~ Flowers From Indonesia

Last Sunday, we were driving away from church and one of my children said, "Where's Dad?"

I told them Dad had to teach a class and he'd be home later.

The smallest one whined, "I don't want Daddy to work!"

Other voices chimed in with, "I wish Dad didn't have to work so hard," and "I wish Dad could just come home with us."

At this point, let me pause to say that our Dad is wonderful about protecting time for our family. He's devoted to having a day off and to shielding our weekly family night from outside committments. He also is 100% Daddy when he walks through the door (most of the time).

Having said that, there are seasons in ministry (as I'm sure there are in any profession) that get a little crazy. This particular Sunday came on the heels of a very busy and stressful couple of weeks, and for a brief moment, I found myself wanting to whine right along with them.

But this is our life. It's what God has called us to.

- Long hours

- Middle of the night phone calls

- Early morning comittments

Pouring ourselves out for others -

For the lost,

For the devastated,

For the confused,

For the lonely,

For HIS glory!

And if one person's life is changed,

If one person's pain is eased,

If one person's marriage is healed,

Then it is all worth it.

And if we never see those things happen - it's still worth it because He called us to this and He deserves our best. After all, He gave us His best!

So I tell myself this, remind myself again, and I stop the whining words before they fly out of my mouth and tell the boys again how important Daddy's job is and how important our support is.

The next day was crazy for me. The boys and I finally got home late in the afternoon. When I walked in my back door, I glanced over to see a beautiful basket of flowers sitting on my counter right there beside the netflix video to be returned, the tub toys fresh out of the dishwasher, the science experiment, and the sports applications. It was a little piece of sushine. (Apparently, the local florist just opens your door and sets things inside if you are not home. If I had known that, I would have done my dishes!)

My first thought was that my hubby had sent me flowers. As I opened the card, I realized they weren't from him. They weren't even from this country. They were from someone in a different country that I didn't even know. And they were addressed to me:

"Thank you so much for supporting Ken in his trip to Jakarta. He was a HUGE blessing to me at a very dark and difficult time. May God bless you!"

I am so grateful that God always gives us what we need when we need it!

That night, we shared with the boys at dinner that the flowers were for them to for their sacrifice.

After all, we're all in this together!