But GOD Had a Plan

 

            God always has a plan, and He knew exactly what lie ahead for a Welsh baby born in the year of our Lord 1839. This pastor’s son grew in body and belief. He, too, became a minister after studying theology. Robert Jermain Thomas married, and this couple’s hearts were bent toward serving as missionaries in China.

“There’s a call comes ringing o’er the restless wave, ‘Send the light! Send the light!’

There are souls to rescue, there are souls to save, Send the light! Send the light!”*

            But Robert was impulsive, head-strong, and sometimes disobedient. What kind of missionary would he make, the London Missionary Society wondered. Yet he and his bride went to China where, within months, she died from a miscarriage.

            Hope dashed! Robert grieved heavily and left missionary work, taking secular employment where he interacted with people from different nations and seemed to have a high aptitude for learning languages. At this place, he encountered two men who’d escaped Choson (Korea), which at that time was hostile to foreign influences and wanted no Christianity.

            Knowing these men and about the spiritual darkness in Korea, Robert’s passion reignited. He determined to take Bibles there, dressed in the Korean way, and sailed to this hostile land where multiple thousands of believers in Jesus had been martyred. He spent three months distributing Bibles in secret. Then, being warned of danger, Robert fled back to China. But his heart wouldn’t let him stay there.

Much to the chagrin of the London Missionary Society, Robert took his return to Korea into his own hands and timing. He boarded a trade ship with more Bibles. Long story short, this journey ended tragically, and the ship—also a threat to native Koreans—was attacked, set on fire, and all onboard slain.

Before Robert died, he threw Bibles overboard, hoping they’d float to shore and be taken by the people rather than burned. It’s reported he made it to shore with some of the precious Books, crying out “Yesu, Yesu!” and offering the last Bible to the man who beheaded him.

But remember. God had a plan. He always does. And, even though He knew what would come, this wasn’t really this missionaries’ end. Robert’s influence would live on. A man in charge of the martyrdom, retrieved one of the Bibles, tore out the pages and papered a wall in his home with them to laud his victory over this Yesu and His believers.

“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth, It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11 NKJV

The Bible page-covered wall stood for Victory but not in the way that cruel man intended. You see, years later God sent another missionary to Korea. Also, a Korean believer in Jesus eventually bought that house with the Bible wallpaper, which became the first Christian church there. Faith in Jesus Christ and Christianity grew, revival broke out, and Korea eventually became the number one Christian nation in the world.

            After the Korean war and in that divided land, a mother gave birth to a baby girl who grew to love the Lord her God with all her heart. She became a woman of prayer. She married, had children, and decided to help her nation in a very giving way. Mrs. Choi became a foster mother, caring for and loving babies born to unwed mothers who mostly signed over their children for international adoption.

            March 9^th, 1993 a woman birthed a son whom she couldn’t keep. She gave him to international adoption even though she realized this meant she’d likely never see him again or know what became of him. How she must’ve grieved that day and oh so many since!

            But God had a plan. He always does. In April of 1993 Mrs. Choi was given that forty-day-old baby—Min Soo—born with genetic problems and other struggles as well. She loved him, though, and cared for him with great affection. But Min Soo didn’t get a family, and shortly after he turned two years old, his foster mother learned he’d be sent to the orphanage for children considered unadoptable.

This woman of God prayed four times daily for a Christian home for Min Soo. She fought to keep him beyond his foster care cutoff age of three. Unbeknownst to her, on the other side of the world a family had learned of this orphan and asked God whether their home should be his. God’s answer? Yes—and Mrs. Choi’s prayer answered too! Min Soo would have a Christian family!

            God has a plan. He always does. And, when your situation may appear bleak, rest assured it isn’t hopeless. Look what God did for Korea, sending Robert Jermain Thomas who effected change for an entire nation! That Christian influence lived on, and a woman grew in her faith and decided to care for orphaned babies. One of those babies gained his first knowledge about Jesus through her witness. Three years later in another home he’d ask Jesus to be his Savior.

            How do we know this? That boy is our son!

“Let us not grow weary in the work of love, ‘Send the light! Send the light!’

Let us gather jewels for a crown above, Send the light! Send the light!

…Let it shine from shore to shore…Let it shine forevermore.”*

 

*from hymn “Send the Light,” by Charles H. Gabriel, public domain, 1890

#Robert Jermain Thomas #missionarymartyr #ChosunKorea #orphans #fostercare #adoption #Bible #revival #GodsPlan

(If you’d like to read more about Robert Jermain Thomas, I heartily recommend

Chosen for Choson: Robert Jermain Thomas by Stella Price.)

Good Vibrations & Borrowing Songs--Part 2

             Balloons are one way of “borrowing” songs through vibrations, but what about other means for those who are struggling?

            In the mid-1990s we went through some horrific experiences, throwing us into emotional turmoil. My husband Brian, who sang often before that, lost his song—as if it’d been sucked out of him. His guitar went into its case and collected dust.

            Not many years prior, Bill and Gloria Gaither created their Homecoming Series, bringing back hymns of hope and promise. We’d bought several of their cassettes and VHSs. How glad we were because, during that awful period when Brian’s song died and I cried daily, we listened repeatedly—borrowing those songs as God’s Holy Spirit ministered to us while we healed.

            When I shared with a dear friend, Pat, about Brian losing his song, she said, “Oh, Sarah, I understand. That happened to me also. I loved singing, but when I went through a divorce, my church said I could no longer be in the choir. I lost my song. When I found a new church, the music minister learned my situation and how I had loved to sing. He said, ‘Come sit amidst the choir, and we’ll surround you with our song until yours returns.’”

            And that’s what she did.

            I shared this beautiful account with another precious friend, who’d been widowed. Verna said, “That’s exactly how I felt when my husband died—like I’d never sing again.”

