I've been at another low spot. Some of it is simply being the mother of three kids under 6. Motherhood is hard, no matter what time or place you live. But it's compounded by living in a place where we don't have family, where the language, food, culture, transportation, tacka tacka tacka (blah blah blah in Spanish. Yeah, there is a translation for blah blah blah!) are all different.
The night before Easter was bad folks. Like as in I told my husband I was this close to driving to the airport and getting on a plane bad. Some of it was sleep deprivation, our youngest at almost 10 months old still isn't sleeping through the night. Some of it hormones, but a lot of it was real weariness.
Things looked better in the morning (sorta) and off we went to church. That morning our pastor talked about the Resurrection and the part that hit me like a ton of bricks was when he said, "Mary Magdalen didn't realize Jesus was standing right behind her. She was too worked up about the fact that his body was gone. And maybe that's you. God is right there next to you, you may not see Him, but He is." Hummmm.
The next day I talked with a friend who is on her way to Spain. She told me something similar, "Liz, God is fighting for you. You may not feel it, but He is." Hummmm.
Later that day, this verse popped into my head.
To put this verse in context, this is what Moses told the Hebrews when Pharaoh's army was barreling down on them after they left Egypt. I love how real the Bible words it all. Here it is, from Exodus 14:
"They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”Ha!! I love the part, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you brought us out here to DIE?!" Mooosseessssss!!" Yeah, I can just imagine the whining and weeping and gnashing of teeth. And terror, really, pure terror of the entire Egyptian army coming after them.
And this is Moses' response:
13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Man. So the story goes on and you know how God parted the Red Sea, allowing all the Hebrews through and then the Egyptians went down into the path between the waters. At this point the Bible says God " brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion." Their wheels got all wonky, they couldn't drive their chariots correctly, all sorts of crazy things. And get this!! This is what the Egyptians said:
“Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”
Yep, the Egyptians even saw it. The Lord was fighting for the Hebrews. Wow.
Ok, so I know I am not one of the Hebrews, but God is fighting for His kids. So God was working this all out in me, and last Wednesday we got an email from a supporter. They asked how things were and if my parents had been able to visit yet. They haven't, and because of money, we really didn't know when they were going to come. I have a brother in college right now, and a sister in high school, and well, money is just tight. But these supporters emailed back and said, "We want to provide two tickets for your parents to come visit, sometime at the end of April or beginning of May."
Ummm, WHAT?! The Lord is fighting for us. We only need to be still. We had been praying about this for so long, our middle son has been struggling with missing these particular grandparents terribly, and we had no idea how this was going to happen. In fact, my mom had been praying that they could come visit by June. How's that for a specific answer?
So, in just about 17 days, both my parents are coming. My dad can stay for 9 days, and my mom will stay 18 in total! My littlest sister will stay with my other sister and her husband and well, God has worked all the details out, He's been fighting for me, even though I haven't felt it because I was too worked up about the fact that things were so hard. I am grateful He is and absolutely over the moon about the fact my parents will be here so soon!
What area do you need the Lord to fight for you? How can we pray for you?
What a great story, and such a great reminder of how much God really cares about us, His kids! I'm sorry that you are in a low spot. I have been there so many times myself...my blog is full of whine-fests. But I've been in Central America for 3 1/2 years and finally feeling really good about it! Someday if I make it down to Costa Rica, I will take you out for a cup of coffee and we can vent about it! I hope you have an awesome time with your parents, and hopefully you can get some rest while they are there!
ReplyDeleteYes, Danielle!! If you ever get here, do please, we'll grab some great coffee and talk life!!
DeleteWow, Liz! What an incredible answer to prayer. I hope the visit with your parents cheers and strengthens you. I've been in that "I-hate-it-here-and-I'm-driving-to-the-airport-to-get-out-NOW" mood many times in 12 years. I just ride it out and usually feel better in a day or two. (Or a week or two!!) I remember the first time when I'd been here six months and the honeymoon was OVER! I cried 12 hours! But I'm still here, and mostly happy most days. Blessings to you.
ReplyDeletethanks OliveTree! It's funny how things come and go isn't it!
DeleteOh, Liz, your post brought tears to my eyes! First, I can totally relate to that get-me-outta-here-now feeling. I've had several of those lately! So, thank you for your reminder from Scripture of how the Lord fights for us! Also, what an incredible answer to prayer!! Praise God for His provision and direct answer. It will be so great to have your parents come down and see your life there. Finally, do not lose heart with regards to raising small boys! Having 3 boys is a wonderful honor yet very physically demanding, especially at their ages. I know you've probably heard it before, but the time goes so quickly - before you know it you'll be wondering when your babies grew up. Mine aren't exactly grown up, but now that my youngest is 5, their independence makes the day to day quite a bit less tiring. Ask the Lord to help you enjoy every moment of these tender years - you are doing the absolute most important thing right now - ministering to and sharing Jesus with the boys that He has entrusted you with. We're hoping to make it down to Costa Rica one of these days, too, so if we do, I'll be sure to look you up!
ReplyDeleteJennifer!! Good to see you over here! And yes, you need to tell us when you get here...we've had a long relationship soley on the internet!! I was just picking up cars the other day and ran across one of the ones that you guys sent just before we left for language school! And thanks for the encouragement!
Deletei wish i had a buck for every time i told my husband (when he's asked what he could do to help) to buy me a ticket home... NOW! if i did (have that buck) i wouldn't need anyone to buy me a ticket! but like olive mentioned above, it usually does get better again - and that's usually because God opens my eyes and shows Himself fighting for me - whether it is a visit from mom and dad, a package from home, a breakthrough in ministry, or just a funny thing that one of my kids says that refreshes my perspective.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing your reality... praying for you!