Hosanna's Wish and her Jaded Mother

I've been married to a pastor for almost 9 years. The four years before that he was a Sem student with side jobs related to the ministry. We've met a lot of people with a myriad of problems, backgrounds, and personal stories. We've had the very great privilege of sharing the gospel with many people.  In some cases a seed of faith was planted and someone else may have had the job of watering it and watching it grow.  In other cases we were maybe a piece of the complex puzzle that God uses to build a person's faith.
And there are the great miracle moments Wayne as pastor gets to do -  God works through  Baptism to create faith in an infant's heart - such a perfect example of God's grace to a helpless human (aren't we all?). The cases are rare that we've met an adult, beaten and battered by life's storms that falls into the waiting arms of a Savior immediately upon hearing the good news of salvation. Most often, it takes years to develop a relationship to the point of the individual trusting what this Christian pastor has to say. The journey is taking FOREVER (from our perspective) but sooooooo worth the wait when joy fills me up to the brim hearing their public confession in church after years of taking the Bible information class. Hours dear husband spent with these souls getting to know them, patiently leading them through God's Word to show them what God says and not "what Pastor thinks". Angels sing when another soul is adopted into His family!!!


But .... you knew it was coming, right? .... more often than not we find people telling us what they think we want to hear, "sure, we'll be at church tomorrow" and then they're not. Why did we think they would be? Or they start classes, maybe even for months, years only to decide "I just can't believe it".  Yeah, I suppose we saw it coming. Or maybe they honestly have good intentions and circumstances get in the way. Sure, whatever. Someone calls the church and they're down and out - their health is shot, no job, no car - you get the picture. They want some money, something to get them by. We'd love to help out - come by church on Sunday for some food for the soul and then we'll see what we can do for you! They don't come. Yeah, we're not surprised. Jaded? You bet.

We've been having monthly potluck fellowships with the Chinese community over the last few years. It gives our Chinese members an event to invite their friends and acquaintances to. God's Word, prayer, food, getting to know one another - now we're seeing some familiar faces coming back more often. Friendships the kids have made. We get the awesome opportunity to be a part of some Chinese culture for one evening. Try out our limited Mandarin (i do mean limited), eat different foods (our kids are very adventurous eaters) and meet new people, many of whom no nothing about Jesus! 


So through these monthly evening get togethers, Zanna made a favorite friend. She has begun looking forward to seeing and playing with Maple. "Is Maple going to be there?" "When are we going to see Maple?". And she's so excited when she's there! They hug and hold hands and walk around together and sit and eat next to each other. Last month at the Chinese New Year fellowship, we invited Maple's mother to bring her to Sunday School to be in Zanna's class. "Sure, I'll think about it", she said. Uh - huh. Right.


Now the questions leading up to Sunday were "Will Maple be at Sunday School?". I started my eye rolling that gave away what I thought the likely hood of that happening was. Her little face was so hopeful. I stopped the rolling and explained that while Maple may want to come, her Mom would have to want to bring her. I advised her to start praying to Jesus that her Mom would want to bring her to Sunday School and stop asking what I thought. 


She didn't come that following Sunday and I encouraged my daughter to keep praying. Then the Sunday of daylight savings time rolled around. As we sat in the pew waiting for the service to start, Zanna came running around the corner, face lit up, hands holding Maple's hands! This jaded mother almost fell off her pew. I got myself together and stood up to see Maple's mother and other daughter in the back. I invited her to sit by me and stay for service, even though she intended to drop Maple off for Sunday School which she had missed due to the time change. She agreed and allowed me to guide her through the service that was completely foreign to her. Her broken English struggled to keep up with the fast paced service but tears were in my eyes to hear her read the Lord's Prayer and sing hymns. The girls were in heaven, playing with the treasures found in the church bag. And my daughter reminded me of an important truth I had forgotten somewhere along the way - God hears our prayers.