The Bible teaches that barriers to our success exist in our mind. Your abilities with God have no limit. You will do great things in your life. Your “Bamma” prayed this prayer over you as an infant every night, so grateful to God for the gift of our next family generation.
David defeated Goliath NOT because he fought well…
But because he believed well.
My mother in law wrote these words under a full quote of Psalm 139. She wrote them to my son when he was five, shortly before she lost her battle with cancer. I can barely type those words without being overcome with awe. Not tears. Awe. This was a person who knew the end was not only coming but imminent. There would be no last second medical heroics and no sudden news of a misdiagnosis.
So what did she do? She turned to her God. The same God who had not, for some reason, answered all her prayers to be healed, prayers that I’m sure were whispered to heaven with no selfish motives. She wanted to stay awhile longer. For her husband and her children, and most of all, for her beautiful grandson, who was born with Cerebral Palsy and was going up against a terrifying world with special needs. She wanted to be there, to help, love, kiss and counsel him through it all. But God said no.
So what did she do? She turned it all over to God. Again, I have to say…awe. It was a maturity of faith that a Jacob-like fellow like myself could not (and still cannot) grasp. I’m all about questioning God, debating God, wrestling God. To endure the pain and solitude of leaving this world in my fifties, before my youngest child has married and just five years after my first grandchild was born? Oh man. God knows me. I’m too weak for that. My faith is not there yet. There would be war. I would fall away.
But Carol WAS ready. It WAS her time. As I think of her this Christmas season I remember a woman who loved to put up her Nativity set, building and expanding on the display and characters and joy represented therein. I think of someone who lovingly chastised my obsessions with wealth, power and money. The woman who once told me I was a horrible multi-tasker (the nerve!) and who would quietly watch me with her daughter, to make sure that each day I was worthy of the gift God gave me in Maxime’s love. And I think of the woman who wanted Anthony to hear her voice whenever he was down.
So what did she do? She left a love note to her grandson that laid it all out under the canopy of scripture. Then she framed it. In a written testimony of faith, she turned his growth and well-being over to the God born in a manger under a bright star in a dark night sky. It was blind faith. It was naïve. It was pure and utter surrender. It was a Christmas worthy love.
And what did God do? Take a look at my son. You will find your answer there.
