A WORD FOR TODAY, April 18, 2022
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, April 18, 2022
“I waited patiently for Yahweh. He turned to me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand. He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in Yahweh. Blessed is the man who makes Yahweh his trust, and doesn’t respect the proud, nor such as turn away to lies. Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are toward us. They can’t be declared back to you. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be counted. Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire. You have opened my ears. You have not required burnt offering and sin offering. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come. It is written about me in the book in the scroll. I delight to do your will, my God. Yes, your law is within my heart.’ I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly. Behold, I will not seal my lips, Yahweh, you know. I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart. I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great assembly.” Psalm 40:1-10, WEB
The phone rang a few weeks ago. My longtime friend and mentor was on the other end. “Peggy, it is time for me to go home. I love you and I thank you.” It was a shocking call, although my friend was 97 years old and has been ready to go home for a very long time. She was a deaconess in my church and had an impact on so many lives, including mine. She became less active as her health began to decline, but she spent her days lifting so many of us in prayer.
My friend was called to youth ministry at my childhood church when I was barely a teenager. She became a deaconess after her husband died; she was still fairly young and had a lot of energy. She’d lived a full life and had several grown children, and she was excited to impact the lives of the youth in her care. On the day I confirmed my faith, my friend was waiting at the exit. She drew me aside and said, “Peggy, I think you would be terrific helping with Sunday school.” It is important to help the young people find their place in the ministry of our churches, and she was right there to do so for me. I began as an aid in the kindergarten class and have helped in the education of Christians of all ages for more than forty years.
I visited my friend a few years ago and she confided in me that she felt like she was no longer useful. She said, “Peggy, all I can do is pray.” I told her that her prayers are the very thing that keeps so much of us going. I’m not the only one at that church she impacted. She was still in contact with others in my confirmation class and generations of youth that followed. She often told me that she prayed regularly for my daughter who is also in youth ministry, and she always asked how she was doing. She always had news about the youth of my generation, all of whom were also in her prayers. She touched us all in different ways, but she touched us all. And we all went out into the world and touched others with the same love and grace that she gave to us. Her impact is greater than she’ll ever know. She touched me and all those I’ve touched, including my daughter and all those she will touch. We will never know how many people they will touch.
There is a theory called the “butterfly effect” which says that the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil could cause a tornado in Texas. This seems absolutely impossible, but the flap of a wing changes the world around it which causes ripples that grow and grow and grow until the conditions are perfect for a tornado to form. That might sound extreme, but it could happen.
My friend died last Thursday. I’m sad, but incredibly thankful that she was finally able to go home, and I can imagine she went there joyously with today’s Psalm on her lips. She has wanted to go for so long. We don’t want anyone to go too soon, but we also can’t help but rejoice with those we love that they are receiving their inheritance. She was 97 and had an incredible impact on her little corner of the world, and perhaps a bigger impact than we will ever know because so many of those she nurtured in faith have had an impact on their little corners of the world. Her years of prayer for all of us has done more than we can ever really understand. I, among many, am incredibly thankful for her life and her faith.
I have often wondered if Jesus will show us the impact we have had on the world when we meet Him in heaven. I can imagine a map with little lights indicating every heart that was touched by the words we have said or the things we have done in His name. I suspect that my friend’s map will be so bright with all the little lights representing all the people whose faith she fanned directly and indirectly that it would be too bright to look at with human eyes. She was such a blessing, and more than we can count were blessed to know her.
Small actions can have huge impact. We don’t know when a kind word will change the course of a day for thousands of people. We don’t know that planting a flower might make a neighborhood more beautiful. We don’t know how one small act of kindness might change the life of a person who is suffering. We don’t know how our witness might bring the Gospel to a new generation of preachers. My friend may have thought she was a small butterfly, but her wings spread a mighty wind all over the world. She gained her rest by faith, but I am sure our Lord has received her with open arms and give her a beautiful crown for all she did in His name.
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