Now about roommates …

My husband asked me if this last week was a life-changer. Well he put it this way: “Do you think this conference will change the trajectory of your life?” And I guess I would have to say yes, and for a variety of reasons, but one significant motivator came through my roommate.

 

God gave me Grace Fabian as a roommate, an author, linguist and former missionary to Papua New Guinea. Grace’s husband and translation partner was murdered as he was translating I Corinthians 13, the love chapter.  It was only love for God and the people of Papua New Guinea that kept Grace in Papua New Guinea continuing to work on and finish the translation of the New Testament.  Her book Outrageous Grace is the story of not just the events of her life, but it also recounts her faith journey from her husband’s senseless murder leaving her with four children, and the accompanying grief and nightmare of decision-making – leave or stay, bitterness or forgiveness, depression or faith.

 

Our trials will probably not be exact parallels of hers, losing a mate in Papua New Guinea, but for sure, we will face similar challenges to our faith in different packaging. We will lose someone or something we love, and it will make us wonder how this can be God’s best for us.  We will face hours, maybe days when staying the course will seem impossible, and maybe not even something we want to do. But Grace will encourage you as she shares her journey.

 

Grace brought the final challenge of the week to us as writers, and I want to share a few thoughts from that message with you.  First, the theme for the week was the Silver Links in God’s Eternal Plan, and Grace asked us if our chain (of silver links) measures up to the tasks of life.

 

Think links as resources that we turn to as we face the roles we are called to play and the bumps and potholes we face on the road of life.  Who are the people who have the greatest influence in our lives?  Do they move us toward God and hope, or away?  What do we have in our minds; what have we read, listened to or seen and stored up?  Do we have lots of Scripture, encouraging words and events to remember that the Holy Spirit can bring back to our minds to enable us to navigate those potholes or battles?

 

And if those links are weak, like the link of a necklace compared to the links that connect a car to a tow truck, what are you going to do about it?  What relationships should change? What do you need to work on reading more closely or memorizing, so that it is available when you cannot think otherwise?  We do have choices to make, choices no one else can make for us.

 

Finally, Papua New Guinea forces foreign nationals to leave at the age of 65, but Grace did not retire to hobbies, though she does have them. She continues to steward the messages God has given her, touching lives through the spoken and written word.  I believe God gave me the perfect roommate encouraging me and all of us to be faithful to continue to speak and write, so that our last words are words that glorify God and are useful to Him.,