SHINE
Ministries
November 2006
SHINE
Looking again at this year’s conference here are some comments from the evaluations…
“Lunch was awesome! We love the treats, chocolate and snacks! You can definitely tell this conference was planned by women for women…Thank you for giving women this awesome opportunity to live for Jesus Christ.”
“Well orchestrated gift from God, thanks to all for being vessels for God.”
SHINE 2007
Unveiled
We are so excited to be welcoming Kendra Smiley this year and hope you can plan now to join us the first Saturday of October 2007 for another incredible day of inspiration and encouragement.
Thoughts…
Well here we are at Thanksgiving week, can you believe that it is the end of November already? This month’s devotion is a reprint from an article that was published in Hearts at Home Devotional December of 2003 but it is a reminder of giving thanks in our circumstances and knowing that there are others with greater hurts that we can pray for.
Is Your World Too Small?
Have you ever met someone who just changed your whole view of life? Many years ago I met a lady who did that very thing for me. My husband and I had just moved to a new town and began attending a new church. That is where I met her. She was a young mother like me but had already dealt with the death of a child and was, in my view, burdened with raising two other handicap children. My heart ached for her though she never asked for sympathy or even looked as though she needed it. She never seemed rattled or overwhelmed and just took what was handed to her and did the best she could with it. Oh sure there were times she would ask for prayer and I saw her cry a time or two, but never in pity for herself. I was amazed at her peace and her strength and so I invited her to speak at a MOPS (Mother’s of Preschoolers) meeting. What she said that day has impacted my life everyday since.
She began her conversation with us by telling us a bit about her life as a mother, the death of her infant daughter, the birth of her very ill, quadriplegic son, and the son who was born seemingly healthy and then diagnosed with a brain tumor. She talked of how surgery had left her son blind but alive and how thankful she was for that. Then she told the story of her recent stay with her quadriplegic son at the Children’s hospital. She told us not of how difficult a time it was for her and Levi, but of Levi’s roommate, a young preschool boy who was at the hospital through Christmas with them. She spoke of how no one came to visit him day in and day out and of how she hoped he would see his family for Christmas. She spoke with brokenness and tears in her eyes of how his mother came for ten minutes on Christmas day and brought him one gift. Her heart ached for this little boy. She spoke of how blessed she was. She had her boys and her husband and they all loved each other. Then she made one of the most profound statements I have ever heard. She said, “If you think you have big problems, then your world is too small.” I sat there flabbergasted. After all, she did have big problems. How could she have such peace, such calm?? As I sat there thinking about all that she had said I realized where her peace came from. It was because her world was bigger than mine. She chose to look at the big picture, to look around outside of her hurt. Yes she faced trials but she knew that somebody always had bigger problems. She was able to think of that little boy all alone on Christmas morning and see how much God had blessed her. She was able to weep for that boy, to care for him, to wrap him in her love, in Christ’s love. She was not too busy wallowing in her own self pity to notice the needs of those around her. She had a true grasp of the “peace that passes all understanding.”
I wish I could say that since I heard her speak I have conquered the sin of self pity, but it is still something that I wrestle with deeply from time to time. I can say however that when I am in the depths of despair or when I am struggling with “why me?” God brings back the words from that day so long ago and I hear once again, “If you think you have big problems then your world is just too small.” How about you? Are you wrestling with the same self-pity complex? Are you boxed up in your own little world? Look around you. There are people with bigger problems and with more needs than we could ever imagine. One great antidote to your struggle is to seek out those people and reach out to them. Don’t let your world be too small. ~Marla Graham
1/02/02
Published: Hearts at Home Devotional December 2003
Marla Graham
SHINE Ministries