Growing In Godliness Blog
“A Salute to a Young Christian Mother”
Categories: Attendance, Author: Larry Coffey, Faith, Heart, Love, TrustingA Salute to a Young Christian Mother
By Larry R. Coffey
Francis Chan wrote a book entitled “Crazy Love” in 2013. Here is a quote from that book. "We are consumed by safety. Obsessed with it, actually. Now, I’m not saying it is wrong to pray for God’s protection, but I am questioning how we’ve made safety our highest priority. We’ve elevated safety to the neglect of whatever God’s best is, whatever would bring God the most glory, or whatever would accomplish His purposes in our lives and in the world.”
This reminds me of the Covid pandemic. Many brethren didn’t attend the worship services for weeks, even months, and some never came back to the church. That despite the multiple efforts made to provide a safe environment. That is a once in a 100-year event. But what about something more common: like the weather.
I have now been a member of the church for 65 years and I have never seen anything keep members away from worship more than the weather. Something as simple as rain on Sunday morning will keep some away. Heaven forbid what happens if there is snow or even a forecast of snow. I want to review two recent weather-related events.
On a recent Sunday morning, it stated snowing about 8:00 am. Up to three inches was predicted. Of course, that kept a lot of folks at home. But, not a young Christian mother with an infant. She drove by herself almost 50 miles one way to be at worship. I didn’t actually see her, but it was pointed out to me by one of the men.
Then on Wednesday night of that same week, it was predicted up to one inch of snow on that night starting after 9:00 pm. I don’t know about others, but from my house to the building, the roads were as clear as any July night. It did start to snow around 10:00 pm. I have no lists of people, but I would estimate over one-half of the congregation was absent.
What about our young Christian mother? Again, I didn’t see her, but a different man other than the one I have mentioned pointed out she was present with her baby.
Another Chan quote: “People who are obsessed with Jesus aren’t consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else.”
I am told these blogs have low readership. I am not writing this to put down our members since most are not likely to read it anyway. I have learned after 65 years, it would be a waste of time. My purpose is to salute this young mother. It is obvious to me she is obsessed with Jesus. Plus, I would not have known this information if two of our men had not been so highly impressed with her, they had to share this news. And she doesn’t know this is being written.
I am saluting her faithfulness, her example, her commitment and love for our Lord. She makes me want to be a better person and to never allow safety to come before my commitment to serve my God. As we read in Heb 10:24-25, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as we see the day approaching.”
