Preparing For the Future
by
Mary Hunt Webb
Posted Sunday, June 30, 2024
Although there wasn't much to do while I stayed with older neighbors during summers when I was a child, I learned to entertain myself like this little girl is doing. [Photographer: Daniela Dimitrova. Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com].
During the extreme heat of the summer of 2023, I had a conversation with a woman during which we talked about hot summers of the past that we remembered. She remembered having gone to summer camp and asked me what camps I had attended.
I said that except for one week of day camp as a Brownie Scout, I hadn't attended any camp. She seemed incredulous!
"You didn't? What did you do during summers as a child?"
I said that since my mother worked, I stayed with elderly neighbors.
She said, "That sounds boring!"
I responded, "I learned to entertain myself. I read a lot, cut out paper dolls, solved puzzles, and played with toys. I have wonderful coping skills!"
She surprised me when she said flatly, "I don't."
I was stunned, but then I realized I've never been bored! I like to learn. The Lord has been with me all through my life, teaching me skills, and preparing me for a future that I could not imagine. I never questioned that He knew what was best for me.
Isaiah 41:13 assures me of the Lord's guidance because it says, "For lo I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."
After I became a young adult, it seemed I was developing arthritis in my hands. That's when the Lord led me to begin learning American Sign Language. Our small church had a deaf family of five. Both parents and two of their three children were deaf. Only one of the children could hear. In order to sign the church service and Sunday School for them, there needed to be people that would sign services and classes for them. When I started attending the sign language class, the six people that were already in it were very patient with me although I was a beginner without any prior knowledge of it. They encouraged me.
When my hands made popping and snapping noises, they said, "Don't worry! That will pass. That always happens when you first begin."
And it did. Sign language has kept my hands limber through the years. I have to keep signing even though we don't have any deaf people in our church at the moment. Another thing that keeps me signing is that I always remember that 95 percent of deaf people are not Christian because faith comes by hearing. Since they can't hear, using sign language lets us share the Gospel with them.
Now when I encourage people to join us as we learn and practice sign language, some say, "Oh, I can't! I have arthritis!"
They don't believe me when I say, "Learning sign language will help you regain movement in your hands and your arms!"
Learning sign language is a way of coping with one of life's problems.
In the same way that the Lord prepared me as a child with skills that I would need later, perhaps He is now preparing me and others for a time when deaf people will come to our church hungering to learn about Jesus and God's love for them. When that happens, we will be prepared.
Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for preparing us for a future we cannot see right now. Guide us to trust that you know what's best for us. In the name of Jesus, amen.
BIBLE VERSE FOR THIS POSTING
Isaiah 41:13 — "For lo I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." (NIV)
Isaiah 41:13:I the Lord your God will hold your right hand saying to you, Fear not; I will help you. [Photographer: DFNarureAwed. Photo courtesy of Stockvault.net.].
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