Something's Bugging Me

Pleasures

Theology in the Trenches

by Kathleen Kjolhaug

 

Ten years? Has it been ten years since Theology in the Trenches was birthed? How many words, articles, themes, and thoughts have been penned? My heart has tried to be astute…listening to remnants of relevant whispers. Encouragement brought was the goal. Inward thoughts drawing common ground was the desire. Sharing connected yearnings where struggles find laughter and other times sheer pain…all taking on a form of its own.

Today, I read one, an article that is. It was not mine. Only one of this author’s writings have I read because there are not many. As best I know, there is only one, and it touched. From the plains of Africa the words were penned, in a land far away. What has been lived was written for His glory and it touches. Deep within the crevices of the heart I hear whispers, whispers of truth. Her words encourage, her words unite, and her words empower because they are from Him. Her words edify…although the story told is about personal experiences…it is ultimately about Him. She writes:

“Early in the morning, quietly, and sacredly, already 35 years ago, a son was born. We named him Benjamin Paul. Benjamin: son of my right hand.  Ben Paul: son of Paul. Unlike Rachel’s Benjamin, son of Rachel, son of Jacob and of Isaac and of Abraham, this was our first born.”

“God’s pleasure--what a gripping daily prayer! That God might find pleasure in me, with all my weakness and, so often, faithlessness. Amazing. I know that he was pleased with every child he gave. And with every child came a greater sense of responsibility to him. These children of his in our care. They had a purpose and he had a plan. By grace, Paul and I are only the keepers of these treasures.”

The author, Teresa S., shares that she and her husband went on to be entrusted with twelve children while serving in the heart of heat and dust. Then, in the midst of her writing, come some of the most beautiful thoughts ever penned. They wash over like fresh rain.

“As one by one our children have left home, there have been crucial times in each of their lives when we felt intensely absent. Whether it was a surgery, a near-death accident, a grandchild born lifeless, or simply behavior resulting from the sin which we passed on to them, we grieved from a distance while longing to be present.”

And there you have it. When sharing about that which plagues all of mankind, she does not finger wag. No disillusionment from behavior that disheartens…only love and shouldering of responsibility as those whom we love have inherited the sin problem from us. Original sin passed on. God equips and brings all through passage points that He alone must bring…for His glory. Her words bring peace. Her words tenderly stroke and bless. She chooses love, and it is evident. Evidence lived out…a living faith breathed.

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11, KJV). Amen.

(To read the full article by Teresa, please visit http://www.clba.org/category/clb-blog.)