Made to Move Mountains

The back cover of Made to Move Mountains begins with these words, ” Life is an incredible journey with many ups and downs.”

It is, isn’t it?! We know and believe this, but never are we more aware of it than when upheaval and uncertainty come calling. Right now, for most of us, the coronavirus pandemic has shaken life as we know it.

{affiliate links in this post, friends! Thank You! 🙂 }

If we could time travel back 100 years, we could listen to the stories of the people hit with the onslaught of the Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918.

I’ve been thinking about my great-grandmother, Amelia. I never knew her, of course, yet she performed everyday tasks like I do, hoped and dreamed as I do, and felt deep emotions and ups and downs like I do in 2020.

She not only saw the Flu Epidemic, she felt it tragically. Her life was deeply impacted by it and she carried it with her the rest of her days on earth.

My great-grandmother, Amelia, buried three babies in this epidemic.
On a Friday evening, her three-year-old son, Joseph Paul breathed his last. Saturday night at 7:55 p.m. Samuel John, aged 5 months, died. His twin brother, Daniel James left this life as well, in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Three children in three days. During these same days, my great-grandfather lay very ill with the influenza and very little expectation for his recovery. He wasn’t even told about the children’s deaths because he was so sick. He did recover despite the odds. My grandfather was born into their family a little over a year later and family story says my great-grandmother especially mothered over him after previously burying three babies.

I don’t mean to cast her character as not mothering well before. She very much did. It’s an indication of the impact trauma has on us. Through it we become more keenly aware of the brevity of life, the preciousness of life, and the ups and downs of life.

She’s been on my mind as I think about the hardships of life and persevering through perils. She faced rocky roads and chose to battle through dark days. She faced the towering peaks and clung to her faith and her God. She took the next step and the next step and did the next thing in front of her. She nurtured and rocked and cared for my grandpa as an infant, and as he grew she instilled faith in him too.

My great-grandmother, Amelia, isn’t well known. She never came close to celebrity status nor ever desired it. She never had followers online, became an influencer or shouted loud on Twitter.

Yet, my great-grandmother Amelia, WAS an influencer. She did move mountains. Her life, her faith, and her posterity following along behind her were greatly impacted by her life. She taught faith and kindness and instituted change from her tiny corner of the world.

Because here’s the thing I tend to so easily forget.

Life is the likeliest to happen in the small, in the unseen, and in the details of mundane faithfulness and painful perseverance.

Thank you so much to Baker books for sending me a copy to read and review.

This is what the book Made to Move Mountains does for us too. It shows us how little things sometimes turn into the larger things we never imagined possible. It shows us how painful decisions and scary situations become the greater good when we hand it to God and cling to faith. Made to Move Mountains doesn’t tell us the mountains will quit coming. But Kristen Welch encourages us to lean in, cling tightly to God’s promises and take the first shaky step and then the next one. In time, we look back, surprised, and find the mountain behind us.

Most of us won’t start a nonprofit as Kristen has done. Our mountains will contain different boulders, side trails, and peaks. But our commonality? We are made to move mountains and we each make a difference.

Nonprofits need donations. Neighbors need their lawn mown. New babies need mothering and cuddling.

Teenagers need camaraderie {and food}. Toddlers need hugs and clean diapers. The homeless need a meal.

It takes a VARIETY to meet needs and fill hearts.

That raspberry cream cake you love to make and everyone else loves to eat and then they bombard you for the recipe or request you bring it to every single gathering? Maybe it feels silly and easy. It matters.

The single mama friend who you bless with your children’s outgrown clothes, tucking Starbucks gift cards in the box especially as a treat for her? You brush it off as no big deal, but friend, it IS a big deal. You’ve never seen her brushing away the tears each time she finds a box on her front porch.

And what about you over there? Childcare is where you thrive. You’re always willing to be the “grandma” or “auntie” or “baby-sitter friend” while a mama inhales quiet as she grocery shops, meets a friend for lunch, or creates with no interruptions for a few hours.

I see you, too, Miss Anna. Always serving with a cheery smile and friendly greeting. The children adore coming to the library for storytime with you.

Hey friend! No one saw you pick up your phone and call your local coffeeshop. No one heard you donate money to pay for coffee for healthcare workers as they tiredly, yet tirelessly, face the pandemic before them. No one commented about the dual joy of supporting small business and weary workers simultaneously.

Small business owner. Some days you feel a bit overwhelmed by it all and you question if what you’re doing even matters. It does. Your products bring joy. Your soap smells delicious. Your pillows brighten a room. Your candles add coziness. Your cookies kindle happiness. Your screenprint tees lighten life.

Moving Mountains rarely happens on a stage. Step by small step, kindness by kindness, box by box, we create change.

Right now, we are staying at home. Daily life is different. We’re caring about others by physically distancing ourselves.

But WOW!!! The social opportunities afforded us that weren’t one-bit-of-a-possibility for my great-grandmother, Amelia.

We can connect through Facebook and Instagram and Voxer and Marco Polo and YouTube and Zoom and text messaging. AND!!!! We can even do this old-fashioned thing called picking up a phone and ACTUALLY MAKING A PHONE CALL. Glory Be!!!!

In the same way, there are myriads of opportunities for kindness, compassion, and creating change at our fingertips.

I keep thinking about people already facing looming challenges before COVID-19 showed up on the scene.

Nashville homes in ruins from the tornado. Three friends navigating cancer diagnoses. House fire. An adoption fallen through. Friends battling chronic pain. Family trouble.

The list of needs and heartache is endless.

There are multitudes of place to give financially. But if you’ve lost your job or your budget is pinched so tight already, there are still many ways we can offer compassion. We can pray for others. Send a text. Give a neighbor a call. Be someone who offers encouraging words and a smile.

If you do want to help financially, Mercy House Global is one of the many places you can consider. Kristen Welch began this nonprofit to provide for the rescue of pregnant girls in Kenya and provide a home for them.

You can DONATE HERE.

You can SHOP HERE. Mercy House Shop offers fair trade items of all variety! They have felt “fill-your-own” Easter eggs. They have candles hand-poured by refugees. They offer curated gift boxes! There’s a super cute Coffee Box and a sweet Dear Teacher Thank-You box among the choices.

You can subscribe to receive a Grace Case four times a year. The Grace Case is filled with beautiful items crafted by artisans around the world. Each Grace Case has a theme and your purchase supports the craftsmen and craftswomen and their families. I’ve subscribed to the Grace Case and the items are beautiful! A couple of my favorites ~ a wooden cake stand and server and a hanging hammock chair!

Mercy House Global also offers a subscription for a Fair Trade Friday gift box. Check it out right here!

I’d love to hear your ideas about the little things YOU do or see done around you to bless others, encourage the disheartened and promote change for the better. What ministries do you like to donate to or get involved in? Local or Global!

Whether it’s grabbing bananas at the grocery for your elderly neighbor, sending happy mail, or donating twenty dollars or ten thousand dollars to a cause, it has significant and eternal value!

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