My Child

We’ve been having Bible studies together for eleven weeks. She never talks, it is actually quite awkward, but I have become accustom to it, everyone has their own style. Christmas break is seven days away, and we won’t study for three weeks straight. I pray for her. But this last study was different. She was so talkative, telling stories, applying the study to her life, keeping conversations going, laughing harder than I ever noted. She ended the study quite different than usual. We prayed, and began to leave when she noted that she needed to tell us something. She proceeded to tell us that these Bible studies had answered so many of her questions she had owned most of her life. She closely asserted that no one had ever answered her questions with the Bible, and that we were different than everyone else. She confidently thanked us for studying with her, being her friend, and answering her questions with the Bible. You see, she is special to me! She is my child. At the age of 68, she lives with her 87 year-old Mother, which she adorably addresses as “Mother”, so unique. The highlight of her week is Wednesday’s exercise class in the YMCA, and her walk next to the river, which she frequently does. She has been raised Baptist, and lived in the same apartment with her Mother for the past 42 years. She hasn’t gone to church for the past nine years, for a personal reason. Her parents are split. Her father, addressed as “Father”, lives in Florida, is 89. To the average person, this means nothing… Until you take time, until you study. Until you Search what is important to her. Until you make what is important to her, important to you. Until you realize her physical needs so that you can help bring her to her spiritual needs. She has grown like a child, God’s child. I have countless stories to describe the beauty of her character and personality. The average person wouldn’t notice, but she intricately thinks about everything. She’s a thinker, she is a searcher, she is beautiful. But the greatest smack in the face was, I thought the main reason she was studying with me, was for social time. I decided to continue studying because I felt that if she learned one thing, the friendship would be worth it in the end. Then, she came and surprised me by expressing what she has learned. Don’t give up on God’s plan, don’t underestimate his Greatness! You may not notice, but people are searching…