Thursday, July 30, 2015

Oh. . . whatever that means




Over this last year, my daughter has grown exponentially in her faith. 

She experienced the manifest presence of God during the loss of a child last summer. Her family surrounded her with love. Girlfriends came with love, flowers, food, hugs, and encouragement. It was the loveliest thing I’ve ever witnessed. She healed because of love.

Shortly afterwards she became pregnant again. The miscarriage had been hard on her, physically and emotionally. The new pregnancy began with her in a deep state of exhaustion. For months I saw her struggling to keep up with everyday chores and two small children. Again, her girlfriends reached out and helped.

At Thanksgiving my daughter wanted to give back some of the love she had received. She invited a young woman and her two children to spend the day with us since her husband was deployed, serving our country. What a day of blessings. The house was filled with wonderful aromas and children laughing.

As my daughter’s strength returned, she began ministering to women whose husbands were deployed. She cooked and delivered countless meals. Her house was often filled with extra children to give these women a few sacred hours to get away. For one young mom, my daughter kept her children every Monday for a couple of hours, and then had them stay for dinner that night.

With each month, I witnessed my daughter getting less fearful of another miscarriage and more excited and hopeful for a new baby. But her energy level did not recover. It was evident. As the pregnancy continued she slowed, but never stopped.

A month before her due date, her mother-in-law found out she had breast cancer. Through my daughter and son-in-law’s insistence, his mother and father came to them to seek surgery and care. While at their home the father-in-law got pneumonia and was hospitalized. Dana worked through her exhaustion and with the help of a sister-in-law  managed to offer a comfortable home and plenty of love during their illnesses. 

One morning my daughter got up and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. No water. After checking the other bathroom and kitchen, she realized something was wrong. She contacted the water department and within a couple of hours servicemen were at the door. A water line under the house had burst. The side yard flooded. And my daughter had a house full of company.

After a couple of hours, the serviceman knocked on the front door. “Everything’s fine.” 

My daughter stood at the door, two small children hanging from either side of her, her belly bulging, and offered him thanks.

Before he turned to leave, he pointed at her belly, and told her, “Good luck with the little one.”

Smiling my daughter offered her natural response, “It’s all in God’s hands!”

His response startled her. “Oh . . . whatever that means.”

More than anything, she watched his face sink and shoulders lower as he walked back to his truck.

At this point, I get a call and hear the details of the story.

“Mama, that really bothered me. He looked so sad.”

“You just planted a seed,” I said.

The lengthy pause begged an explanation. “You never know what someone is going through or where their life has taken them. When you raised the Almighty’s name to him, he reacted. We don’t know why, but you can pray you planted a seed that will plant deeper. We never know about seeds and the ground they fall on. We’re just supposed to plant.”

Planting seeds. 

Assisting a mom who has lost a baby. Reaching out with meals. Taking care of someone’s little ones to give them a break. Always remembering to give God the glory. It’s all seed planting.

I wonder where you will go today to plant seeds of faith.

God bless you!!!

1 comment:

  1. Beautiful! Dana is a younger version of her mother! You've taught her well by your example! ❤

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