The Story Thread

 

 

Psalm 127:3 – “Children are a gift from the Lord.” (NLT)

 

Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV)

 

 Fifty years ago, most couples married relatively young, compared to today. This was true for my parents. They were both twenty-one at the time. My mother was a strong believer in Jesus Christ and she brought my father to God through their relationship. And as most couples did back then, they also immediately began to try to have a family. However, after a few of years of trying it just wasn’t happening. In fact, after five years, they ended up going to a doctor and having tests run. The doctor’s sad conclusion was that they would never be able to have children. 

 

This was devastating news to both of them, but my mom accepted the situation with grace. She believed in God having a plan for them and that He would do what was best in His own time. My dad however, struggled mightily. He actually grew mad at God for not giving him what he wanted so badly. And so, he ended up trying to bargain with God. He literally said to God, “God. I’ll be a closer follower of you if you give me a family.” Nothing happened right away, and so instead of growing closer to God he became increasingly angry with God for ignoring him.

 

My mom continued to work at her job as an English teacher and my dad was involved in various business ventures, so they were busy with their work and home. However, my mom began to get sick. A lot. So sick she had to be sent home from school and finally after a time to the doctor. They ran all kinds of tests and could find nothing wrong except that…she was pregnant. 

 

She called my dad from the doctor’s office with the wonderful news. He immediately fell to his knees and said to God, “Allright. You answered my prayer. I will follow you.” My dad says that’s the moment when he truly got saved. It was the most significant event in his life other than having been introduced to the Lord through my mother. The baby that was born that year was me. 

 

I first heard this story from my father when I was fourteen. He told me how he had cried out to God and even tried to bargain with him so there could be a “me.” As a fourteen-year-old the story had some impact on me, but I took it as more of a cool historical tale. An origin story so to speak. Kind of like tracing your roots. Two years later however, I went to a high school church camp retreat and the story began to really work in my heart. 

 

Part of the retreat was a night when we were given letters to read. These letters had been written to us by our parents and they talked to us about their love and their faith. Letters from my mom were not uncommon. Letters from my dad were very unusual. I still have that letter. In his letter my dad retold the story of my birth again and his calling out to God for me. This time the story hit me. Then on top of that, my mom, at the end of the letter, said that before I was even born, she and her mother prayed that God would lead me to serve Him with my life. I began to feel like God had a special purpose for me. That He was actually calling me to full time Christian ministry. I suddenly became aware that God was involved in my purpose even before I was born. 

 

Even so, I tried to ignore the call. By time college rolled around, I was thinking about becoming a lawyer or maybe going into business. Some people advised me against ministry and I listened. Bottom line, I was running from my calling. I wanted to make money and get stuff and I knew that wasn’t going to happen in ministry. But God continued to use that story on me. I could not forget that I had been prayed for, asked for, begged for. I could never forget that I was given to my parents as a gift, but also made for God's purposes even before my birth. I knew I could not resist it any longer. I became a pastor and have remained so for nineteen years. That simple story has been a thread throughout my life.

 

TC, Hilton Head Island, SC