Prayers For Melissa

Day 5: Memorizing the Bible

I have a picture in my head of my sisters and I standing on the bricks in the living room singing various tunes. I’m standing at the end, clapping slightly offbeat, unsure of all the words as the rest of my sisters enthusiastically proclaim the song their mom made them memorize….

Love is Patient, Love is Kind! 👏👏 👏 👏 👏
It does not envy, it does not boast!👏👏 👏 👏
It is not proud, it is not rude!👏👏 👏 👏 👏
It is not self seeking!👏👏 👏 👏 👏
It is not easily 👏 angered!
It keeps no record of wrongs! 👏 👏
Love does not delight in evil! 👏
But rejoices with the truth! 👏👏 👏 👏 👏

👏👏 👏 👏 👏

It always protects! 👏 👏
Always trusts! 👏 👏
Always hopes! 👏 👏
Always perseveres!

(1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Day 6: “WOO!”

I sat in the stands by the swimming pool and watched as my older sister, Hannah, entered the water with the others. The race was about to begin! As the man with the microphone counted them off, the whole room went silent with anticipation. “Get Ready.” The swimmers grabbed hold of both sides of the pole. “Get Set.” Their bodies exited the water as they went into their ‘ready stance.’ BEEEEEEEEP. The buzzer blared, the swimmers splashed, and one previously calm and collected woman sitting next to me suddenly stood up and erupted into a cheer. Her shouts echoed off the walls of the arena. Her rambunctious cries could probably be heard by all the competitors. She raised her hand to her mouth to interrupt her constant, “WOOOOOOOOOO”‘s, almost like a culturally inaccurate American Indian. I’m sure she got stares, but honestly, I don’t think she cared. And that’s what I loved about her. This crazy woman in the stands was my Momma, who was incredibly proud of her race-winning, medal-receiving, record-breaking daughter, Hannah. And she chose to show that in the most unashamed, unabashed fashion possible…

This past weekend, I attended the annual St. Louis District All-Star Bible Quiz. As I was on and off the seats, these two memories came to mind. It occurred to me that Momma never knew what bible quizzing was; Tabitha discovered it in early 2011. Yet she still had the spirit of what it’s all about in her, and she instilled that love of studying the Bible in me long before I ever became a national level Bible quizzer. She made sure my sisters and I memorized the scripture, whether it be through songs she/we wrote ourselves, tunes taught at VBS, verses learned at BSF, or even dramatic interpretations of the Sermon on the Mount.

Momma also supported her daughters in everything they did. She was not only present, but she made herself known as the proud mother of her performing or competing girls. I sometimes wonder what it would have been like for her to attend all of my activities. Would she cheer in the chilly weather as my band marched out onto the football field, or watch intently and smile lovingly at me during my musicals, or be familiar with the countless chants my quiz teams create, or “WOO” me on when I got questions right? I can only imagine that she would do all these things with no inhibition and not a care in the world about how loud and boisterous and completely undignified she appeared to be.

-Sara Joy

~ by Sara Espiritu on December 8, 2019.

Posted in Words from Sara