A Story From WAY Down Under

Over the years I've read thousands of blog entries at the High Calling Network, but I'm still thrilled when I discover a new blog. Don't you love it when you discover a writer who touches your heart in a powerful way? For me it has everything to do with the person's writing voice. Perhaps it's because I've spent so much of my life in the Church, and the Church has a tendency to silence individual voices in favor of some collective, ideal voice. At least it seems that way to me. So when I find a blog that is honest and refreshing and tender, written by someone who is engaged with life and faith and trying so hard and failing and succeeding and writing about ALL of it, I get hooked.

The latest blog I've fallen in love with is by a woman from New Zealand named Simone. (rhymes with "on" not "moan") Her blog is called "Great Fun 4 Kids." Marcus turned me on to her with an email a few days ago. (Thanks Marcus!) I read the most stunning post about a passionate calling she felt, the miraculous way it got started, the failures along the way, and even her own burnout and eventual need to walk away. She calls it "My part in the story."

My part in the story...it's a brilliant title and a good way to look at things. Rather than focus on having been the one to start a powerful ministry, she tells her part in the story. She writes about how it began and then how it ended for her. I was hooked and read every word. Then I read some of her other posts, including a moving one about her own struggles with depression. Take a look. This is something you will want to read.

It's time for me to tell my story. I'm ready. It's been over ten years and it's time for me to share. Many people have heard the story told by others. Some have heard it from me, in part.

But this is the whole thing, pretty much. Hold onto your hats, it's a long story but I hope you'll read it through... this is how a miracle came from nothing but a dream and a scared shy girl who dared to try... Scene One: A darkened movie theatre, 1994. The movie is Once were Warriors, a New Zealand story about alcohol, brutality, abuse and tragic loss. I watch it with tears streaming down my face. After it has finished I stand in the foyer, tears still streaming, oblivious to the crowds. Back at home, the tears keep coming. I am broken by this movie. It is real. I know it's real. Right now, tonight in my town, there are kids suffering this story. What can I do??? I get down on my knees and pray next to my couch, as the tears fall. "God I don't know how you could use me to help kids like that. I'm just a pakeha girl from a nice christian family; I have no training, no experience. Nothing that would make me the obvious choice - but if you can use me to reach kids like those, then please do it!" With this fateful prayer the wheels for a miracle are set in motion...

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