This one has been a difficult one to narrow down. At almost every stage in my life, God has placed people there who have made a significant impact on who I am. It would take more time than you have to read and I have to write, so I will narrow it down to three. Two are what I call personal heroes - the kind of person that gets in on your life and you admire them up close. The other is what I call a distant hero - the kind of person that perhaps you have never met, yet you admire for certain qualities they possess or things that they do. I will start there.
If you know me well, this should not be a shock to you. I can barely get through a theological discussion without quoting him or make a book recommendation without throwing out John Piper's name. I don't even care that it is quite trendy right now to read him (which usually sends me running in the other direction). There is something about the way that man writes that has made a connection with my soul. Outside of Scripture itself, God has used his books more than any other to shape the way I think about who God is, to reveal sins in my life to be burned away, and to draw me into a more intimate relationship with Christ. Despite growing up attending Bible teaching churches, I had never once heard that we were created for the glory of God. I heard that first from Piper and that realization has turned me upside down and inside out forever.
I suppose my first personal hero is no surprise either. I adore my mom for so many reasons. I know that she has flaws. I know she has made a lot of mistakes. I think that makes me love her even more. She is a real person.
There is one memory I will always remember very distinctly. One evening my mom came home from work. If I remember correctly, it was one of three jobs for her at the time...in addition to parenting three girls under the age of 8. The electricity had been shut off. No storm. No lines down. Shut off. But that is not what makes her my hero. It is what she did after that. She lit oil lamps and candles all over the house. She had me and my sisters change into our pajamas and got out our sleeping bags and pillows. She pulled some ice cream out of the freezer and popped some popcorn on our gas stove and we had a slumber party. Now I don't know about you, but when you are an 8 year old little girl and you get to eat dessert first and have a slumber party in the middle of the week, but that is a memorable night. I remember laughing so hard with my mom. She had such an amazing way of making the best of the worst of times. I'm sure she must have cried after we all fell asleep, but she held it together and genuinely had a good time with us while we were awake.
The last is a current hero. I'm sure I have mentioned at some point that i live in the garage apartment of someone else's very beautiful lakefront home. I don't know that I have mentioned the family that lives in that house. Living so closely to the Langemeiers has been very redemptive for me. Craig and Carrie have 4 kids and one on the way. And they do family in the most God honoring way I have ever seen. Carrie, in particular, has been a source of great hope for me. Her heritage is woven with brokenness and sin. As a young woman, her greatest fear was that she would screw up her marriage or her family because of the baggage she brought with her. It is almost laughable to hear her say that because they have such a strong marriage and are training their kids to be devoted to Christ. Not perfect, but devoted.
I asked her once about how she learned how to be such an amazing wife and mom given her background. She told me that there was very little that she wanted to model after her family growing up. Craig brought a lot to the table when it came to parenting because his parents did a great job, but really together they have sought the Lord for wisdom and asked to be led by His Spirit. When they dated and in the early years of their marriage, they spent hours talking, reading the Word together and praying. She said that there have been so many times when they felt unsure or like they had failed, but that God has been their help and has given them grace to love each other and to love their kids.
I have shared that same fear that Carrie had as a young woman and thought it would be better for the whole world if I just stayed away from having a family of my own all together. And yet, I also have this deep seated desire to be the generation that is different. I have wanted to make whole what has been broken by honoring God in a marriage and as a mother. I don't know that God has that for me, but I no longer fear it in the same way.
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