Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms and women in the Lifespring family! There are so many ways that you give life to those around you through your care, generosity, and love. Alongside those who have had the opportunity to physically parent kids, there are countless ways spiritual, social, physical, and beyond that the women of Lifespring give life to others. Personally, I’ve received so much from my own mom, from Theresa, and from my two daughters. On Mother’s Day, we celebrate and acknowledge all the ways that the women in our lives have poured into us. To all the women–thank you for all that you do!
During our Mother’s Day service, I had the opportunity to speak alongside Theresa (watch her sharing here: https://www.youtube.com/live/0ILNuvSlu_A?feature=share&t=3855). There has been so much that I’ve learned from Theresa through our journey together, and one of the highlights for me has been learning about the relational aspect of faith.
While I was in my late teens, one of the formative messages that impacted my life was about the Father’s heart. At the time, the part of scripture that God was highlighting for our young adults group was Luke 15: 11-32, the story of the prodigal son. I think one of the reasons that this story resonated so well with us is because the message of the parable was so clear.
We were all like the lost son, feeling distant from God the Father. We all had attitudes, behaviors, and brokenness in our lives that made us feel like we were the ones who were far off from God. But the prodigal son story told us about how God treated us when we were far off. God has compassion for us (v. 20). God is waiting for us to come home. Nothing brings God more joy than to see us heading home, where he can’t wait to run to us, hug us, and kiss us like the father in the parable does to the son.
The message of the Father’s Heart has long been central for Lifespring. The acronym that we use to describe Lifespring’s DNA or culture is IMPACT (read about it here: https://www.life-spring.org/who-we-are/). The “I” in impact stands for intimacy, and is directly related to this message of the Father’s Heart that was planted in the church so many years ago.
But I believe that at this time, God is also expanding on the message of the Father’s Heart for us as a church. When the Father’s Heart message first began to sink in for me in my early 20s, I understood the message very much in terms of my personal relationship with God. God was waiting for me to come home, so that he could embrace me. This is all true and remains the foundation of my faith today.
But through Theresa and the other women in my life, I’ve also learned that Christian faith can never get stuck or confined to only a relationship between me and the Father. When Theresa was in university, she was part of a close knit Christian fellowship that focused on having strong Christian relationships between its members. The fellowship would study scripture together, give testimonies, share about their lives, and walk in faith closely with one another. As I’ve learned from Theresa, this is an extremely important aspect of Christian faith, along with having a personal relationship with God.
For me, the message of the Father’s Heart began in my head as something that I knew. Slowly, the message made its way to my heart, where it’s become central to my life. Now, I believe that for me and Lifespring as a whole, God wants the message of the Father’s Heart to be in our hands as well. If we think about the function of hands in the body, they are the part of us that reach out and connect with others. One of the first ways we sometimes greet strangers is with a handshake.
I believe God is shaping Lifespring to be a place where we can see the Father’s Heart in our hands. It should be seen in our outreach to others. It should be seen in the conversations we have after coffee on a Sunday. It should be seen in how we share testimonies. It should be seen in our small groups, in how we share life together and talk about faith with one another. Of course, this is always a work in progress, and we will never be perfect in how we treat one another. But let’s aim together for the Father’s Heart to be so clearly seen in the relationships we have, so that we truly represent a kingdom family.