It's OK..."There are a Billion People in China Who Don't Even Know..."

“There are a billion people in China who don’t even know this happened…” was one of the ways my Father in Law tried to console my husband when he was a little boy after losing a little league game he had been pitching.  My Father in Law was his coach.  My husband loved baseball more than most things.  He was crushed, but his loving Father was able to show him a perspective in a way that even a young boy could understand, so much so that the young boy still remembers many, many years later.

It was a perspective that emphasized the big picture, diminished egocentric thinking and de-emphasized self.  It was a perspective that today reminds me of the truth that it is not all about us.

Indeed, what happens to us, the moments of joy, peace, sorrow, fear, worry and exhilaration that together comprise our so-called-life, are not all about us; but about He who designed us and planned such moments even before we were born.  (Jeremiah 1: 5)  Each of those moments comes about to meet a purpose, His perfect purpose for our very existence which is to be part of His Royal family as His adopted sons.  (Ephesians 1: 1-10)  For His glory we were created in His image and as such we are to reflect that image and that light into this world.  That is our commission given to us directly by our Lord.  (Matthew 28: 10)

I’m sure my Father in Law probably did not anticipate his private words of encouragement to his young son to concoct such a meditation by his, then unknown future Daughter in law a few decades later…(boy, this sounds like something out of a “Back to the Future” movie : ).  The fact that they did, however, reinforces the truth that our lives are not our own and that it is all about Him who sustains us.  

Today we remember the man who uttered those words so long ago.  It’s been 17 years to this day that he went to be with the Lord; but his memory continues to live in the hearts of those whose lives he touched.  One billion people in China might not have cared about a little boy facing a devastating defeat in a game he loved.  But even the angels rejoice in having my Father in Law among their rolls.  And even though we still miss him and long for his wisdom, we rejoice too.