How will you measure your life?
How Will You Measure Your Life?
Our new sermon series starts this week asking us how we will measure our lives. Five years ago, I would of answered that question quite differently than I do today. Then I would have talked about the kids and youth at Wright’s Chapel. I would measure my life by their awareness of God’s love for them and how that awareness has shaped their lives so that they might shape their world. I wouldn’t measure based on numbers or percentages, but just try to see how the people I served as children and youth are transforming the world as they grow in their faith.
That is still one way I measure my life, but it is no longer the primary way. Four years ago this month, I got a call that would change my life. The director of Caroline Social Services called and said, “We have a possible placement for you.” You see, I had been working with her for about a year to be certified as a foster parent for the county, and the week before, everything was finally done. I asked her how old the child was and she said it was an infant. I again asked how old and she told me she had been born two days before. “Oh,” I said. And the adventure began.
Now I measure my life by Isabel. I hope I won’t measure my life by her successes and failures in school, sports, music, drama, or whatever she chooses to do. But like the kids at Wright’s Chapel, I will measure my life by the person she becomes. My hope for her is that she will grow in her faith and be someone who changes the world around her for good. I pray that she will be a good friend – not just to those who are like her, but to the kids who for whatever reason have trouble making friends. I do hope that she does well in school so that she might discern God’s will for her life and have the opportunities to follow. I pray that she will love deeply and find joy in her life. And I hope that I will be able to teach her the things she needs to know to do so. Parenting is not easy and being a single parent has extra challenges. But I firmly believe that God put this child in my life and it is my calling to raise her to be the person God needs her to be in this world.
This month Isabel turns four. It is hard to believe it has been four years since the social worker met me in the church office with a hungry, crying, 5 pound baby girl and left her with me. She has grown into a beautiful, smart, sassy, energetic, often frustrating, sometimes maddening, very caring little girl. I pray that God will continue to bless us both on our journey together.
Molly Gee