Good morning, everyone.
Our verse for today comes from Acts 12:12, “When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.”
Today is the birthday of Ashley, the wife of Rich. She is also the mother of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie, and Raleigh. Further, she is the daughter of Charlie and Trish and the sister of Karen. Like so many of us, she has lived out most of her five decades in relative obscurity. She works some as a nurse, leads or has led different ministries at church, and manages a house full of people and clothes and bills and schedules and activities. She has homeschooled our kids for seventeen years, changed thousands of diapers, and loved every minute of all of it. She has prayed. Prayed for wisdom, safety, peace, direction, comfort – for God’s will. And she is proud. Proud of her husband and proud of her children. And she will be perfectly content to go on as the wife of Rich and the mom of our six kids. If there was ever a person made to be a helper to her husband and a loving mother to her children, she is the one. She has no desire to leave her stamp on anything, rather her greatest joy is to see her kids flourish and be known as the mother of each of them.
What struck me following our church’s discussion last night about transgenderism is the lack of meaningful purpose evident in those who cling to this lifestyle. Rather than acknowledging God has a plan and intention for them much bigger than their fascination with their identity and sexuality, these individuals are consumed with what they think they are or should be. It is of no consequence to them what God intended them for. That’s why telling such a person that what they are doing is wrong is like trying to explain calculus to a squirrel. First there must be some sort of common ground established. And for me, what’s established is yet another mirror to show me how heinous and ugly my own sin is. Changing one’s gender identification is not a sin I wrestle with, but the pages are full of the ones I do. So, where God shows me I’ve fallen short of His glory, of being the right kind of husband of Ashley and dad to my kids, that is where I shut up and listen.
As we seek Him today, let God unveil for you your higher calling as His child.
Have a great Thursday.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
