What’s your story?

As we headed to a conference (work), I honestly didn’t want to go. Grief has a way of doing that to a person, doesn’t it?

We boarded the plane in Dallas. My heart longing just to stay behind this time. When I saw her, a little grandma with cute gray, bobbed hair and piercing blue eyes. She needed help lifting her suitcase into the overhead, and then she sat down beside me. She was having trouble removing her boarding pass from her phone, so I helped her. She, like us, was on her way to Michigan to visit family. But let me tell you what I learned.

She has just been to Cambridge, England and Paris, last week. She was part of a choir there with some of her church. But there was something else to her story…

This sweet spirited Grandma took an interest in the book I was reading about a life with Jesus. She said she was a fellow believer and Christ follower. As it turns out, she (Carol) and her husband were missionaries for 29 years in the Philippines. They were Bible translators and teachers. They came back stateside in 2013. Her spouse passed in 2020, from cancer and a stroke. Shortly before he passed,he regained feeling back into his numb, stroke ridden arm. He’s in heaven, she said. She wants to go back “home” to the Philippines. Truly humble, faithful, Jesus lover…but most of all obedient to the call.

Hidden, by today’s standards, but completely seen by God. All for His glory is her story.

What’s your story?

This morning Lake Superior looked like glass. This afternoon a storm came and turned the waters into waves crashing on the shoreline disrupting the black, coarse sand and rocks. A cold wind was blowing. As I sat on a rock, I thought again about Carol. Seven plus decades, faithful and followed the call of God. I imagined her as the rock, in the picture above, strong and sturdy, having built faith and endurance over the test of time and circumstances.

Chosen and called by God…

Being chosen and called by God isn’t easy. Being a true Christ follower isn’t easy.

With each wave that crashed today, I reflected on life. Trials,grief, hardship, and circumstances often plague us. We can’t move into the call, because we, like the small rocks and sand, are tossed about. We don’t learn how to endure and build strength. Most often, we give up, and allow the stormy waters take us out.

What if changed your story? Endured the trials, standing the solid foundation of the Rock. No longer being tossed to and fro. Learning to endure the heartache and circumstances. Learning to lean into Jesus and obeying the call, no matter where He takes us. But following Him, even when we are scared of the unknown. Maybe be like Carol…to obey the call…no matter where it takes us.

Will you be a Carol? What’s your story going to look it?

Wanting to be a Carol,

Veronica