Show Me Your Muscles…

My mom is the strongest woman I know. I learned leadership from her and the importance of having a quiet, steady faith in God. She is still the most beautiful woman in any room, as far as I am concerned. She is my mom first, my best friend second and has walked me through the highs and lows of my life.

She is also my biggest cheerleader. If I sneeze, she will tell you that it was ‘the best sneeze ever sneezed’ in all of history! She is always on my side, even when I am terribly wrong. She is my PR agent. When I was a freshman in college, she dragged me across the room to meet the University President at orientation. She loves to make me laugh. One time, she stood in our front yard, showing me her “muscles” and from then on was deemed “muscle mom.” She taught me the joy of “retail therapy” and we earned our degrees in this “vocation” the year after my first father passed away.

She was meant to be a mother. God gave her extraordinary skills in this role and she has served Him mightily.

She was a Girl Scout leader, youth leader, PTA President, retail shop manager, receptionist, to name a few. She remains an avid bridge player, master gardener and animal lover. She believes in community service and involvement. She is a wife of a Pastor, which should, in and of itself, speak to her mighty strength.

My mom and first father were middle school sweethearts. When God called my first father home, she was left with two teenagers to raise. She was only 41 years old. Many nights after he died, my mom would walk around our swimming pool and yell at God. She would question him in her grief and would tell Him exactly how she felt. You see, in her grief and anger, she reached out to her Father. She knew that He could take it.

It occurred to me in my adult life what strong faith she showed during those honest cries of grief and heart ache. We do not argue or get angry or “lash out” at someone that we don’t believe in whole heartedly. She knew that her Father would hear her cries and would not forsake her. She knew He loved her and that He would heal her broken heart in His perfect timing. You see, she was in relationship with God, the author and perfector of her faith and ours.

Are you facing something in your life that has left you heart broken, angry, sick with grief or faint from lack of understanding? Your Father in heaven is only a cry away. He will never leave you. We see example after example in the Bible of times where He sees His people, hears His people, and loves His people.

He sees you. He hears you. He loves you. Trust that He can handle your grief. Your anger. Your lack of understanding.

Just like my very own Muscle Mom, He will show you his muscles! And trust me, our God is stronger!

Be joyful!

“The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.” Psalm 34:17 NIV