God Will Help
By Tammy Hopson
Mitchell County
“Mom, I can’t find my other shoe!” cried my little girl at the top of her lungs. Another frantic Sunday morning had well begun. I panickily searched under beds, inside closets, between couch cushions, and in toy boxes to find the missing shoe. Noticing my oldest daughter was still in the bathroom, I shouted to her that she needed to hurry. I walked past my middle daughter in the hall. Trying not to sound irritable I said to her “Please go outside and find your brother” I continued my search for the same shoe that seemed to disappear every single Sunday. Suddenly a mud-caked boy came blasting in the back door. “I fell off my bike!!!” he shouted and then with one look at his mother’s face, he marched off to his room to change clothes before a far worse fate came upon him. ”I FOUND IT!!!” shrieked my little girl as she held the shoe high up in the sky as if she were proclaiming a great victory. “Put it on” I ordered sternly as I scooped up the baby and the diaper bag and headed towards the car. I let off one last shout through the house “It’s time to go! We will be late!” A quick fastening of the car seat and several honks later I finally had all five of my little children in the car and headed to church. Breathing a sigh of relief and accepting that we were going to be late (again) I glanced into the rearview mirror at their little faces. Some of them still needed a little cleaning and there was still hair that needed brushing, but a few crooked ponytails and dirt-stained cheeks were not going to keep us from church.
During those years, getting my young family to church was hard enough but then one day I read this scripture in Deuteronomy 6:6-7(NAS) “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. And you shall repeat them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up” I remember feeling so overwhelmed by that verse. Does God really want me and my children to talk about Him all of the time? I could hardly get shoes on their feet or keep them out of the mud long enough to get them to church on time. How in the world was I going to fulfill this scripture in their lives? It seemed so hard and all I could do was ask God for help.
Through the years the words of my Pastor kept echoing in my heart “….. you need to have those kids in church every chance you get”. Somehow we kept making it to church. We still had the same frantic mornings and unexpected hurdles week after week and none of us arrived looking perfect but we went almost every Sunday.
One particular evening we were coming back from service. My children were in their teens. In the car with us was our neighbor boy. I could hear the kids talking to him in the back seat. He was asking questions about the sermon and they were answering and explaining it to him. The rest of the ride home they all talked about God and His love.
As I pulled into the driveway that night the Lord reminded me of the scripture in Deuteronomy. Then He nudged my heart “You’re doing it.” The command in that verse was happening! Then I recalled all of the years we had traveled to church as a family. We had been doing the same thing! We had spent a lot of the ride talking about church, scriptures, lessons, and God. But it didn’t happen just because I required it. I did not force us to talk about God. All of those years, God was doing something too. He was writing His Words on their hearts. Through those church services my children fell in love with God and they could not help but share that love with others. All I did was simply ask God for help. To this day God is still fulfilling that scripture in their lives as they take their own families to church. I know they have the same frantic moments with lost shoes and messy faces. But I continue to tell them to “….have those kids in church every chance you get” and when it all seems too hard just ask and God will help.
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Tammy Hopson has been a Mitchell County resident since 1992 and lives in Red Hill with her family. She is a mother of six children and grandmother of 14. She has been a member of Hoyle Memorial Christian Fellowship in Lawndale, NC since 1992 and helps lead The HMCF Youth Group.
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