Kyrene Grace
I have no idea how – but you are 15 today
One of the few things I appreciate about FB is how it gives us memories to reflect on. The pictures of your 2nd birthday made me smile and then experience some sadness. I smiled because there you were, being who you have been since God breathed His first breath in you. You had a ski cap on, a hickory shirt that would have made your great-grandpa the logger proud, snow boots and a tutu.
That has always been you, grit and grace in harmony.
I was sad when I saw the pictures, because as Cayden and I recently shared with each other, you are the baby that we have the hardest time remembering. You were so quiet as a baby, not demanding and loved to sleep. I cried many days in the first few weeks of your life because you would barely nurse and were so tiny that I didn’t know what was going to happen. Little did I know that your love to sleep was being shown then and would be something you have never grown out of. Waking you is a struggle that so many of us have, you can sleep through any AK fall/winter storm, alarms and gentle nudges.
This last year I have seen so much growth in you. I think that your prayer life and time studying God’s word would make even devout Christians question their rhytmns. I love it when you say “mama! I was reading…and guess what?!” Not only is the Word of God alive and powerful in your life, but it exposes things within your heart and mind that you want to process and live differently from. You recently asked for a new Bible and I got distracted and never ordered you one. Then one day I went into your room and saw your torn and tattered bible, full of every all the sermon notes from Sunday stuffed in there. The Lord convicted my heart and told me, “Sarah, there is no one like her – help fan the flames of her heart”.
Whether we are walking on a trail and I get to hear how one of Paul’s letters to the church is challenging the way you see the church today or the book of James is telling you what to do with your doubt or standing in the warm Mexican waters in Cabo, praying over a soul that needed your gift of intercessory prayer…Kyrene Grace, you are like no other AND I am so thankful for that.
Recently while sitting in Sunday service, listening to the traveling missionary share their invitation to enter the mission field, you turned straight to me and told me, “Mama, I am going!”
Tears filled my eyes and the Lord reminded me of a prophecy that was prayed and spoken over you in the hospital before we bundled you up and brought you home to meet your siblings. Your papa Leonard told us that you were called to the ends of the earth, farther then our hearts could fathom and handle at times and that we were to be prepared to let you go. God is so faithful. He is a God of preparation and goes before us on every road we travel. He knew that we would need to hear that your missional, evangelistic, healing heart is going to follow boldly after the Lord. Ever since that missionary challenged parents to let their families go and answer the call, that is what I have been doing.
You have a plan and want to become a pediatric nurse and then go and work in missional hospitals in 3rd world countries. Be still my heart. Kyrene, I had a dream to one day work with Doctors Without Boarders, but God in His wisdom called me elsewhere. Maybe He let me have that dream for a time, so that I could boldly support you in the calling you have to serve the least of these in 3rd world countries.
In fact Kyrene, I believe that is why God has placed within you a fire that burns and yearns for His word, because He wants to equip you to not just heal others with your future medical training, but also heal others’ hearts with the Word of God.
Kyrene, you inspired me to start rhythms that had shifted and changed thanks to the demanding season being a pastor can bring. I hate saying it, but for a while, my personal studying of the Word was always in preparation for what I would be teaching or preaching and rarely just for my holy curiosity. Because I could see the transformative work His Word does after each engagement in your life…I soon found myself hungering for that transformation again in my life.
I am thankful that the Lord is developing other loves within you. Especially the love of wrestling. You made the decision to try it after you watched your brother do it and completely surprised us. We have watched you contend and get up from the mat, drained and seen you call forth the champ we know you to be. There was a season of mothering 4 girls that I often told the Lord, “what were you thinking?”. One of my greatest fears is how to protect you girls in a world that despises women and uses them for its’ consumption. What am I supposed to do when you leave my safe little nest and run into people that want to take your bright light?
Gladly those days are no longer reigning in my heart – I feel bad for the person who thinks they will be able to put out your light. Watching you on the mat is enough for me to sit back and remember what the Lord whispered, “Sarah, no one is like her”.
Kyrene Grace, you are growing in grace and wisdom far beyond your years. You are learning how to harness your passion, that when it gives in to the world you walk down paths not meant for you. Kyre – you see beyond the veil and you have been empowered to do things that others can’t. I know that God’s anointing on your life is meant to bring healing to some of the hardest hearts and bodies. I pray that the Lord protects your innocence, your gift of mercy and your contending heart. I pray that Heaven’s armies guard and watch over you as you keep bolding following the whispers of the Holy Spirit. I pray that every day you wake up, the enemy says “crap, she is awake”
Go get em champ – God’s on your side and we are sitting in the front row cheering you on
Happy 15th Birthday Kyrene Grace
