Ladies Day

Our church recently had a Ladies Day. My mom was the key note speaker. It was such a huge blessing to hear her speak. She has spoken at many retreats and functions, but I have never been to hear her. Until now. I wrote a reflection for the newsletter about my thoughts I had that day and thought I would post it as a blog:

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(Not So) Great Expectations

I wasn’t surprised by the numbers. Out of a church of hundreds of women, 30 came the Ladies Day. I had been expecting this. The multitude I desired to praise God with—the need for a stage or a microphone—wasn’t going to happen. Don’t think I hadn’t prayed. I had prayed that God would bring who He wanted there, that He would open hearts to His truth. But I prayed these things with not-so-great expectations. Like a child asking for bread but receiving a stone, I obediently began to raise the rock to my lips. I guess we’re eating gravel again, I thought. Do you ever do that? Does God hand you precious, life-giving bread and you look down and see a handful of dirty rubble? I seem to put on glasses of self-importance, low expectations or pessimism when I stop trusting God. They color how I see His gifts, His path for me, and even His people.

Well, I got my glasses knocked off on Saturday, praise Jesus!!

I sat in my chair literally God-smacked as I listened to precious women from our very own congregation testify to the Lord’s grace in their lives. The theme was discovering your God-given gifts and having the courage to use them in the church body. These women… they spoke openly about their journeys. They revealed weakness and fear and stumbling. They were transparent and relatable. I was feasting—my cup was being filled to overflowing.

And it didn’t stop there. The key note speaker was my own mom, Cindy Burden. Her story of salvation is so closely tied to my own. In fact, my earthly tent had been a home for the Holy Spirit a few years before He took up residence in my mom. Do you know the meaning of the word “Namaste”? It sort of means, “the spirit in me recognizes the spirit in you.” It’s a common form of greeting in India. But have you ever experienced it with another Christian? It’s as if you just know what they are and Who’s they are. I was awed by the sudden sameness I began to see between my mom and I. What had never been there before was suddenly glowing between us and reflecting light off of everything. Our relationship became something I had never allowed myself to hope for in the past. It became filled with love. And not just any love, but the supernatural kind—beyond feelings or obligations. There is nothing common about it. It was then that I truly believed God works miracles today—not just the garden variety of healing or the saving of a life, but the greatest kind there is—the saving of a soul. And as she spoke, I was swept up in a wave of thankfulness that I was there to hear it. When my mother’s words drew our gaze back to the point on her path when dark became light, I remembered how bright my own walk had become.

So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:30-35)