A Lesson In Endurance
For what seems like a long time now, I've been living away from my family.
That's right, these ridiculous people whom I love. :) <-------------->It's been three years since I have been a permanent resident of my parents' home, and this will be the first year that the IRS recognizes me as independent from them.
Today, I got to wrangle fiberglass insulation into the south wall of my house. The most vibrant memory I have of this deceptively-not-cotton-candy stuff is when once I played groundhog and burrowed my way into a large mound of rolls of the stuff. You get the picture. This is something I may never forget. I was wearing a red sweatshirt.
Anyway, this summer I've gotten to do a lot of really amazing things! Adult things, and some childish/childlike things. :) |
| Boysenberry jam and a goofball |
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| Gaming is code for playing pretend! |
We have spent much of it giggling, adventuring, crying, accidentally burning appendages whilst cooking, and praying together.
(There may or may not have been a midnight zucchini bread making adventure.......)
I got a job with the city, working with kids who are never out of the public school system.
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| The manicure of a children's worker! |
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| The look of someone who has just been crowned a dunce! |
These kids are 97% (at least) unsaved and know nothing about Jesus.
Added to that is the fact that I was the only Believer on our staff team.
Ms. C was/is the person of interest here.
I maintained two jobs with ladies who live up in Redding, helping with meal prep and the like.
Ms. A is 75, has lyme disease, a heart condition, and a history of deep fascination for finding truth within one's own self. She has expressed a belief that all roads lead to heaven.
Ms. B is in her mid-sixties, has lyme disease, an auto-immune disease, and a worldview which requires a pastor/sermon to give her an emotional high or reaction in order for it to be Spirit-filled. She isn't sure whether she believes that Jesus is God.
Ms. C is in her early sixties, lost a child years ago, doesn't believe in hell, is bitter toward and untrusting of most of the world, and believes that all roads go to heaven.
All three of these ladies have told me that they were "saved & baptized" in their late teens.Ms. A occasionally speaks with me about spiritual things, Ms. B nearly constantly does, and Ms. C comes and goes, when she's feeling confident or antagonizing.
I do not know exactly the position each of these women hold before the King, but it seems likely that they are respectively either non-believers or very immature believers.
This is an experience I've not had before. It has indeed been exhilarating, terrifying, and staggering at times. Most of the time I just keep my mouth shut and listen and pray as they explain their unbiblical beliefs to me. Much of the time I'm not sure exactly how to pray.
In my devotions last week I focused on the grace of God. How comforting it is to know that His grace has covered over my sins! Praise be to our Father and to Jesus Christ! And yet how heartbreaking that these women may not have received that perfect gift! Even so, His power to save is not diminished.
I do pray, that I will remember continually how great a gift was given for me on Golgotha, and that these sometimes difficult women will come to a full understanding of their lowliness, and yet His love for them and power to save.
Much more has happened! See the next post! :)
Blessings to you!
