14 | July | 2011 | Thoughts of Grace

Keep Faith Fresh — Have faith in God.

Mark 11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

Several years ago in October our middle daughter of five children, at 18 years and 3 months old, decided to leave home. We had some issues, but hadn’t had discussions because I didn’t know how to talk with my children. (I was raised, as most in my generation, that children were not explained to and or encouraged to express their opinions, we were expected to be quiet and obedient, and I was. ) She had finished high school, didn’t have a job, and her only transportation was a bike. She left to live with an old neighbor who had listened to her.

She told us she was leaving, still with little words, she didn’t expect us to listen. I don’t know how she felt.

I felt like everything I had taught her was being rejected, all the good, all the morals, all the teachings of Christ. At this time I didn’t feel personally rejected, that would come later. I felt betrayed by the neighbor. I felt crushed and empty. I couldn’t even stay the day she moved her things out, I couldn’t watch her go.

Day after day I cried. I questioned. I felt so empty, such a huge gaping hole in our home, …in my heart. I tried to look for solace and comfort from my husband but he was hurting, too. I couldn’t talk to family, I felt like a failure and was so ashamed of the failing. I went to church, I prayed but as some have said, heaven seemed like brass,

Then one night, listening to the song, Yesterday, sung by a gospel group (I don’t even know which one) the Lord spoke to me: you aren’t in control, you can’t make things stay the same or change any thing, other people will change and there is only One who will never, never change.

It was there I found comfort. It was then I could picture those huge hands that hold the world, empty of the world, but waiting for me to place my daughter into those Hands. She looked so very small. She looked so safe.

Yesterday by George Younce
(Chorus)
Yesterday things were different, Today they’re different again
Jesus will never change, Jesus is always the same

1. The sparrow will find a new dwelling, The eagle will change its nest
But I’m holding on the changeless One, And I’m leaning on His breast

2. The river will change, change its course,
The mountains may crumble and fall
Time will leave its mark, they say Upon us one and all

Repeat Chorus

The line ‘Jesus will never, never change’ carried me and I was safe.

Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not;

About four years ago, my daughter and I started down the road of reconciliation, it has not been without its pot holes. I trying to learn to talk, she is trying to temper her words.

My begining scripture, Have faith in God, isn’t just a nice saying on a plaque or to be cross stitched on a pillow. It is a rock, a firm foundation, a shelter from the changes, a healing for the brokenhearted….