By Reba Phelps
When I began writing this column in 2018, my sole purpose was to make people feel normal about their struggles, their path in life, find the delicately hidden silver lining and share how God can be found in the deepest details of our lives.
Life has changed a lot for me and my daughters since 2018. But the one thing that has remained a constant is that we are always running into some calamity or life lesson where we see the Lord’s hand guiding us away from harm. More times than not, we have faced this humor, grace and a therapist and the Word of God. Sometimes it has taken us a little longer than expected to see what God is doing.
Especially in this case.
When my youngest daughter was passionately praying to be admitted to LSU, I always reminded her to pray for God’s will to be done. So we would ask God to open all the doors that he wanted open and close all the doors that he needed to. Prayers sounded a lot like this….”Dear Lord, I really want to wear purple and gold, it is my heart’s desire and I’ve worked so hard for this. If it’s your will, please let me onto Louisiana State University campus, I will live for you. Geaux Tigers, in Jesus name, Amen”.
On a crisp December evening, two days before Christmas, while crossing the Mississippi River Bridge in Baton Rouge on our way back from New Orleans, God answered her prayer. She received her email stating that she was accepted. We couldn’t have ask for a sweeter and more timely answer from the man upstairs.
When August rolled around and she moved out of the nest, life took a turn.
Every time I received a call or text from her, I truly wasn’t sure if she would be over the moon excited about college or packing bags while delivering a tearful message declaring her disdain for Math. It was truly a rollercoaster ride of emotions for the first thirty days. All I know is that I constantly prayed for her and asked God to give her peace, and show me the wisdom to help her through these dark days of college math and life changes.
On a recent weekend home we visited one of our favorite local lunch spots. As we were enjoying our meal, so many people stopped by the table to see how my daughter was enjoying her first semester of college. Unable to hold back her tears she admitted to her former math tutor that she was really struggling and having a hard time. I truly respected her honesty instead of lying about how great her first few days of college were going. It took a lot of strength to admit that she was struggling. I even found myself replying to well-wishers. “Please pray for her. She is struggling”.
On our way out, we ran into her most cherished former Sunday School teachers from First Baptist Church who inquired how her new journey was going. Again, with all of our honesty, we shared that she has struggles. Almost immediately, the cherished Sunday School teacher asked if he could lead us in a prayer. As their food was being delivered, we all held hands bowed our heads as he prayed during the busy lunch crush. It was the most kind and authentic display of Christian love to be prayed for, instantly.
I told him that I so admired his boldness and beautiful obedience to pray for us. It truly changed our day. With his humble smile, he simply said, “I was hungry and the food was here.”
We all laughed but we knew better. God placed all of us in the lunch spot knowing that his faithful servant would be obedient and pray for the girl who was struggling.
I sincerely hope this encourages you to share your struggles with your family, your church family or whoever is offering a shoulder to lean on. God cares for his children and sends help when it’s needed the most. He put us here to bear each others burdens.
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” – Galatians 6:2
