Friday, February 27, 2009

Habbakuk 1:5

On a day when the markets said Americans have lost more money.

In a month where 651,000 jobs were lost.

In the past year where over 12.5 million people are now unemployed.

My mom was offered a job.

After waiting since October 2006.

You see, my family has been through a lot. We've been holding tightly to the promise that God would not let us fall so far we would not be able to get out. And in a time when it seems no one is hiring, with a final push to find a resolution, my mom was given a gift.

It's not about money or possessions or savings or retirement or any of that. It's about my family who has stuck together through some of the hardest times imaginable. A lot has happened in every single member of my family's lives since October 2006. A LOT. Some of you will know most of what I'm talking about, some of you might not know a whole lot. But it is nothing short of miraculous.

It was 4:14 in the afternoon and my phone was ringing. I was watching Glenn Beck on Fox News, so I was reluctant to answer the phone. But, it was a call from my dad. Now honestly, my dad usually only calls me at that time of day if he has a question about something related to my credit cards, or sorting out something involving insurance, because at that time of day he is at work. So I picked up. I sounded a little morose because after all, the News is depressing. More about job losses, more about stock market sell offs, and more about watching my future tax dollars go to things that do nothing to help not only me, but also my country. My dad asked if I was ok, and I said I was fine, sparing him the details of my frustration about what I'm watching on TV. He said ok. And in his even-keeled tone, he simply said these words,

"Shannon. I wanted to let you know that when your mom got off the plane from Salt Lake, she had a voicemail saying she got the job."

Now this, this was anything but depressing. I felt my heart drop into my stomach and my dad said,

"Shannon, we're going to start to get this thing turned around. Your mom and I are going to work very hard to build back up what we've lost while waiting for this opportunity to come our way."

He said he had to go and that he said to call my grandparents and some other people but that he would talk to me soon. I told him i loved him, and after he hung up, I sat down on my floor. And for the first time since I left home in January to go back to school, I cried like a baby. Even though I've been away at school for most of this, I've known what has been happening, and in that moment, I looked up at the ceiling and whispered, "thank You."

My mom is the greatest example in my life of a godly woman. She and my dad have stuck by each other's side through sickness and in health (with my dad being sick since I was 9) and for richer and for poorer. I've told a lot of people that if my marriage is only half of what my parents' is, I'll have one hell of a marriage. I've seen periods of weariness in my mom as she waited patiently for her call, and also in watching me struggle through multiple knee injuries, heartbreak, and seemingly stolen opportunities. She told me after I tore my ACL in April 2007 that at least I would get my opportunity back to play but she would never get back what she had at her old job. Well, both turned out to be not completely true. I battled back-to-back-to-back knee injuries and didn't ever get my opportunity back. A lot of hopes and dreams left unrealized. And mom never got her old job back but she can look forward to a new journey that awaits her.

And so on this day, where everything is increasingly more uncertain, we hold tight to the realization that we have no stake in this world; our home is not here. Our money and things will not go with us to Heaven when we die. Our hearts and our souls will be with God, and knowing this fact, the relationships I build here must be centered on this. I have been given an abundance of zeal and joy, and my hope is that every person I meet would feel it. Following Christ doesn't mean everything will always be easy, in fact, sometimes it gets harder. But resting my hope on the only One who will remain after all this passes away reminds me that these periods of hardship are only bringing me closer to the day I will see the one who created me face to face. And that is good enough for me.

I love you momma.
I love you daddy.

"Look at the nations and watch,
and be utterly amazed.
For I am doing something in your days
That you would not believe,
even if you were told."
-Habbakuk 1:5

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