Happy Mother’s Day! article 2

Thud … thud … thud … thud …     That was the sound every two seconds as we drove through the desert of Arizona; we were on our family vacation to the west coast. The roads were awful, they reminded me of those mile long bridges that go across the Mississippi River in which you feel and hear every bump in the road. So halfway between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon my mother broke our zombie like coma of endless thuds by saying, “hey, let’s memorize Bible verses!” The 16 year old version of myself said, “do we have to, we are on vacation?” Of course I knew how that sounded right after I said it; however my mother was unfazed by my negativity and we started in Ephesians 3:16.
“16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:16-21 NIV

It took about an hour, but we finally got it down and I had it memorized, mostly. The words stuck, and their power has helped me throughout my life. It is easy to get lost in the mundane, lost in the endless thuds of life and forget how rich we are because of the love of Christ. I have my mother to thank; she is the one who woke me up from the thuds of this world in order to enjoy the riches and power of Jesus. Thanks mom. - Vic