It was at a time when everything in my life was changing so rapidly that I didn’t know what was really going on at all – I didn’t even know that I was born again until six months later. All I knew is that my life was in a constant state of change, that nothing was the same, and although I was talking to God a lot all of a sudden, I didn’t have any knowledge of His promises or sense of the “Peace that passeth all understanding,” that really does come when you get to know Him more. In those early days I was all at sea – Isaiah 54:11 describes the way I felt perfectly, “Oh you afflicted one, tossed by tempests and not comforted," In the midst of that tempest, I found myself washed up in a little town in Rockland County that I took the bus to once a week, over hill and dale and through the woods to the most lovely home I have had the blessing of spending time in. That same verse of Isaiah ends with, "Behold I will lay your stones with colorful gems, and lay your foundation with saphires." It is a promise of restoration, not just a small one, but of one that brings beauty of a high quality - something fit for royalty. My new employer treated me like a princess, and helped me feel like life could be beautiful again.
The house he lives in is lovely – so very sweet and dear and
lovely – but it was the person – the people – who live in that home that make
it so special. The days I spent there were
some of the most joyful and peaceful I have ever known. At a time in my life
when I had been devastated in every way and was just learning again how to live
and breathe, I found living and breathing room and space to grow and be loved
and nurtured. Over time I got to know his partner, who is now his husband, and to experience his sweetness and generosity as well. Such peace and
tranquility live in their home, and fun and laughter too. They invited me to
their parties, their lovely dinners, took me out to cabaret shows and movies and dinners, gave me beautiful clothing and gifts – it was truly
a gift from God the way they invited me into their lives and gave so much love
to me at a time when I needed it so much.
My life has changed in so many ways over these years, but I
miss those days and I miss the time that we spent together. Even though my life
is filled with my nutrition and wellness work now, there is a special place in my heart for
that happy and blessed home and the two loving and caring people who took me
into their hearts when my own heart was in need of healing. I am not the only
person they have given their love and help to over the years. During the time when
I saw them regularly, there were so many people who came through their doors
and were helped in the special way that each one needed. They do what they do for
people seemingly without thinking – it is just a natural part of who they are
to answer the needs of each individual person, and to do that without making a
fuss or a show. Each of these men is so talented and gifted in their work, and
they have won awards and recognition for it, but they don't seek recognition
for the love and care they give to others, they just do it, as a natural
outpouring of the beauty in them.
Jesus tells us that whoever is part of His family has life
giving water that will never run dry. That whatever those who are His children do
will be full of love and light and life. In John 14:21-23 He tells us, “Whoever
has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me
will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment of them all. He replies, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, this is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments." If we are doing His will, we
are showing love to others, and He says that is proof of love for Him and that all, not some, but all the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. If we love others and care for them, we are fulfilling what He asks us to do. Ephesians
5:1-2 says, “Be imitators of God therefore, as dearly loved children and live a
life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, as a fragrant
offering and sacrifice to God.” God sees our giving of our love to others as
something comparable to His love for us, and that He considers this to be an offering and a
sacrifice to God. How amazing, when I think of how seemingly effortlessly
these two dear friends share their love with others. When I think of God’s
commands to us to love others and that this is how we show our love for God, I
think of these two friends and know how much God loves them.
Isaiah 66:13 tells us, "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you." The usual way to speak of God is as the Father, but there is so much more to God. He is "A father to the fatherless," (Psalm 68:5) and a father more wonderful than anyone has ever known, even to those who have had good fathers. But He is also mother to us all. He contains all the qualities of both father and mother, everything that we need to feel nurtured and loved and protected. He will send people to us in our lives at the times when we need them most to be those things that we need the most. My two friends gave me love in a way that reflects God's own love.After those days in that lovely and loving home, I began working with children and youth who live in the projects in the inner city. The term for those children and teenagers is "at risk," and they are at risk not only because they live in an environment that is full of risk - of drugs and alcohol and gangs and crime and physical and emotional abuse and danger - but also because they often are living in single parent homes or are being raised by people who are not their birth parents. They are at risk because there is no full safety net around them, even if the parent or parents they have are trying their best to care for them. When the Lord sent me to do that work, He showed me that my own experience in my childhood, although I was born far from the inner city, was so similar to these children. I lived with my mother, and knew my father, but my father was absent often, and was not a healthy person in any way so our home life was dangerous and we lived always on the edge, waiting for something terrible to happen, some emotional or physical explosion of violence, something that would tear us from our home and leave us homeless. By the grace of God we were provided for, but we did not know God in our home, and so we lived in a constant state of fear and anxiety, never knowing if we could make it through another day. When I learned about God, and began to feel His presence in my life - He had always been there but I had not known it - when I knew Him and knew that He would be both father and mother to me, that is when He sent me to work with these children and teens, to share with them that they could have the same experience of His peace and care and love that I had discovered.
One of the mothers I worked with at that time told me that I was a mother, even though I have never had children. She pointed to the children and teenagers I worked with and said, "Look at all of these!" She then said that I was a mother to her and to all of the other parents, too. As I write this, I know that the message for today, for Mother's Day, is going out not only to the traditional mothers that we have, but also to those people, maybe they are our fathers who have been both mother and father to us, maybe they are nurturing and caring friends who came along at just the time when we needed the loving care of a mother, maybe they are grandparents or aunts and uncles, a sister or a brother who mothered us. Whatever our experience, whatever we had or didn't have in the traditional sense of a mother, God's promise to us is that He will "set the solitary in families," (Psalm 68:6), and that He will restore to us all things that were lost or taken away from us. Sometimes He may bring those actual people back to our lives, but sometimes He will restore what we lost or what we never had by bringing something new that is even more than we could have known before.
If you have a great mother, love her today and bless her. If you have had a great mother who is not around now, love her and bless her in your memories. If you have not had a mother or the one you have is not able to love you in the way that you need to be loved, know that God has put people in your life who will be there to give you the love and care that He knows you deserve.
Blessings,
Jannie Susan
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