            Brian borrowed Gaither’s songs until his returned. Pat borrowed hers from choir members who surrounded her. And Verna? She loved driving and listened to music on rides to nowhere and back and eventually found her song again.

            These dear ones, however, weren’t the first to experience this. In the Old Testament of the Bible, we read about the Israelites who were taken captive and carried off to a strange land for 70 years.

“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst of it. For there, those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, and those who plundered us requested mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?” Psalm 137:1-4

            Reader, know God cares and understands when you’ve lost your song. I pray someone comes along who lends you theirs. Perhaps you’re the song-lender instead! May God direct you to someone who needs healing in their lives and can borrow yours for a while. 

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained too deeply for mirth or song;

As the burdens press, and the cares distress, and the way grows weary and long?

O yes, He cares—I know He cares! His heart is touched with my grief;

When the days are weary, the long nights dreary, I know my Savior cares. 

(Hymn, “Does Jesus Care” by Frank E. Graeff, 1916, Public Domain)

             (Gaither Homecoming share the above verses in this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-U5rKY6vtc&list=RDy-U5rKY6vtc&start_radio=1&rv=y-U5rKY6vtc&t=0 ) 

#GaitherHomecoming #JeffSheriEasterCharlotteRichie #grieving #lifestruggles #musicministry #choir #depression

Good Vibrations & Borrowing Songs--Part 1

             No, this isn’t a nostalgic trip back to 1966 and the Beach Boys, but I’m here to share stories of good vibrations.

            Step back in time with me to the early 1800s. Composer Ludwig von Beethoven lost his hearing, yet music still poured from his soul. He sawed off his piano’s legs, bringing the vibrations closer to the floor, strengthening them. Then he lay on the floor—his ear pressed to it. Although an agonizing challenge, he continued “listening” and composing until his death.

            Jump forward to the 1990s. One of my dearest friends, Doris (who began losing her hearing in her 50s) was profoundly deaf when I met her. She loved music, knew I played violin, and wanted to “listen” to me play. Doris placed her hand on the edge of my violin while I played. A smile broke across her face and her eyes lighted with joy—like she’d received a gift.

            During the time I served in deaf ministry, someone introduced another means of including the deaf deeper in worship. Those who wished held an inflated balloon gently between their hands on their laps. Later, my hubby and I also used this means with the elderly in nursing home ministry where those dear souls loved these good vibrations.

            Leap again to 2022. If balloons aided the deaf and elderly, could those good vibrations help people with sensory deprivation—like those on the autism spectrum scale? I tried it and pleasantly witnessed a calming as music played (which sometimes otherwise irritated them), and they engaged.

            A piano brought floor level, a hand on a violin, an inflated balloon between hands—all means of “borrowing” songs the deaf, elderly, and sensory challenged otherwise might’ve missed.

I don’t recommend sawing legs off a piano—especially if it’s not yours! And I happen to own a violin. Not everyone does or wants to. But could you help others “borrow” songs with the simple purchase of a bag of balloons, producing good vibrations? (I always carry some in my violin case.)

            Do you know of others who need to “borrow” songs, minus use of a balloon? The broken-hearted, the grieving, the depressed? In my next post, I’ll share stories of three people who borrowed songs until they found theirs again.

            In the meantime, how ’bout trying this means of “borrowing” music and feeling those “good, good, good—good vibrations!”*

 #balloons #music #vibrations #Beethoven #deafness #autism

 *from Beach Boys’ hit song “Good Vibrations” by Brian Wilson

Someone's Standing on My Desk

            I don’t stand on my desk, but I sit at it often. Then why haven’t you heard from me in years? Because I “fell off my chair.” Not literally, but I admit I lost my passion for writing.

A heart-wrenching blow, caregiving for my elderly mother-in-love and already-challenged son going through chemotherapy, long-term pneumonia, and three moves all took their toll. During those years, I stored away my writing necessities—the person standing on my desk too.

Autumn 2020, God nudged me. “Write.”

“But, God, hundreds of writers do this better than I.”

His Holy Spirit ministered to my weary soul until I answered. “I’ll write, but please tell me what because I have no idea!”

Christmas 2020 passed as did New Year’s Day 2021. Soon afterward our son came to hubby and me. “I want to write my story, but I don’t know how. Will you help me?”

I recognized this immediately as God’s answer to His and my conversation weeks earlier.

We didn’t start right away. I actually didn’t think our son could do this. He’s developmentally disabled and has inoperable brain cancer—making this a huge challenge. Yet, before 2022 ended, with me as his scribe and both parents editing, he submitted a manuscript to his literary agent.

It wasn’t until I worked with our son and dug through piles of records that I found the someone who used to stand on my desk—reminding me: Never quit.

So, who’s this mystery person?

            Dave Dravecky—his image captured on a baseball card! Not only did he face cancer once, but eventually his cancer-eaten arm was amputated. No, he couldn’t pitch anymore, but he didn’t quit life either.

In their books, Comeback and When You Can’t Come Back, Dave and his wife Jan share what a life-changing, death-facing devastation does and how God uses those for His glory.

I needed those reminders.

God didn’t give us our trials, heart-ache, and brokenness for naught. In those useful times He carried us, grew us, and renewed our purpose.

So, I’m standing on God’s Promises and never on my desk. He’ll lead me on the writing journey, and—hopefully—I’ll listen to His Call.

And Dave? He’ll keep standing on my desk! 

“Standing on the promises I cannot fall,

List’ning ev’ry moment to the Spirit’s call,

Resting in my Savior as my all in all,

Standing on the promises of God." 

(Hymn, “Standing on the Promises,” by Russell K. Carter—1886—Public Domain) 

#hopeinGod #Dave Dravecky #lifestruggles #cancer #writing #Minsmanuscript