to read as well - about people like the "Jungle Doctor," Hudson Taylor, Isobel Kuhn, Amy Carmichael and Elisabeth Elliot. If you haven't read any of those biographies, I highly recommend them - those stories inspired me to be willing to go against the crowd, take big risks, do hard things and lay down my life for the cause of Christ. I love to read biographies and get a feel for what it was like for those people who lived each day for the Lord, especially the really hard days.
regardless, we have a story that we are passing on to our children and our grandchildren. This virus truly is a historic moment and we get to choose how we are going to handle and what will be remembered in history books about these days. What will our story be like?
About 10 years ago we were celebrating Christmas in the basement of our little house with my parents and 3 young kids crowded in around the tree. It was in the wee hours of the morning because the kids were young and woke us all up before the crack of dawn. We had opened a couple of gifts when suddenly the power went out and the basement went completely dark. Initially we thought we would just delay opening presents until it got lighter outside and then we tried to put up some candles but their light was pretty dim still. Eventually, we remembered we had gotten head lamps for the kids to use for outdoor exploring or reading in bed at night. So, there we sat, with head lamps strapped onto our bedhead over sleepy eyes in our pajamas and continued Christmas celebrations.
We had a few moments of stress - what about cooking Christmas dinner, what about our heat (totally electric)....was anyone from the electric company going to even be able to help us since it was Christmas morning? It seemed like it might ruin our Christmas - completely putting a damper on what was supposed to be the best day of the year.
But instead it turned out to be the most memorable Christmas we've ever had. We put our worries aside and found the joy in the moment. And thankfully we didn't have to worry about the heat or the dinner as the electricity was restored within a few hours. Our fun loving attitude made what could have been a crisis into the best Christmas ever. We laughed. We celebrated. We made a memory.
Years later the kids were recalling favorite Christmas gifts and no one could remember what they got for Christmas the year of the black out, but they all remembered it as their favorite Christmas ever.
What will your story be? Years from now when you recall this time of medical crisis, what will your family remember? What stories will we be passing on to the next generation about how we saw God in the midst of our trials and how we found joy despite challenging circumstances?
If I told you my story
You would hear Hope that wouldn't let go
And if I told you my story
You would hear Love that never gave up
And if I told you my story
You would hear Life, but it wasn't mine
If I should speak then let it be
Of the grace that is greater than all my sin
Of when justice was served and where mercy wins
Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story is to tell of Him
(Big Daddy Weave)
Day 11: Worked at School. We served over 370 families meals! Tony Evers called it #Saferathome and closed all non-essential business.
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