Today you will hear from Julia, the second of ten children, share honestly and graciously about the example of her terrific mom, Virginia. To be around this family is to experience life to the fullest! Virginia is a joy to know -- and Julia is a testimony to the example of her mom, especially in the area of compassionate and merciful giving of her life away to others.
My mom, Virginia, wanted to be a missionary but instead
God’s will was for her to get married and raise ten kids (maybe more, who
knows! J). In my mind, she is a missionary. She has embraced this calling and has trained us a
lot by her example of a selfless, compassionate, servant. Mom has a heart for those who are in need,
which is often people she doesn’t even know. I remember when I was younger and
we were running errands on a hot day. We drove by a pregnant girl walking with
groceries and my mom picked her up and took her to her apartment. She followed
up with her and bought her diapers for her baby. When she makes sales from one
of her books, she gives all the proceeds to a pastor in Malawi and occasionally pulls together boxes
full of items to send over to Africa. She
could easily use that money for herself but she finds so much joy in giving it
away.
Her joy and excitement made us want to participate! It made us want to send care packages, participate
in Walk For Life, and reach out to our neighbors. When people ask her how she
does it, she doesn’t answer or receive this question pridefully, she simply
says “By God’s grace.” She is not
perfect. She doesn’t have it all together. She loses her temper. But she is
always quick to realize when she does, and is always quick to repent and ask
for our forgiveness. When she is overwhelmed by the fighting or chaos in the
house and doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry, she chooses to laugh. We don’t
always have the most elaborate meals, and they aren’t always on time, but my mother
has shown us that what we have is plenty and that we are blessed beyond measure
when we are all together eating at our big table. Meal times are crazy at our
house, but my Mom has shown us that the noise we have is just a sign of the
Lord’s blessing on our lives.
Though my Mom has put much effort into instructing and
training me, there were years where I was grounded 320 days of the year for
talking back to her and my dad. There
were years when my heart was hardened towards having children, marriage, and
missions. For a couple years I wanted NO kids. J I have definitely not
arrived, and now have new issues I’m working through, but my heart has been
softened by God’s grace and by my mother’s example to me. She hasn’t just
instructed me, she has showed me how to live it out. I hope this encourages
moms who are not seeing much fruit of their labor. Stay with it! The Lord’s
mercies are new every morning!
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