Shine a Light

This morning I awoke in my usual way. No alarm clock. No rooster crowing. Instead, around 7:00 a.m., I felt a gentle tapping on my shoulder from my oldest son, Spencer. In his soft morning voice he whispered, "Good Morning, Mommy." That is the only moment of each day that his voice is that quiet. "Soft" and "whisper" are not typical ways to describe his incredibly deep, low, and projecting 10-yr old voice. There have been times when I've thought to ask him to stop waking me each morning. But, he won't be young forever. Why squelch this precious morning moment?

A few minutes later, I heard our dog barking outside. "Spencer, will you go downstairs and let Chloe in the house?" "But mommy, it's still dark." "I know, but God is with you and will give you courage"...(While I was away at the homeschool convention, the boys watched the final show of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I knew that Spencer would imagine an Org or Smegel around every corner.) "Let her in so that she won't wake up our neighbors."

Reluctantly, he went downstairs to let our dog in and then came back upstairs to build his K-nex roller coaster. Five minutes later, Chloe was whining in the kitchen. The whining became more frequent and grew with intensity. I wasn't ready for the other 3 boys to wake up, so I crawled out of bed and came downstairs to put her back outside. With Spencer's recent digestion of "The Lord of the Rings," I expected to find a few lights on downstairs. Instead, every light was on.

In that moment, I was reminded of a powerful message spoken by a true statesman at the convention. Dr. John C. Whitcomb spoke on The Creator of the World on Saturday morning. His message was so impacting and his knowledge of scripture so incredible that I left with tears streaming down my face. Something he said which stuck with me was....."Don't spend your time cursing the darkness--Shine a light!"

That was a powerful word spoken by a humble man. Standing in my kitchen this morning, with every single light dispelling the darkness, I was encouraged to be the light that God has called me to be.
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But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King......But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. (Emphasis added) Jeremiah. 10:10,12

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

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"Dr. John C. Whitcomb is a founder, president and professor of Christian Workman Schools of Theology. He and his wife reside in Indianapolis, and enjoy spending time with their 6 children and 17 grandchildren......Dr. Whitcomb's life and ministry may be summed up in this quotation: 'I want to be in the full-time business of finding out what God says and telling as many people as I can.'" (Taken from a pamphlet on Christian Workman Schools of Theology. You can find out more about Dr. Whitcomb at www.whitcombministries.org)