I read an article this afternoon about a Pennsylvania woman who went missing in 2002 and was now found in Florida. According to the article by MSN.com she had two young children at the time ages 8 and 12 and was going through an ‘amicable’ divorce. She dropped her kids off, left dinner defrosting on the kitchen counter, laundry half done and picked up with a group of homeless people hitchhiking to Florida. The article doesn’t say this but in my imagination I see this woman who is going through a pretty devastating time, uncertain of what her future holds, the thought of being a single mother daunting, and who knows what other skeletons in the closet haunting her days and suddenly she gave up.
Like that. “Snap!” Gave up. Now, 11 years later something moved inside of her to turn herself in and face the life she was dealt and created.
Not too much later after reading this article I had the blessing of being called to a home to minister to a young woman who had recently gone through a very traumatic sexual assault a few days prior. Thankfully this young woman used text to reach out to a friend and through this was given a ‘voice’. Parents were told, police called, it was reported, documented, etc and now she is going through the very normal reaction of wanting to shut it out and live a day that is normal. What I found interesting is that is exactly what she needs, to go and do what is ‘normal’ because there is a long road ahead of having to embrace the fact that this really happened. She had already ‘dug deep’ gave everything to the authorities, retold and retold and now she deserves a moment to walk away from it and be young again. It was the mother that needed the ministering.
I obviously won’t go into the specifics but what made me correlate the story I read earlier was witnessing mother facing a very devastating, and in many ways, life altering experience and how she seemed to be at a loss. It is a precarious time when the situation can seem overwhelming and suffocating so that you are struggling to keep the tip of your nose out of the water in order to breathe. I prayed as the mother spoke and I leaned in doing the best I could to tell this spiritual mother that this was her time to dig deep within and be her daughter’s voice when she was too wary, to fight for her and show her she is protected and secure that even though she’d been through her own struggles in her past now is the time to trust in the strength God gives.
Before me the mother transformed. A light turned on inside and I could see confidence zip up her back as she sat up straighter. “You are right. You are so right,” she said. It’s not me that’s ‘right’…it’s the simple acceptance of the empowerment God gives us daily. She just needed reminding. 😉
You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. ~ Anonymous
Every single one of us has what it takes to ‘dig deeper’ and push through. There are those rare moments in my life, especially when I was a young mom going through some difficult times that I thought a time or two “What if I just walked away?” By the grace of God something or someone always reminded me to push through and carry on to a brighter tomorrow.
We will all have that opportunity to encounter both sides – the one in need or the encourager. If you are not feeling ‘in need’ right now then think about who might you need to encourage?
Blessings
Shannon