An Amazing Thing

Matthew 5:14-16
14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven


An amazing thing happened to me yesterday. Amazing and heartwarming and tear-jerking.


I finally made it to my Wednesday morning bible study yesterday. I missed the first two sessions because of illness (you all probably remember the diarrhea incidents) and then Nick's minor surgery. I and about 15 other girls are doing the study "Keepers of the Home". Along with the study we are reading the book, "A Woman After God's Own Heart." I was really enjoying the homework, and now that I have gone to class it's even better.......We are new to this church and I am so happy to be able to get to know these wonderful women.


OK, so back to my point...the amazing thing that happened to me....


I actually got there early yesterday (about 15 minutes) which is completely and utterly unlike me...I had taken a shower and even curled my hair. AND I had make-up on to boot!...hold the applause, I know I'm incredible.....(this part is amazing, but not the actual amazing part of the story).

A couple of the other girls and I were chit-chatting and making small talk and somehow got on the topic of our kids. I said something ( I don't even remember what it was), and one of the girls looked straight into my face, and said, "OH! You are the mom with the 4 boys!!!" I said, "Uhhhh Ya?" with a sheepish smile, (secretly wondering which one of my boys tackled, knocked down or punched her kid)....and then she said, "You don't know me, and this will sound really weird, but your boys have changed my life." To that I said, Really?, How? (Still a little worried.)

She told me that she was in church the day Brian was baptized. If you watched this video, you will remember that Alex was standing in front of me while I was holding Brian. Brian kept grabbing Alex's head and trying to look at him and kiss him. Meanwhile, Alex just stood there so nicely taking the abuse with a sweet little grin on his face (you could just see the love on Alex's face---he is absolutely crazy about his baby Brian). Then, after the minister poured the water on Brian's head and proclaimed him to be baptized, he walked Brian through the church to meet his new church family. Nathan started crying and was very visibly distraught. He was terrified that our minister was taking off with his baby brother. It took everything we had to console him and keep him from running down the minister and tackling him to the ground to save his "baby". Finally, the two returned and Nick practically ran over all of us to give Brian a hug.

My new friend was watching this whole scenario take place.

She told me that she has one daughter. Her daughter has Cystic Fibrosis. She and her husband had decided that they would not have any more children and that they would focus solely on this child and do everything they could to save her life. She said after watching all of the events of the baptism, she and her husband left church, got into their car and she just started bawling. She told her husband that she wanted for her daughter what my boys have. That day they started trying to have another baby.

I didn't know how to react at the time. It shocked me so much I wasn't sure what to say. What an amazing thing to impact someone else's life in such a profound way.....Hearing her say that the way my boys love each other changed her life, will be a moment I will forever cherish...And on top of all that, it was something I really needed to hear that day.

Isn't God amazing? All of the things that had to come together to make these events possible are mind boggling. Moments like this help to remind me that people are watching us, as Christians, all the time. They see the big and little things; Like how we love each other, care for each other, and how we teach our children to love one another. Even when we don't know it, Other Christians and non-Christians see how we live our lives and how we act. The way we are perceived may have a direct influence on whether or not someone seeks to know God. To purely and without condemnation live out our Christian walk seems to me like the first step in bringing others to know Jesus..................Because you never know when a little thing like three big brothers loving their "baby" can change someone's life.

AND that, my friends, is An Amazing Thing!

Matthew 5:14-16
14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven

♥Liz