Unless it Dies...

JOHN 12

23Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

The kids and I read a bit of autobiography about the life of Amy Carmichael. Here is my nutshell version of the story: Amy was born in Ireland into a life of relative privledge. But by the time she was 18 she knew she would leave that life behind to serve as a missionary. Eventually, this led her to India where she established the Donvavuer Fellowship and rescued many hundreds of baby girls from a life of temple prostitution. This fellowship still exists today (and is run primarily by Indian Nationals) Many years after Amy Carmichaels death girls are still being rescued.

That sounds sort of glamourous and exotic to me. Amy Carmichael left a great legacy, and lived in a foreign land.

But the reality of living it was different.

In that first year Amy took in 3 babies, and within that same year she watched all 3 babies die. Anyone who's taken care of children (and babies especially) knows that it is not glamourous work. And losing those 3 babies must have felt like defeat; I cannot imagine the pain.

Amy Carmichaels life was a push your sleeves up, dirt under your fingernails affair. She scrubbed floors and washed bottoms. She rocked babies and played children's games. And I wonder if sometimes she doubted whether what she was doing made any difference at all. Because sometimes I wonder. I spend my life on behalf of 4 little people. And frankly, I rarely hear, "Mom, I just wanted to say thank you for making me take a bite of my carrots, and tucking me in. I really appreciate how you ask us to brush our teeth and make sure we have clean underware. "

But that verse from John (at the top of my blog) and the story of Amy Carmichael give me hope. Because sometimes to find our life we must lose it. And sometimes, probably most of the time, what counts the most are little acts of service. It's the things that don't make the headlines, and no one ever sees that matter for eternity.