Remember when you were little & there was some dispute over a coveted toy? The admonition was always, "Share nicely now." I remember saying it often enough when my kids were little. Seems like God is still saying it to me.
Liddy came home for the weekend ~ theoretically it was for her birthday weekend, for which she will be in Tamworth. Ha! She slept here but I don't think she ate a single meal under her own roof. We saw almost nothing of her. There was a long long list of people who wanted to catch up with her: people she needed to see, people who wanted to see her, people she was obligated to see...even on the boats people drifted over to chat with her. Poor old Star got home & must have felt rather abandoned.
And doesn't the flesh want to scream, "What about ME?!" We are learning anew how to share because that's how it is. She's not just ours anymore ~ not that she ever was really but despite the bumpety old road the road to the mission field is proving to be it is still definitely the God~led path Liddy is travelling & certain things come with the territory. There are networking obligations with the church. There are people whom Liddy has been mentoring & people who are mentoring her. I'm exhausted & I'm not the one doing all the socializing. Her net is cast wide & lots of people are snared in it but this is the prayer base that will undergird everything she does & as necessary as the air she breathes. This too is what is meant by being part of the body of Christ: of letting go, of giving up, of the Lordship of Christ.
Liddy is sensitive to all this ~ one reason for Star's visit on the farm, but it is a delicate balancing act & almost impossible to keep everyone happy. There always seems to be one disgruntled friend who expects more than Liddy can reasonably give. So my prayer is that I am never an impediment ~ only a help & an encouragement & happy with the scraps that fall from the Lord's table. Loving & letting go 101 is not for God's wooses ~ & I have a nasty, sneaking suspicion it does not get any easier further down the track, just more of the same. Much, much more!
11 comments:
awww! I know what you mean! my mum and step dad are missionaries in India and yes it's difficult for us as we don't see them for three quarters of the year and I feel for Rebekah missing out on her grandparents but that is the price one needs to pay I guess!
Been there, still learning to live by my own principles: giving them Roots and Wings!
Yes, I understand this too...
I remember when my Nathan was 16 and off to the Philippines on a missions trip. I felt the Lord tell me then, to release the grip and let him go. I cried but was proud of him at the same time.
I have some years before I will face this, but I can empathize as the Princess grows into her independency.
Being the eldest, I know my parents had all these experiences. They found it very hard to let go.
I'm sure I'll be wearing the same shoes in time.
I think there's another rif running, which is that when she is tired, when she needs a bolt-hole, and when things go wrong, you will be the person she comes home to, which is a privilege.
I also think it may be she doesn't realise how much you would like to have some special time with her, and that it might be reasonable, and good for both you and her, to schedule in one sacrosanct evening when either you go out for a meal, or stay home with the door locked and all phones switched off or unplugged.
It is good for Liddy to value the people who love and cherish her, and to ask that one small thing of her, even if she is very busy; otherwise you will be encouraging her into the pitfall most ministers of the Gospel fall into, of neglecting the people closest to them, which is never what God had in mind.
God bless you for being such a wonderful and supportive mother to your children.
I know what it is like not to be noticed, being the youngest sometime I would feel that no one was interested in me because I was as interesting as my older siblings. I does change as we all get older.
Oh, well. It was a nice theory, though...
I can relate well to this post. Everyone I share blood with and call family other than the people who live in the same house with me are across oceans and in other continents.
We ran ourselves ragged trying to visit everyone and all the time having regrets about not spending time with siblings and parents during short visits to our native country. So my brilliant husband hit upon a rather desperate solution. A gathering one day for all extended family and friends. Catered dinner. Enough time for people to respond. We composed a letter, wrote it by hand and sent it to a lot of people and waited. There was a lot of handwringing on my part. Was it impolite, selfish ? But surprisingly, everyone understood. And we had a lovely time. It has grown into a time of visiting, fellowship, prayer and new friendships and socializing among people who would have otherwise never met.
So if I may be so bold, maybe you can host something for your daughter if there is enough notice where people can come to meet her instead of her going to meet them individually. Does not have to be elaborate. Who knows the type of bonds and relationships that could come out of people who know her, but have never met each other ? This way, you can still have her most of the time, yet share her with the world :)
I have trouble sharing my husband with the kids, and my eldest with his then girlfriend. I hope I can share more nicely.
You have a lovely blog here, Ganeida! My oldest is 14 and is fast becoming a young lady. I pray I will be as brave as you are in letting her go when God wants me to!
Have a blessed evening!
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