Sometimes Life Calls for the Bumblebee Effect

by | Oct 26, 2011 | Uncategorized

In my last years of college, I sit with peers in the coliseum on Sunday morning.  Attend this mega church where throngs gather to hear the Word proclaimed, worship with arms raised, hearts expectant.  And I find myself transfixed in watching.  Watching those pastors wives on the front row.  The ones absent when my eyes sat level with the back of the hard pew at the Catholic Church.  Those pews I dusted with my Grandma on Saturday mornings.

I watch how these women stand next to their husbands, wrap their arms around their children, smile and take the hands of those that approach them after the sermon.  The way they bow their heads, pray with eyes closed tight bending over those kneeling at the altar.

And I wonder if this life could be mine.  This girl with absentee parents, no theological background who doesn’t know how to play the piano, sing or speak in public – could she do that?  Be that woman?  The pastor’s wife.

That dream; He fulfills what I think is out of reach.  I marry this man, the architect who loves Jesus more than designing buildings and together we take this journey into vocational ministry with linked arms more than 21 years now.  A life that carries weight I couldn’t see all those years I watched because of grace.

And as I brush shoulders with almost eighty pastors and some of their wives last night, under the stars with plates of food in hand, I listen to their struggles, joys, and triumphs.  I think about the bumblebee effect  (Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus).

How a bumblebee, by all theories of aerodynamics and physics should not be able to fly.  No scientific explanation as to why;  it just does. Because no one told it, that it was impossible.  The way sometimes we feel that our dreams are out of reach, and how perspective settles in when we know our lives exist because of destiny.

The spirit soars through adversity when we are convinced there is purpose to our struggle.

And I find this in the quiet hours this morning before the sun rises and the young ones stir. How Gertrude Hobbs marries Oswald Chambers and lives only six years as his wife before his unfortunate death.  As a court stenographer, she uses her skill to capture his sermons verbatim in those short years together.  

Though he publishes only one book in his lifetime, for half a century she labors to give his words to the world under thirty titles.  My Utmost for His Highest stays in continuous print since 1935 and in the last decade of the century, it remains a top ten title of religious bestselling books.

Gertrude is bumblebee.  I am bumblebee.  You are bumblebee.

Made to fulfill a specific purpose.  Bypassing flowers that yield greater reward to fulfill calling. Destiny awaits us all. And in the midst of folding clothes, washing dishes, changing diapers, pushing the grocery cart down the aisle, we strap on the seat belt and take the unexpected flight. 

And in our courage to step into what the world and our self-doubt says is impossible, we find the extraordinary of who God is by giving ourselves to the world. 

Where do you dream of flying?  Are you letting circumstances, what the world says you can’t do keep you off the runway?

Linking with Ann and Emily:

 

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15 Comments

  1. brian miller

    nice..e.ncouraging and uplifting…dreams happen and are possible…in the right time and if we hold onto them loosely but in persistence….

    • Redemption's Beauty

      Thanks Brian. Sometimes we don’t realize that we ARE living them right now as well. So glad that you were encouraged by the post!

  2. Sherri Strickland

    My Utmost For His Highest took me through a terrible time in my life. It is truly amazing how that devotional came about.

    • Redemption's Beauty

      I know Sherri. I was so moved when I read about his wife. It seems that her whole purpose in marrying him was to share his words with the world. So awesome.

  3. Rachelle

    Thank you for this.

  4. Rachel

    this was rich.

    this bumblebee needed this today.

    • Redemption's Beauty

      So glad Rachel. Thanks for leaving a comment to let me know!

    • Redemption's Beauty

      So glad you visited so I could read your knitting post. Enjoyed it. This making something beautiful from what looks impossible, it is a sacred echo. Blessings!

  5. janaecharlotte

    Thank you for the reminder that we can rest and live from the Beyond. Incredible, those bumble bees.

    • Redemption's Beauty

      Incredible the way God creates everything with purpose! Thanks for visiting today.

  6. happygirl

    This is so encouraging. There is purpose in the struggle. Thank you.

    • Redemption's Beauty

      So glad you are encouraged. In the midst of struggle or what we cannot see, it is easy to feel left behind and forgotten. Thankfully God uses it all to shape us for His purposes. Thanks for leaving a comment.

  7. roseann elliott

    I love the bumblebee…and…the spirit soars through adversity…..when there is a purpose to the struggle. great word…
    Blessings~

    • Redemption's Beauty

      I see all those bees that fly around my flowers a bit differently now. God is so good at that . . .making me see things differently. Blessings to you Roseaan!

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