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God surprised me, in many ways, at many times, in my life.
Originally, at a young age, I assumed I would have several children. Because I was "raising" my five sisters, I had no idea it would be any different for my whole life, being always in that overly responsible realm. It was the way our families had been operating generationally. So no options. Period.
When I married, at 23, having come to the Lord about 2-1/2 years earlier, I assumed the same. My thought: Of course, the Lord would want me to have a few children now that I belong to Him and will learn how to be a good Christian mom.
And then something... actually SEVERAL things ... occurred. One: miscarriages and some dangerous physical damage connected to them. Doctors were worried, and since they were at Stanford University and treating me as a "test" person, that should be an indicator that it was pretty serious.
Two: my marriage was bad, to say the least, and I was impoverished, hardly able to feed my kids, let alone provide anything else.
When I read these verses in Isaiah 54, clear back then, in the early '70s, I was always filled with delight. The reason: the promise of the Lord that my two children would come to him. I relied on those verses ... still do.
What is Fresh? When I open the doors of my tent, while spreading further, the breezes rush through, fresh breezes. Over and over again I spread it out, lengthen my cords, strengthen my stakes. And every time the tent is spread further, breezes enter.
The reason for the expansion? More and more children... not only physical children ... but, as Isaiah's verse says in the Amplified, "spiritual" children.
During the past 40 years, young people and single parents and, now, not-so-young folks, are in my life. Various locations. Mostly in Omaha and Uganda from May, 1974 until May, 2009.
Now, life has, again, expanded. I have a pile of Bhutanese "kids"... from infancy to the 50s. Some arrived as Christians from Nepal, and a few are in my "tent". Others arrived as Buddhists or Hindus and are "seeing" Him and "hearing" His call frequently. Consequently, I never know when the tent needs to be readjusted, but my goal is to be prepared, have the cords and stakes ready for the expansion.
The "tent" life is filled with fresh wind, blowing out the sin that invades hearts and minds and spirits.
My life is blowing forth with a strong and intense desire for the freshness of our Lord to draw others closer to Him inside the "spiritual" tent that He has provided.
3 comments:
I enjoyed your post and being ready to enlarge your tent if need be. The gentle fresh breeze flowing through your tent blowing out the dust and sin is expressive. God is moving by his Spirit and life is always fresh every morning!
Do you remember the dream I had about you the year you and Jill were here the first [?] time? You were in a large ark and the essence of the dream was that your family would be enlarged and you would provide an ark of safety for them. The Lord's time frame isn't always our own.
This is wonderful, jo!
I wanted a third child, but pre-melanoma nixed that. Now every year, I get third child--usually a girl, but sometimes a boy. Right now, I have two girls--the one has been coming to me for 3 years.
"The Lord works in mysterious ways. . ." He does indeed!:>)
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