Last time, you read how the story of my dad and the story of my time in Malealea Village collided. But this week, I want to show you the other side of the story, the side that is a little less front and center but equally as important.
While my dad’s story can, at times, be front and center with his heroic acts, my mom’s story can more easily fly under the radar.
I don’t remember how old I was when my mom decided that there needed to be a youth group at our church. At the time, it was just a handful of my cousins and I, and I didn’t realize how important and influential that youth group would be. It was all because my mom was faithful and obedient to the Lord’s calling on her life.
While we (me and the cousins) quickly named the youth group, “The Bible Bunch,” and we, more often than not, resembled The Brady Bunch, the time I spent in that youth group would become very important in my walk with Jesus.
While it was always my mom’s hope that every kid who walked through those doors, including myself, would come through on the other side a strong and faithful Christian, that wasn’t always the case. And often, it brought just as much heartbreak as it did rejoicing.
And though heartbreak came, she kept at it.
When I think about just how important my mom’s role is at our church, the thing that sticks out the most to me is her faithfulness. When the church wasn’t as healthy as could be, she kept being faithful. When the kids didn’t show up faithfully, my mom was still there. When situations were at their worst in the lives of some of our youth, my mom would pray the most heartfelt prayers over them. She picked them up and brought them to church when no one else would. It was her faithfulness that was always front and center to me.
But out of it all, I just cannot shake the sound of my mother praying. I have been blessed to be on the receiving end of her prayers for over 23 years now.
When she and dad joined me in Romania, we each played a part in the ministry there. While my dad did the medical things, my mom and I, along with our translator, Veronica, counseled with men and women who came to get reading glasses. As we shared the Gospel with these men and women it was the sweet prayers of my mother that filled my spirit with joy. She speaks to Him so sweetly and tenderly. I cannot possibly count the times that I’ve heard my mother pray these sweet prayers.
Her faithfulness was not of herself, but out of a strong faith in who God is. She always knew when I was about to do something wild with Jesus. “He just has a way of preparing this mama’s heart,” she would always tell me after I informed her of my newest adventures. And while it wasn’t (and still isn’t) easy to let her only child walk out the door, she still lets me go because she knows who our God is. And she trusts Him deeply.
I know you are probably wondering how this relates to the story that I shared with you last week. You know, the story of Tebong and his grandmother.
In our visits with that family on the side of the mountain, we experienced faith like no other. I told you that the grandmother had such a strong faith in who God is that she declared that her grandson had already been healed even though we couldn’t see it with our own eyes. And maybe the reason she had such faith was because she had experienced that healing too.
The day that we first met this family, we asked her how we could pray for her.
“I have bad pain in my waist and in my right arm. It makes it hard to take care of Tebong and do the things I need to do.”
We gathered around her and everyone looked at me to pray.
As I prayed for her I could just feel something different. There was a part of me that knew this was working.
“Jesus, I believe, but help my unbelief.”
We said our see ya laters, because we knew we would be back to check on Tebong’s foot throughout the week.
The next day as we topped the hill to get to Tebong and his grandmother’s house, we were greeted with dancing and shaking. We asked the grandmother how she was doing, and she said that after we prayed for her she experienced no more pain.
She was healed! Praise the Lord!
The faith that this woman had was unreal.
The Lord didn’t have to have Cassie and I meet this family and spend time with them and pray healing over them, but He chose us to.
We are all given this invitation to play a part in His story.
I am thankful to have the opportunity to go.
Thankful to have a mother who prayed sweet prayers over me throughout the years.
Thankful that our God is a God who hears our prayers.
When we say yes to Jesus, we get to do wild things.
When we say yes to Jesus, our faith deepens and our trust grows.
When we say yes to Jesus, we get to see Him do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine.
Until next time,
Shelby
