This past May, I was asked to share at the Bridal Luncheon
of Patrick Cunningham and his now wife, Kate.
Patrick and my oldest, Candace, were best friends in
high school. What an amazing opportunity to “call back” and
sow into their marriage and ministry (Patrick is following a call to the pastorate).
What a privilege and responsibility we have as Titus 2 women.
“Life is a steep climb,” writes Mrs. L.B. Cowman in Streams in the Desert. “It is always encouraging to have those ahead of us ‘call back’ and cheerfully summon us to higher ground. We all climb together, so we should help one another. The mountain climbing of life is serious, but glorious, business; it takes strength and steadiness to reach the summit. And as our view becomes better as we gain altitude, and as we discover things of importance, we should ‘call back’ our encouragement to others.
IF you have gone a little way ahead of me, call back—
It will cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track;
And if, perhaps, Faith’s light is dim, because the oil is low,
Your call will guide my lagging course as wearily I go.
Call back, and tell me that He went with you into the storm;
Call back, and say He kept you when the forest’s roots were torn;
That, when the heavens thunder and the earthquake shook the hill,
He bore you up and held you where the lofty air was still.
O friend, call back, and tell me for I cannot see your face;
They say it glows with triumph, and your feet sprint in the race;
But there are mists between us and my spirit eyes are dim,
And I cannot see the glory, though I long for word of Him.
But if you’ll say He heard you when your prayer was but a cry,
And if you’ll say He saw you through the night’s sin-darkened sky—
If you have gone a little way ahead, O friend, call back—
It will cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track.”
Almost twenty three years ago, I started listening to Dr. James Dobson’s radio program, Focus on the Family. Honestly, my day was arranged around specific radio broadcast (no internet back in those days).
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8:30 am and 2:30 pm with Dr. James Dobson
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10:30 am with Chuck Swindoll and Insight for Living
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11:15 am with Elisabeth Elliot
Their insight and biblical training “called back” to me and made me who I am today. I raised my children with their help. Today, at 3:30 pm (ET), I have a scheduled radio interview with Dr. Bill Maier of Focus on the Family’s Ministry, Focus on the Child. He will be interviewing me for their quarterly Audio Journal. When they first emailed, I was stunned. Just about as stunned as when I received the acceptance email for my first book, Rock-Solid Families. Yes, I believed in the project, but there are sooooo many books on parenting. Why one more? Why my voice? Do I really have anything to say? After I dealt with all those doubts, I prayed. I accepted God’s plan.
Who are we to limit God? To quench his work in our lives? Remember Gideon’s response in Judges 6:11-27? Take a moment to read that today. He shrinks when the angel of the Lord appears to him.
I only have a minute, today, to encourage you. One little minute to CALL BACK and say, “Be a voice in someone’s life today. Call back to a friend, a relative, a stranger, etc. Call back and encourage them to press on in the faith. To believe God is who he says he is. To trust him completely with every little facet of their life. To do what they know is right. Let them know God is real. Mighty. Present.”
I long to call back to young moms and women. I long to tell them all about our great God. I am stunned by God’s grace and overwhelmed that He uses us. May our voices be strengthened by His Spirit today. Infused with His authority. Touched by His grace. In Jesus name.