I know many mothers have a coffee mug with some wild font type proudly displaying “World’s Greatest Mom!” printed with some fancy flowers circling the statement. Undoubtedly a Christmas gift from their children, which she delightfully uses every day for her chamomile tea or morning coffee. Some women may have a similar sentiment on a t-shirt or ball-cap gifted from their husbands, “Best Wife Ever” obnoxiously displayed with splashes of color and decoration. Other ladies have a keychain fob plaque with the statement “I am a shero!” next to a handful of other fobs ranging from fuzzy balls of fur to little light up toys that play a catchy tune when you press a button. Unquestionably, they have more fobs than keys on the keyring. (By the way, “shero” is a female hero in case you were unfamiliar with the word).
It may be a little cliché for me to say that my wife is, in fact, the best wife ever and that she is a shero. I know the competition is very steep for her to earn the title and be labeled truly as “the best”. Nonetheless, I gladly give her the designation.
I will skip over all the details of her daily routine that includes an early morning rise to take care of household animals (including dogs and humans), to race off to work to try to avoid covering herself with paint and glitter while teaching art classes to over 200 students, then return home and walk the dog in Cambodia afternoon heat, then start on university classes with a short break to prepare dinner for her husband, eventually crashing at 10pm and maybe have 15 minutes to herself to read a good book.
I am inspired by her, which I recently found out, I am not the only one she inspires. At the risk of bragging about Jeanine, I felt compared to share.
A missionary friend of mine recently told me that his mother questioned why he wanted to be in Cambodia and not his home country. He and his wife are in their 40s with a couple of pre-teen children. His mom said they were too old to start a new life and that it was too risky. My friend told her about Jeanine and how she is finally living her dream of being an art teacher. It took her to be in her 60s for it to be a reality, a time when most people are starting to think about retirement, which is also the mentality of my friend’s mother. He told her about Jeanine taking classes adding another 20 plus hours of studying, research, and essay writing each week. This is also something people in their 60s don’t typically do.
He told me he was inspired by Jeanine. He shared his delight that she has been obedient to her calling from God, especially at an age of her life that the world thinks should have a very different behavior.
I think about Moses. He lived about 120 years and was 80 when God told him to return to Egypt to free His people. That means Moses had lived 67% of his life when he got busy with this calling. If comparing that to the global average of life expectancy today, which is 73 according to The World Health Organization, that would put Moses at 48 years old when he stood in front of Pharoah.
Noah was 600 when the flood came. Job was around 70 when his suffering began. On the flip side, Samuel was 12 when God called him. David was 15. God doesn’t look at ages.
God equips those whom He calls, regardless of age. Be inspired by that. Be encouraged by that.
What is He asking you to do?
