Friday afternoon found us trying to enjoy a local pool while the rain poured from the sky. It was a friend's birthday party and even though there was rain, the swimming must go on. :) As I sat under a shelter and watched the kids swim, my mind went back to a time when every rain brought terror to my heart. Conrad has worked hard and fixed the problem so now our house is so much better and rain doesn't bring terror anymore. Now I can enjoy the rain.
The kids were just talking about the this story the other night again. Now two years later it's fun to see that it's a family memory that we still talk about. Not the horribleness of it but the adventure it was. So I decided to share what I wrote as a reflection just days after the experience happened.
In the darkness of
my children’s bedroom with only the flicker of a candle showing my way, I am
kneeling in 1 inch water. Water, that has
just poured down their wall like a persistent waterfall. A waterfall, I was helpless to stop. I hear in the next room, my husband doing
battle with his own “lake” of a couple of inches of water on the floor. As I once again take the towel and wring it
out into the bucket, sweat drips into my eyes.
My heart is crying out to God, really, really is this what you have for
me? Couldn’t you have come up with
something just a little easier or a little better? Couldn’t you at least just turn the electric
back on so I could use my wet vac for the job?
God, I just can’t do it anymore? God,
I’m tired, can’t I just quit.
My 8 year old girl
and 6 year old boy are right beside me with their hand towels, soaking the
towel and then wringing out the water into the bucket. They are working so hard and are tired just
like me. I have to put on a brave face
and figure out how to make this an adventure, an experience that in the future
we could talk about and laugh about. But
in that moment, I wanted nothing more than to climb on to the next plane going
away from here.
Over an hour later
and over 40 gallons of water hauled out two rooms, the floors in the room are
now at a place where we could all get some rest. The kids climb back into bed, after getting a
treat of chocolate milk and a little time of playing on Daddy’s ipad, and
quickly drift off to slumber land. There
was no talking from them as they waited to go to sleep, just silence. Conrad and I sit on the couch hoping the
electric will return so we could get at least a little of peaceful sleep and a
short break from the sweltering heat. I
happen to glace over my shoulder and notice that a locally made wooden
candlestick holder seems to be burning oddly bright. Upon inspection, I realized that the candle holder
itself was starting on fire and now I have a wooden candle burning happily on
my wooden table. This time I grabbed
water and thanked God for it.
This experience from
a couple nights ago has been going around and around in my brain. What is God trying to teach me? I know my heavenly father well enough to know
that there is always a bigger purpose in the challenges we face. I also know that He will continue to teach us
if we don’t learn what we were suppose too and this one I wanted to learn right
away.
I find it fascinating
that the very thing that just a short time before was making my life miserable,
water. Was the very thing that God had
available to use when the wooden candlestick started to turn into a wooden
candle. And at the time I was feeling
the lowest, He gently reminded me of the imprints my response would leave on my
kids. But God what is the lesson, what
is the big picture, my heart cries.
As I think back on the time of cleaning water in a candle
light room with my two oldest kids, I see a family working together for a
goal. A goal of making something better
than it was, we had purpose. Then it
hits me, isn’t that what Christ calls us too.
Christ calls his family, the church, to work together for a common
purpose. A purpose of touching whoever we
come in contact with and impacting them for Christ.
Life has challenges and living in a developing country were water to
drink, electric, and a dry house are not a given, He still calls us to make
Godly impact on others. I see his hand
of protection, his provision, and his strength to face the challenge. But more than that, I see him gently looking
on and say “I know you’re tired, but there is a purpose in what you are
doing. Keep going, it will make a
difference. Keep loving others and
making a impact for Me on their lives.” Suddenly in my memory, the room isn’t as
hot, my knees don’t hurt as much, and I’m not quite as tired. Why?
Because Jesus showed up, gave me the strength to keep going, and made it
a family adventure.
I know now
without a shadow of a doubt that even if that plane would have come to my front
door, I wouldn’t have boarded, because Jesus was giving me what I needed to survive. We all have challenges, but I now have a
better understanding of how Jesus can take the “water of frustration” and turn
it into something good “protection from fire”.
Jesus can take the heat, exhaustion, and temptation to quit and make it
an amazing “family” memory of making it through on His strength. Because this life is not about what I have
accomplished but what the family of God has accomplished together. It’s about the “family memories” that we have
when we can see how Jesus showed up. So
whatever you face today, may you make an imprint for Jesus. May you find water for your soul. May your find strength to carry on. May you be part of the “family memory” that
Jesus has for you.
