Today's Truth
"A wise woman strengthens her family, but a foolish woman destroys hers by what she does." Proverbs 14:1 (NCV)
Friend to Friend
Family means different things to different people. What is a family? A family is a group of persons with whom you are doing life. Family is where we learn about God then live out the very nature and character of God in relationships. Family is important to God. He created it before He created the church and, as with each of His creations, He made a plan for it to succeed. At the heart of that plan is love. To trust God with our family demands that we first love and trust God in our own lives then allow that love to spill over into our family.
What a crazy day it had been! It was a day probably like many of yours. I was a young mom with two small children. My husband was the youth pastor at a large church in town. I taught a weekly Bible study for senior high girls and directed a youth choir that practiced one night a week and sang for the early worship service every Sunday. We hosted a youth Bible study in our home every Monday night … and, well, you get the idea. My schedule was almost to the point of ridiculous, and I was exhausted most of the time. But this particular day had been crazier than most.
Both kids had a cold and were grumpy. The house was a mess, the laundry was piled high, and I had a meeting at church that night. I was counting the minutes until my husband came walking through the front door. I needed rescuing.
The phone rang. "Honey, I won't be able to make it home before church visitation tonight," Dan said. He sounded so tired that I could not muster up one ounce of anger. Instead, I shifted into overdrive. I snatched both kids off of the backyard swing, plopped them in the bathtub for a quick rinse and impatiently shoved little arms and legs into clean clothes while spooning food into little mouths before firmly depositing both kids in their car seats. Off we went to church for the third night in a row.
At a stop sign, I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw two miserably silent children, tears streaming down their sad little faces. I heard His voice, "Mary, what are you doing and who are you doing it for?" My heart broke. I suddenly realized that I was running the race of life for the wrong audience. Turning the car around, I headed home.
"Hey guys! Would you like to go home, put on your pajamas, make some cookies and watch a movie with me?" Cheers and clapping erupted from the back seat as tears gave way to smiling faces, and laughter and giggles filled the car and my heart. It has been over thirty years and I still remember that precious night of ministry. |
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