Hearing and Believing

               Growing up, I enjoyed hearing stories about my grandparents. Unlike most children who have many grandparents today, I only had one living grandmother, my mom’s mother.  My dad’s parents had died in their 40s, leaving him and his seven siblings to raise themselves. My mom’s dad passed away the year I was born.  However, I was born on the wedding anniversary of my mom’s parents so I always felt a special connection with my grandma. In fact, it was like an unexpected gift from my grandpa, and I think my grandma thought so, too. J

               Even though I never met my other grandparents, I felt drawn to them.  Listening to tales my parents and my grandmother shared about them as well as looking at pictures brought them to life for me.  As a child, I imagined what it would have been like to sit on their laps and feel their love.  I even picked out the brightest stars in the night sky and visualized my grandparents looking down at me from Heaven.  It might have been in a child’s imagination, but the cheery, sparkling stars somehow knitted them into my heart.

               Now, hearing stories about my grandparents whom I have not physically seen is like hearing/reading stories about Jesus whom I have not physically seen. Jesus lived on this earth; He told stories; He taught lessons; He loved us; He died for us; He conquered death for us.  We know these truths through God’s Holy Word.  And fortunately for me, through my parents’ and grandmother’s love for Jesus, I heard stories from the Bible as well as personal testimonies of His faithfulness.  Eventually, I read those spoken Bible stories on my own, but most importantly, I came to love Jesus as I did my grandparents, sight unseen.

                Even though we have not seen Jesus face to face, we who believe in Him have His blessing. As Jesus told Thomas in John 20:29, “Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”

               Let’s shout for joy and keep telling and sharing the stories of Jesus for some day we WILL see Him, full in His Glory!!

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1: 8-9 (NIV) 

A Message from the Closet

               In the latter part of the summer, we had our aged, wooden shingles replaced by colorful, blue metal. As a result of this project, the second floor of our vintage house was covered with dirt, probably the remains from the Dirty 30s!! J   Anyway, it was my task to literally clean every room from top to bottom, which included stuffed animals and precious knick-knacks still standing on shelves from when our kids still occupied the rooms. Well, I can tell ya; I didn’t relish the job.  BUT, at least I could take my time with no one using the rooms.

               Having successfully accomplished one room after many installments, I continued my efforts to clean our second daughter’s room. Once again, I didn’t get very far.  However, what did occur was an example of how God appears in ordinary, simple tasks.

               That morning before becoming involved in my upstairs project, I checked facebook. I had received a message from Cindi, one of my Christian sisters and prayer warrior, requesting prayer as she had planned to speak to her volleyball girls, whom she coaches, about some “drama” taking place amongst the team members. I responded that I would be praying and also messaged a few encouraging words for her specifically. After shutting down my laptop, I briefly spoke to God asking Him to give Cindi guidance and wisdom in this situation, and then I forced myself to return to my yucky task of cleaning the dirt-filled closet. 

               As I removed a plastic container from the top shelf, I noticed through the dirt layer on the lid that it had been marked, “Christian Material for Teens.”  My curiosity immediately engulfed me.  Many years ago when our children were involved in various youth groups as well as in Sunday school, I taught youth classes and led devotions at some of the group meetings.  Consequently, I had gathered books, workbooks, and other resource materials to help with my teaching efforts and then had carefully packed them away when that phase in my life had been completed. But today, of all days, I rediscovered the container.

               When I took off the lid, I was surprised to see how everything inside was still in good condition. However, the first item that caught my attention was a book on the Biblical David, a resource I had used in leading Beth Moore’s Bible study on King David.  I began thumbing through it and noticed a highlighted area referring to the friendship between David and Jonathan, King Saul’s son and heir to the throne.  Now this was where it got interesting because the passage was describing how these two men, both powerful in their own right, were not competing with each other but promoting one another.  Each one was looking out for the best interest of the other. Their friendship was a true, genuine commitment.

               As I read more, I realized that these words were what Cindi needed to hear before she spoke to her players. The idea of promoting, encouraging, and supporting each other as David and Jonathan did could be applied to the volleyball team.  I was excited and thrilled how God had provided insight in a most unforeseen way, in the chore of cleaning out a dirty ol’ closet. I contacted Cindi and gave her the book before her meeting.

               Later that evening, Cindi messaged me that the meeting went well, even better than expected. Along with an inspirational video and excerpts from the book, she said the girls were quiet and listened without interruption. She had felt God’s involvement through it all!!  What a blessing!!!

“Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!

Sing out the honor of His name;

Make His praise glorious.

Say to God,

‘How awesome are Your works!’” Psalm 66: 1-3a