By Mary Lindow
I had just worked four days and had put in 46 hours on my feet. I was tired. I had spoken life and ministered to many people in my position as an office manager and chiropractic assistant to a wonderful Doctor that loves people and loves God. But nonetheless, I was tired.
I had been asked to come and minister at a women’s gathering on my day off, which would be Friday evening. I rested part of the day, did laundry the rest of the day and spoke to the Lord and prepared what he was giving me for the evening ministry meeting.
As I Got In The Car, I Noticed That My Indicators Were Telling Me There Was Something Wrong With The Car. Engine light flashing, cruise button not working and I had no time to spare to get to the meeting on time. So, I simply prayed, put my pedal to the metal and prayed all the way there.
When I Arrived, The Room Was Filled With Tired, Weary Women, Who Had Also Been Working Hard. Many of them, single mothers, many of them were parents who had taken on the adoption of their children’s children, because their own children had gone wild and embraced a lifestyle of drugs and freedom. They were pouring everything they had into these grandchildren, yet they still came. Many in the room we’re still seeking employment because they had lost previous jobs due to economic down change. And there, sitting in the church were young pregnant mothers.
Also, in the room were teenage high school girls and there I was, sent in my fatigue, to speak to them about the hope of Christ. I can tell you, I am so grateful for time in the word and time in prayer that anchors us and shows us the purpose beyond our own, as to why God sends us into different places.
I Was Honest, I Was Raw, And I Was Right In Front Of Them As One Of Them. As I began to talk about what it means to be in the presence of God, to really know him and his presence, and that it is there for us to draw from, to drink from, in order to survive this cruel world, something in the room began to change.
We are all aware of when the presence of God comes into a meeting and we call it the glory of God, Or We Call It The “Shekinah Glory”, Or The Holy Presence Of The Lord, And All Of This Is Very True! But in this meeting there was such a kindness and such tenderness towards this room of women who showed up on a Friday night after a long workweek, just to come in hope that they could touch the hem of his garment.
There were people in that group from about 11 years old all the way up to I would say late 70s. But every single one of them were women created in the fashion that God wanted them to be made in. Each of them still has dreams alive inside of them, even if their bodies are aging and are beginning to slow down a bit. There’s a fire inside of them that God wants to keep lit so that he may use them to the fullest.
But How Do You Address Those Situations With Multiple Generations? You talk to them about how much God loves them. You tell them about the hope that Jesus brings and then you get honest and tell them where you are!
When You Don’t Put Yourself On A Pedestal or lift up the icon of “your great knowledge of the Lord”, but instead, you get in the boat with them, they suddenly feel that they can receive from something or someone who “gets where they are at”.
I told stories of when I was a young girl, and first came to know the Lord and I had the young girls laughing, and it was so wonderful! But the Lord gave me their attention then.
I began to talk about raising children and how frightening it can be in a world where the narratives are screaming to influence our children’s minds, and I cheered the mothers on who are willing to do the hard things of homeschooling or be on top of the things their children are learning at school and t
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