His!
Seven years ago this morning, our day began in Isaiah 41:8-10 (click here and scroll down to read). Little did we know how this particular Servant Song in Isaiah would characterize our own lives going forward–chosen as His servant and helped, strengthened, and upheld by “His righteous right hand,” or in Spanish, “mi diestra victoriosa.” Within hours after reading this passage, we sat in an ultrasound room as a doctor of man turned to us and declared our baby to have a terminal defect that was incompatible with life. Yet God had already spoken over this child–“His beautiful servant.” How? Our hearts were so crushed we could barely leave the doctor’s office. Yet when told in those moments that this was a little girl, pain and trust collided within us. Within a couple of days, while still not knowing how this child could be God’s beautiful servant, we knew the name for our first daughter: Victoria Grace, a testimony of God’s victory by His grace.
From that morning to this morning seven years later, her testimony continues to unfold. We post this reflection having moved to Peru one month ago today as missionaries with Kids Alive International. The hopeless perspective from “the doctor of man” has been transformed by hope in becoming “His doctor for the sick.” Children’s lives have been rescued from disease through Victoria’s Little Lambs Fund in the Amazon Jungle, Ethiopia, Mexico, and Bolivia. A young Peruvian woman named Tiffany is in the midst of medical training (almost two years completed) in order to follow God’s call on her life to help children and others through medical care. Our second daughter, Rachel, is alive and growing to love Jesus alongside of her growing brothers, Caleb and Jacob. Victoria’s life influenced our participation in the formation of Lancaster County Christian School and also the launch of a University Model School at LCCS. We have experienced intimacy with God, one another, and with all those who are “His family” with us…including our Zion Church family, whose story appears in a book dedicated to Victoria’s memory. The list could go on to include the impact of Victoria’s life on her family, friends, and others who have heard. Some testimonies appear on this website, and we invite more of you to share how God has shaped your life through His servant, Victoria. All of this is evidence of the promise in Victoria’s Servant Song, given by the Spirit to reveal the Father’s perspective on her life (click here to read Victoria’ Servant Song):
“To all who know of you, I will call honored,
And to all who are touched by your life, I will call blessed.”
How? Indeed, the answer has been clear from that morning seven years ago. The victory by His grace was established from the beginning, because Victoria simply was and still is, “His.” All of the amazing happenings from the heart of God these past seven years represent not the victory as much as the outworking of that victory, which is belonging to Him first and foremost. Through it all and to this day, all we can do is belong. In his book, “So I Send You,” Oswald Chambers writes about God’s children as missionaries (he explains, “The special person called to missionary work is every person who is a member of the Church of Christ”–even Victoria through God’s faithfulness involving our family and yours!). In his conclusion, he writes of “the inner secret of the missionary–I know that I am His, and that He is carrying on His enterprises through me; I am His possession and He can do as He likes with me.” May Chambers’ simple yet miraculous title for the last section of his book remain the victorious banner over all of our lives: “His!”
[Click here to receive e-mail notifications of new posts on our Glordinary Goings blog.]