I love my family. :) We have 3 nieces and 2 nephews serving missions for our church right now, and they are such amazing examples to me and to my children. This week, my niece Ashley Stewart (currently at the Missionary Training Center, soon leaving to serve in South Korea) wrote home and shared what will be remembered in my family as the Parable of the Rowboat. :) After devotional, in our district review our district leader asked us to think of experiences where we discovered, embraced or shared the gift of Jesus Christ and His atonement. I had nothing when suddenly a memory popped into my head. My immediate family was at the cabin. It was very cold and windy so no one was really playing in the water. However, 12 or so year old Ashley thought that rowing around in a rowboat would be a grand adventure. So I rowed a short distance and decided to head back to the dock as it was getting colder and more windy. But at this point, the winds and waves were working against me. As hard as I tried I could not physically get back to the dock, in fact I was being pushed farther and farther away. I started to get a bit panicky. I was saved by a wonderful older brother who upon seeing my plight, jumped into the cold water,swam to me and using his much more impressive strength, rowed me to the dock. Sometimes in life we are doing fine, just rowing a long. But inevitably, the winds and waves ( in my case native Koreans and feelings of loneliness) come along and as hard as we try and struggle, our strength simply isnt enough. But through the grace of God, we have an Older Brother who loves us enough to overcome the winds and waves to help us make it home. This experience being brought to my mind and connecting it to my current situation was a tender mercy and a reminder of Gods love. For God so loved the world that he gave His only Begotten Son. when were feeling alone, overwhelmed or unloved, remember Gods gift of eternal, infinite love, His Son. When we truly come to understand that gift, its the most love well ever feel. If I were doing this alone, Id have every right to feel overwhelmed! But none of us have to be alone. When we reach out, Christ reaches our reaching and we can do all things. I was so grateful for that reminder this week.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 03:22:42 +0000
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