Come so far to the same spot

I found an old letter in the bottom of a cluttered closet yesterday.

“Every year I intend to get out hand-stamped Christmas cards complete with letter and photos, and every year I crumble under the pressure of time and responsibility. We’re setting more realistic expectations now as you hold in your hands our ‘Happy Groundhog’s Day!’ family update!”

The paragraphs that follow detail the news of 2005: Zach’s birth, an update on Rick’s job, Ellie learning to walk and then breaking her leg on Christmas day. It talks of the personality contrasts between our two kids and Zach’s perpetual ear infections and severe eczema. (I wrote this just weeks, perhaps days, before we learned of Zach’s food allergies.)

“If these are the biggest of our problems (runny noses and earaches as opposed to hurricanes and tsunamis), we are indeed very, very rich!”

It’s funny how much and how little changes in five years.

The last paragraph was about me.

“And then here am I. My life may not seem glorious or even notorious, but it is definitely full and challenging. I am constantly overwhelmed by the responsibility God has granted me. It is an honorable charge! To raise these two to know God and His Truth in a world that rarely recognizes His existence … I am humbled by the task, and grateful that Rick is leading the endeavor.”

I could have written this today. It’s amazing how I’ve come so far to the same spot. Perhaps that’s God’s intention. We grow and we work, but every day we must face the truth: we can do nothing without Him. It doesn’t matter how much I learn about parenting or homemaking or writing or speaking, because in the end it’s all Him.

Don’t misunderstand me: this is not a license for apathy or complacency. Rather, it is cause to praise His name! No matter how far we have to go, He always meets us where we are and draws us to Himself that we might receive the life He has for us.

Mama loves grace.