If I leave here tomorrow would you still remember me?
Freebird, Lynyrd Skynyrd
Death has been at the forefront of my mind lately.
The other night I was watching one of the many crime
shows on TV. Riveting. I don’t remember which one or even anything
about it other than the last words said by the character in distress:
“When you realize you’re dying, you want to make sure
there was a reason you lived.”
The character's words struck me, and I was reminded of a sermon I heard a few weeks ago. In “It's the Little Things That Matter,” Bryan introduces us to his mother:
The character's words struck me, and I was reminded of a sermon I heard a few weeks ago. In “It's the Little Things That Matter,” Bryan introduces us to his mother:
Little girl born in 1950,
Germantown, Philadelphia, she's the oldest of three kids. Her mother's 19
years old. And her and her two siblings all have different dads.
Her mom got pregnant by a married man. Her mom contemplated
abortion. My grandmother, I love her, I've got an aunt out there
somewhere, because my grandmother gave birth to a girl and her and her mom got
into an argument, and her mom said, "I'm not taking care of another kid,
so my grandma just put her clothes on and left the kid in the hospital.
I've got an aunt out there somewhere we're trying to find. Life in the
hood where my mom grew up. They were on welfare for a while, homeless for
a while, grandmother was abusive, alcoholic. My grandmother in the
sovereignty of God, she had this rule. Sunday morning her kids would go
into church while she stayed home and slept off the hangover. So my mom
at the age of 9 walks into church, and would later on get led to faith in Jesus
Christ. Nine years later she's 18. Actually, lemme just, yeah,
she's 18 years old, she finds her biological father, who's living in San Diego,
he invites her out, my mom is so happy to spend the rest of her days with her
dad, getting to him. Three months later he collapsed and dies of a heart
attack. Devastating. She gets back to Philly where she doesn't want
to be just so happens because her biological father was in the military that
she got to go to college on a great discount, so she decides to go to Philadelphia
College of the Bible and standing in line she meets a smooth debonair brother
named Crawford Loritts from Newark, NJ, and he steps to her, you know. He got
his Curtis Mayfield on. It's the 70s, work with me. They get
married 10 months later, they have four kids, the oldest of which is theabsolute joy of their lifetime. How's that for being a little person?
If I had been Bryan’s mom, I probably would’ve considered
my life complete after battling the odds, coming to Christ, finding a husband,
and having a family. My dreams as a wife and a
mother fulfilled, what would my heart be left to want?
Two years ago I visited Camp John Marc. Walking around
the camp for ailing children, I found myself in their art space. A sky of
mobiles flitted above me, each shape held the words of a child’s gratitude.
This one caught my eye.
Somewhere between then and now, I realized the American
dream isn’t the only dream. It's not the
fancy cars that matter, or the mansions, or the money—it's not a materialistic
legacy that drives love. The most powerful legacy is one that will live
on in the heart. And this is exactly
what Bryan’s mother is cultivating. He finishes:
You know what my mom's doing
now? My mom grew up around a bunch of prostitutes. My mom's got a
heart for prostitutes. So here my mom started a ministry for
prostitutes. She leads them to faith in Jesus Christ, transitions them
off the streets, gets them jobs, assimilating them into the work force, she's
done this for hundreds of women. She's got a heart for battered, abused
women because she grew up around that. She's got a heart for women who
were pregnant out of wedlock because she remembers being 10 or 11 and she
remembers watching her older cousin giving a tutorial on how to give yourself
an abortion. The environment she grew up in. And now she's reaching
back and leading these unwed mothers to faith in Jesus Christ. She's got
such a heart for them that my youngest sister is adopted. Her mother
contemplated abortion and my mom said, “We gotta get her.” Now my
youngest sister led to faith in Jesus Christ, finishing up her residency in
Grand Rapids. My mother has influenced thousands of lives. Little small
mustard seed. The kingdom got a hold of her and it's spreading. Are
you a little person? Never forget it, you are. Are you
insignificant in the eyes of God? Absolutely. Does he want to do
big things through your life? You better believe it.
This is
what life is about. This is what matters. Changing
lives. Sharing love. Sharing life, and hope, and the gospel. Living your life so that others may
live.
And if one heart is changed by the day my heart desires
to retire, it will rest knowing that it lived not in vain, but honoring the
very essence of love.
