LIFE’S CHALLENGES: by Lucy Jacob
These last seven months during COVID-19 all of us lived day to day wondering what would come next.. Each of us dealt with it in our own way. The church was also challenged: How do we continue to minister to our members and friends. As I look back, I believe for the most part we did the best we could with the information given.
As a survivor of WWII in Eastern Europe under the Nazi regime I have reflected on how my very brave parents did not give up. They fought with absolute unwavering determination that we would survive. When I was 16 my mother showed me scars on her abdomen and her shin. I wondered: “why is she showing me this? Did she have surgery I never knew about? Then she explained that when she was pregnant with me, she had been running through a field where stalks from crops were sticking up. She was being pursued by an enemy plane for target practice. She told me she fell and one of the stalks partially pierced her side and a bullet “nicked” her shin. Her next words were, “I prayed that my baby, you, was not harmed. God answered my prayer and here we are….together. She hugged me and I saw a couple tears trickle down her cheek and then she went outside to work in the garden.
I was stunned and wondered: Why are you telling me this now? I began to recall us living in a Displaced Persons Camp till I was almost 8 years old and getting seasick on the ship that brought us to this wonderful country on December 23, 1951. I thought about how much she insisted that we all go to church EVERY Sunday. No excuses unless you were sick.
Her strong faith and never give up attitude is what I look to each time a challenge crosses my path. My faith and God’s promise that He is standing and walking beside me each and every day upholds me.
My mother was and Oral Surgeon and my father was a math teacher before the war. Both of them loved their careers. The war and ending up without a homeland for 6 years did not make them give up. They both worked very hard. Due to language barriers and lost documents of their degrees, they reconciled to do whatever was available to provide housing and food for our family of four. My father worked for at a railroad maintenance shop painting box cars in 100 degree weather during the summer months. My mother did domestic work for various clients where we reaped the benefit of getting their leftover food. We loved it!
They and many others from their generation are examples of perseverance and true grit. I am who I am today due to witnessing their resolve to never, never give up and find a way through each challenge life gives.
So I say to you: look for the positive, be joyful in the little things, show love to those around you, hug your children and tell them you LOVE them. God loves each and every human being he has created. Even those we find difficult to love. Do not let this pandemic dictate how you live. Be a beacon to those around you.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7)
