I Will Come Back

It was a long week while my husband was gone. But it was also a good week. A time of growth for me. A time to face some of the fears that have been lurking in my tender heart. A time to learn how to get by without my protector and my beloved nearby. A time to need others. A time to be blessed by the body of Christ.

My heart is overflowing with thankfulness for all of the help we received. Some of the dear ones in our life helped me with the kids, and helped pass the time. One person even took the bus in a snowstorm to come and stay with us. She blessed my heart so much. People brought food and called to see how we were doing. I never would have dreamed of having such support and care a few years ago. But God has a way of providing for us when we reach out in faith and ask. I could say a lot more about that, but I'll save it for another post.

While Ryan was in Haiti, I didn't hear from him very much. Our cell phone did not have service there, and free time for making phone calls and emails was limited. But it was a blessing when he did email. Then he also called a couple of days before he was to return, and he told me "I will come back." Those words stuck with me like the rainbows.

All week long I was doing fine, but by the end of the week I was battling with fear of him never coming home again. My mind would start to recall how my Dad had left on my brother's 8th birthday. He had never come back. Now here I was, five kids and my husband left on our son's 8th birthday. But NO! They were lies! Lies! The truth was that God did not send him to Haiti to take his life. He had sent him there to call him to true life! To woo him closer to Himself. To show him the true riches. To show him what life really is! To break the lies and set him free, so that he could become a mighty warrior for our King. That is the truth. That is what God had planned.

And me? I needed to look fear right in the face and meet it eye to eye. I needed to stare into the dark eyes of abandonment and linger there long enough to let trust begin to grow in my heart. It was a faith building week for me. My husband left. AND HE CAME BACK. He came back better than when he left, and it was good.

Years ago Jesus Christ went up to heaven, leaving his disciples behind. Some day Christ is going to COME BACK. Will he see something better than when he had left? Will we have done greater works than He? As a collective body, will we have touched more than he did as only one "man?"

Oh God! Move our hearts to live in your spirit and touch the ones you have called to be your own. Help us to stop believing the lies and hang unto the promise. YOU can make us better despite all of our fear and doubt. YOU can tear that down! You can build into us a life that we could not imagine. Do it Lord!