Can my life be used even if I'm on a farm somewhat in the middle of nowhere? Does my life have any meaning even if I'm just "home" everyday? (I hardly drive anymore as my older daughter does a lot of the errands for me now....yeah!) Will I have any impact on the lives of others outside my home if I don't regularly interact with a crowd of people in an office of workplace? Once in awhile I struggle with these questions. Then, God sends someone into my life to remind me of how He can use me, even though I hardly move from my house.
Last summer I was cleaning the basement of the house as we had had months of flooding. I had to go through every single bin and determine what needed to be thrown out and what needed to be kept and then transfer it to the barn, never to ever be put back in the basement in case of flooding again. It took me two solid weeks. While in the middle of it, a young mom with a couple of kids came walking up the street with bikes and a stroller in tow. I always get excited to see a mom on the street, especially someone I haven't met before, and instead of pretending she didn't exist, I walked over to her at the street and said something like, "Hi! Another mom! I never see moms and strollers on our street!" It turns out she lived a country block away and had specifically come on the walk to meet me.
Our farm is situated like a "city on a hill". It is at the top of a little hill with lovely rolling hills behind it, so as you drive around the countryside you can see it from many directions. I have met many people who knew of us before I knew of them. "Oh you're the people who live in that farm! I saw all the kids and wondered who lived there!" I hear that a lot. The yard is full of sandboxes, playgrounds, trampolines, always-full clotheslines, not to mention animals everywhere that didn't exist a few years ago. There's often a field of boys doing hay with their dad and just kids running everywhere, all the time. So when you drive by, it's hard not to be noticed. Lots is going on. She had been one of those people who had noticed.
Country moms are drawn to other country moms because there aren't a lot of us! So I invited her into the yard and immediately her kids were playing with my kids. We had an instant connection. I told her a bit of my story and she told me her's. I wondered in my head, "Why is she so nice?!" She was one of the friendliest people I had ever met. After a short visit she continued her walk and went home, but we were exchanging numbers and said we'd love to meet again. A whole year went by before we talked again. Life just happened, I guess.
This week she popped in again. Just like last time we connected again very easily and and I gave her kids a tour of the farm with the new animals we had. We had just acquired bunnies for our son's birthday and we showed them off. I told them about this one bunny who had been called "Houdini" by me as he regularly escaped. My son interrupted and told her, "He doesn't escape anymore because he became a Christian!" Uh....well....that's what I had joked with my kids knowing full well that bunnies can't get saved! My new friend didn't skip a beat, "Isn't that what the Lord does?" My eyebrows were raised...she was talking like a Christian herself! I explained we had prayed that God would help us find the missing bunny and He had, so our kids were excited. She again said something about God answering prayers. Hmmmmm.....
Back at the kiddie pool, I had to ask her about her Christian background. Sure enough, she had been saved at 16 years old by spending time with a family whose lives emmulated Christ. She knew they had the kind of life she longed for. I shared my story with her, too, and now I understood why we had such an instant connection. Now I knew why she was so friendly. Struggles were shared and I now knew why God had brought her into my life. I was able to give her Biblical encouragement. We even talked about fasting in the short time we talked! I'm not sure if she has other Christian friends in her life, but I'm excited to be one of them. I made a commitment to pray for her. We hugged when she left as we both realized God was orchestrating something. We've only known each other for minutes!
Sometimes, you can feel isolated as a mom and can wonder how you can be used but God has this way of reminding us that He can use us right where we are. And for me, He doesn't send hundreds of people, it's often just one mom at a time. It's also not a one-sided thing. He knows I need the encouragement of a female friend as much as she needs it. I've written this before, but He sends us Himself, but with skin on. Women need friendships. It's what makes us tick. Our husbands are great and my husband is undoubtedly my best friend, but He would be bored silly if he heard me talk the way I do with my girlfriends. He would cover his ears and want to run away I think. Hens cackling. So I look forward to this new friendship. I didn't orchestrate it, God did.
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