The Wall of Witnesses

Well, we’re starting our third week of being home, and I think I can say by now that we are finally unpacked! That doesn’t necessarily mean that everything is put away, but it does mean that we can stop for that second cup of coffee, catch up on our Bible reading and bills, (hopefully in that order),  and be reminded again why we’re so happy to be home. Sadly, but with some excitement, we’ll be leaving again in just a few weeks, but only for month this time!  Hopefully we’ll see a lot of you.

Yesterday we even made the radical decision to go see a movie, something we haven’t done in about, oh, six months. The movie has just hit Australia after making the rounds in America, so you may have seen it. The name of the film is “The Forge”, and it’s a faith-based story with several Christian actors we’ve seen in other classics. If you have any emerging adults in your family, it’s worth seeing.

The main character is a teenager by the name of Isaiah (played by Aspen Kennedy), struggling to find himself. It was a great story, although Tony said he would have liked a few exploding car chases. But we both agreed that it illustrates the desperate need for us to have mentors in our lives. You’re never too old to benefit from someone who can meet you on your level and help you face whatever the world happens to be throwing your way.

One of last week’s happy moments was re-discovering the “Wall of Witnesses” in our bedroom.  It’s a collection of nine photographs featuring nine couples who have had an unmistakable impact on our lives. Fifteen of the eighteen individuals have gone on to be with the Lord, but even their dying left us with a stronger assurance of the goodness of God and I want to be like that to someone.

But as I’m discovering, just getting older doesn’t guarantee you a place on the wall. To be a real mentor to someone, it seems you need to have travelled that path before and come through it as a wiser, better person. I’ve been reading from Proverbs this week, and one thing that has struck me is that all of us, every one, is confronted by challenges in our lifetime. Things we wouldn’t have chosen to happen to us.  We’ve all lost loved ones, faced our own mortality and had our share of disappointments. This is life in a fallen world.

But Solomon summarizes to us loud and clear, “It’s not the evil you face that the world will see, but how you react to it”. That speaks volumes. And like the movie showed us this week, a forge can produce a lot of ashes as well as a piece of steel that will never be broken.

Many of our own friends and relatives are spending their requisite time in the furnace, facing the challenges of growing up, growing older, facing uncertain futures and testing both their strengths and their limitations. By being back home we have been given a chance to watch them up close and lovingly personal and on the whole, we’re pretty proud of them.

Look around you this week, will you? Find someone who needs a mentor like you. And while you’re at it, look over your shoulder and see who God has placed there for you. Thank that person, and say a prayer for them.

Love ya,

Marsha

“The glory of young men is their strength, grey hair the splendour of the old”. Solomon (Proverbs 20:29).