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Dare to Decide
She walks the street as though the pain, the heaviness of her heart, were more than she could bear. So tiny that her long, gray-streaked hair nearly covers her body, she doesn't look up, she doesn't acknowledge anyone passing by. She's lived on this street all her life, among relatives, yet she is very much alone.
She walked three miles to and from her job at the factory until her legs could take it no more. Having too much pride to ask for help and not knowing how to count money, she couldn't ride the bus which would have picked her up seven doors from her home. When she returned from work there was no rest at home where grandchildren and great nieces and nephews were waiting to ask a million questions--and make as many demands. She was supposed to feed them, but snacks from the dollar store were the best she could muster. Her frail body had to have a moment to rest. She puffed on a cigarette as a substitute for her own meal.
Throughout the evening she greeted many visitors as they came to pick up and drop off their children, tell her their problems and ask for money she didn't have. She also had the added responsibility of caring for her older brother and sister. Thankfully, they were able to provide a little money for the maintenance of the household but it was far from enough to keep everything going.
She didn't have a lot of good in her life. She didn't have much to give her hope. Then the furnace went out on the first really cold day in the fall.
"What more, Lord? How can I take more?"
There is something remarkable about the cry of surrender. There is something even more remarkable about the timing of unrelated events when God's working His plan. On this morning when she'd had all she could take, strangers came knocking at her door. They were the people who'd come together to work for the restoration of her sister's constitutional rights which had been violated by the taking of her home for back taxes while the sister's money was controlled by a court appointee.
The people were able to offer hope with a promise to move quickly. But no one forgot this was really God's arrangement and God's plan which was offering the hope.
"There is something about life that, little by little, makes us forget all that is good. This can happen to anyone...and so we must look for a cure against it. Praise be that such a cure exists: the act of quietly making a decision. A decision stirs the mind from the slumber of monotony. A decision breaks the magic spell of custom and the long row of weary thoughts. A decision will bring blessings upon even the weakest beginning. A decision is an awakening to the eternal." --Søren Kierkegaard
Jane Mullikin
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