My Back to School Lesson{Part 2}

Last Updated on August 5, 2014 by

I did not plan on this being a two-part lesson. Oh! How The Relentless One must laugh at my plans—or in this case, the lack thereof. If you haven’t read Part 1 you can read it here.

This morning as I checked email I had my usual Daily Promise. I subscribed to that a while back as I found myself in desperate places clinging to Truth and the Promise Keeper.

(Confession: Sometimes I just delete it before I read it because the promise that’s written on the beautiful photo is tiny and my eyes strain to read it early in the morning and I’m too impatient to wait on the full email to load so I can read the plain text below the photo.)

But this morning I read it. And the moment I saw the words and The Word, He poured Himself out on me in a way that took my breath away. I fought back tears as my heart melted in His presence. And let me tell you, He was there with a fierce Mother-Love and I know all about fierce Mother-Love. Speaking of Mother-Love, I’ve been missing Mother a lot these past couple of weeks. So much more than when I wrote A Eulogy for My Mother. There are so many big things going on in my life—the kind of things that when they happen, you call and tell momma first. But there’s also a million little things. One of her last outings with us last year was shopping at Wal-mart for school supplies.  My grief sat heavy last week as I remembered in the aisles of pencils and notebooks, but it was soon replaced by joy amidst the chatter of those who live so very well in the present.

But I miss her. She was always the one I called when I felt overwhelmed, or excited, or like I had failed. I knew I could vent my frustration; giggle with excitement; or weep with regret. I always called her because I knew, without a doubt, she cared. And I miss that.

And lest you think I have chased a rabbit to the other side of nowhere, here’s the Daily Promise I saw when I opened my email:

Can you believe that?

I had to read it a second time to make sure I had read it correctly.

Waves of emotion washed over my weary heart as He spoke.

“Stacy, not only do I know, but I care.”

“I know about the big things and the little things. And I care.”

“I know when you feel overwhelmed or excited or like a failure. And I care.”

“And I care deeply. I care with the love of a Mother. I am your Comforter.”

I realized at that moment that the Mother-Love I had known all my life was His love all along. She had simply poured herself out to be filled to overflowing with Him.

The Relentless One was telling me in that quiet moment, in a way that is almost indescribable, that He knows and He cares.

He knows and He cares about you, too.

Halfway through writing this post I stopped to go to class. Driving home, I was thinking about my day, and how to put these words on the page. I knew right then that there’s a third and final part to this lesson.

So class dismissed. For now.

{But I hope you’ll come back tomorrow for Part 3.}