God at Work -- Journal Entry #4

Life: an adventure, a journey with Jesus!
Wanted: A Positive Christian Influence in My Girls’ Lives

Another leg of the journey is complete! We have seen Jesus in new ways during the last 30 days. Today is 1/09/08. He orchestrates the paths we take, our steps. He does, if we let Him. We have many God stories to share. Let me share one with you.

Since many of you don’t know the makeup of our family, let me introduce you to the children. All adults at this time, praise the Lord! We are a blended family with 8 children; the oldest six belonging to Don, and the youngest two mine. We have an ‘adopted’ daughter who lives in Sweden. We call her our own because she lived with us as an exchange student over 25 years ago, won our heart and remains in contact with us regularly. As parents, 20 years ago we ‘left’ our children, the youngest being a freshman in college, and relocated many miles from where they all called home. As the years passed, they each married, and all but one, moved themselves into areas of the country a distance from the old homestead.

Being birth mother to the youngest two children, my heart was always aching to know that they would make the right choices in life and specifically that they would choose to stay close to the Lord Jesus Christ. As youngsters they had invited Jesus into their lives and through their teens they had eagerly participated in all the youth group activities including retreats, mission trips, and camp. As young adults they faced other decisions and made personal choices to which we no longer had any imput. I prayed (without ceasing!) that someone other than their parents (that would be me and Don!) would be able to impact their lives as they matured, developed new friends, and chose their path in life which was bound to have hills and valleys to conquer.

To those of you who know our family, you know that one has struggled with the fact that Christians are hypocrites. Well, we are. We say one thing and do another. We portray ourselves to being something we are not. We don’t lie, but we don’t tell the truth. We ‘love’ everyone, but in words more than actions. So, is it no surprise some get turned off to what we claim to be, Christians. There are good people, really good people in this world who live better lives than some who call themselves Christians. The difference? It’s knowing we are sinners and in need of Jesus Christ as Savior, asking Him to forgive us and to live within us.

The two girls have married, have children and have established their own friends and lifestyles. It is heartwarming to know that one has Christian neighbors and share fun times, homeschooling activities, and childcare with them. Just this past week we discovered the other one has a Christian friend who plays in pool tournaments with them, provides childcare on occasion and is ‘just there’ when needed. The timing of this ‘discovery’ is amazing! She has been a friend for years, but we didn’t know it. Having this neighborly and friendly influence in our girls’ lives is what gives us peace as we will be separated by miles. We know they have a special relationship with someone who also knows the Lord Jesus and that bond, as scripture says is “a friend sticketh closer than a brother”.

The ‘discovery’ was made after a newspaper article was read about us going to Peru by a young lady. She mentioned it to our daughter on line. I noticed the young lady’s comment and confirmed it was us, her friends’ parents, who were going to Peru. We chatted on line and learned that she attends a local church, went to missionary training school years earlier, and had friends who were missionaries in Peru. She shared their names with us, and lo and behold if it wasn’t the same couple who had called us from Peru less than a week earlier! We have never met them, but look forward to doing so. God is good. He has once again provided us with what we need – just in time. We needed assurance that our daughters would have Christian friends to turn to in our absence, and we now know that they do!

Once wanted, now received: a positive Christian influence in my girls’ lives. Thank you Lord