This week marks four months since I decided to apply to Maggie’s Place, three months since my interview, and two months since I moved into The Zechariah House.
Overall, my journey after graduating from college and moving onto Maggie’s Place happened very quickly–almost in a whirlwind. I’ve barely had time to stop and process everything that has happened. Before I graduated, I had all these great plans for my life and my time right out of college, but many of these plans were dashed through one circumstance or another. I had graduated with nothing, no plans. To be completely honest, I was terrified and had little hope for my future.
One day, while on Facebook, I saw that one of my friends had posted about doing a year of service with Maggie’s Place, and I thought, “Well, why not?” and began the application process. By the end of my application and interview, I felt convicted that God was calling me to serve the mothers and babies of Maggie’s Place. So within two months of applying, I had moved into my new home in a place I had never been before.
Reflecting on my experiences with Maggie’s Place, the summer I spent doing service with another organization, college, and the many times I moved around when I was a kid, I have noticed a common theme: I leave what I’ve known to go someplace that I’ve never been before. I can honestly say that whenever I’ve moved, I have generally had no idea where I’d be going. And no matter how many times I’ve gone somewhere completely (or nearly) blind or how strongly I feel that it is the Lord’s will that I make this move, I still feel queasy in the pit of my stomach. Uncertainty terrifies me.
In those few nerve-wracking days before leaving home and moving to The Zechariah House, I had come across a quote from the Letter to the Hebrews: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go.” (Heb 11:8).
This verse resonated very deeply with me. Even Abraham, the first Patriarch of the Hebrew Nation, faced uncertainty in where he was called by God to go. But despite the uncertainty and very possibly the fear of leaving behind all that was familiar to him, Abraham placed all his faith in the Lord’s promise to him and stepped out into the unknown. And because of his faith, the Lord changed his life forever–he became a father in his old age, the founder of a great faith and nation, and eventually became the ancestor to Jesus Christ. The Lord may call us to make a leap of faith into uncertainty, but He strengthens us with his grace to persevere despite our fears. And as a result of our trust in Him, who knows how our lives and the lives of others will change?
The more that I reflected on this verse and spent time with the moms who come to live at Maggie’s Place, the more I realized that this passage is very fitting for Maggie’s Place moms. They often come from unstable environments or circumstances and find themselves thrown into uncertainty. They do not know where they will go; they do not have any place of refuge. They make a call for shelter, placing themselves into the uncertainty of this new life at Maggie’s Place; and once they move in, they must face the uncertainty of where they will go after they leave.
Not all of our moms have any religious background, but I would say that all of our moms are women of great faith. They have leapt into the unknown by moving into the home we offer to them and continue to bravely face the uncertainty in their futures. Their faith in themselves, in the gift of life they have been given in their child, in the MissionCorps, and (possibly) in God keeps them going, despite their fears.
I see them and pray that I can be a woman of greater faith.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
By Theresa Holt, a MissionCorps member
