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'I will make you a blessing'
Soon after they had bought the lot and drafted plans for our new home, my mother became pregnant with my youngest brother and my dad was laid off. Unsure but undaunted, they moved ahead with building our new home with the money they had saved. The money, however, was not nearly enough. We had to move into our new house when we had no windows. We propped up tables in the front and back doors to keep out whatever needed to be kept out. We used candlelight at night. Slowly, my parents made progress. My dad started his own contracting company. In time, there were windows and doors where earlier there were geometric holes. Things began to look up. One evening during those difficult days, my mother had prepared a stew with bones. I suppose there was a little meat on them, but they were mainly bones. While the meal was cooking on a wood fire out back, tended by my mother, a neighbor couple came to visit. Embarrassed by the meager meal that was to be our fare that evening, and unsettled by the timing of our neighbors’ visit, my mother chose not to invite them to share in our paltry dinner offering. Untended, the fire logs burned out. As the visit stretched longer than was expected, stray dogs came by and made themselves a feast of the warm meal that must have seemed so unusually accessible. When our neighbors finally left (no doubt after many silent prayers by my parents), Mother and Dad ventured out back to see if the stew—which by then must have been viewed as a feast—was still warm enough to be enjoyed. They found what was left of the pot’s contents strewn on the ground. There were no stores anywhere nearby in this newly-created neighborhood. That night, when my siblings and I finished whining, I watched my mother cry herself to sleep. Later, my mother would recount three important lessons she learned that evening: 1. Never stop being grateful for what you have (these, too, are the blessings of God). 2. Never be ashamed of what you have. 3. Always be willing to share, whether what you have is little or large. Soon after that evening, which is indelibly etched in my mind, two octogenarian women, Aunt Dodi and Aunt Vi, began to show up at our table every Sunday after church. As my parents trusted God to provide during those lean years, God was faithful to supply all that they needed, including, in time, a lovely finished home on whose table there was always enough for us and for those who came to visit with us. Those were difficult days for our family, but we learned important lessons, once the whining stopped and the tears dried. Today, I recall those lessons of my early childhood as we live through difficult times in our country and all around the world. Whatever the economic fortunes of the nation and the world, God is faithful and will supply our needs. We must share with others who may be in even more challenging circumstances. These lessons remind me of God’s promise to Abraham: “I will bless you … and I will make you a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). It took a while for Abraham to enter fully into God’s blessing, but in time God was faithful. God also called Abraham to “be a blessing,” to share with others what he enjoyed because of God’s faithfulness. Together, let’s continue to share God’s goodness through Jesus Christ with others whose situations are even more challenging, even more desperate than ours. If you have stories to share or lessons that you’ve learned during other difficult times in your life or in that of our country, please e-mail me at StanleyG@MennoniteMission.net. Thanks for your sharing. |
