My Heart Rejoices in the Lord

My grandmother, who passed away in the early 1970s, was a great story teller. Mostly she told us grandchildren stories from the Bible. One of my favorites was the story of Samuel and how he heard God speaking to him in a dream. I was fascinated with the idea of God speaking to people in their dreams, and often wished that God would speak to me that way. Later, when I got older, especially when I had children of my own, it was Hannah with whom I identified.

One day Hannah was praying so intensely in the temple that Eli the priest noticed her. He thought she was drunk because her lips were moving but no sound came out. When he spoke to her about it she said that she was not drunk, but deeply troubled, and praying out of great grief and anguish.

Hannah was grieved because she could not have children. That day in the temple she promised that if God would give her a son, he would be dedicated to the service of God.

God answered Hannah's prayer and gave her a son. She kept her promise and when he was weaned she brought him to Eli in the temple and said to him: "I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord."

Was it difficult for Hannah to give up the child she had been waiting for so long? It must have been very hard for her, but the Bible says that Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the Lord". Every year she and her husband Elkhanah went to the temple and Hannah gave Samuel a new robe to wear. Eli blessed them and God gave them three more sons and two daughters.

Shortly after we were married, my husband and I went to Africa as missionaries. While we were studying French in Brussels, Belgium in preparation for our time in Africa, I became pregnant. We arrived in January, and in May we had our first child, a baby boy. That boy, whom we named Harold Mark, was born six weeks early and lived only one day. It was a time of heartbreak and anguish for us, a time in which I could have turned bitter and angry at God for what had happened in our lives. Instead, after much agony and prayer, I decided like Hannah, to give this child to God. I too, had dedicated him to God long before he was born. God had claimed him early and it would be all right. My heart was at peace. God gave us three more children, three beautiful daughters, all of whom were dedicated to the Lord and serve God today. Like Hannah, I can only rejoice and be thankful.

When I lost a child I experienced something that helped me to identify with the African women among whom I worked. Because of lack of medical facilities in the face of poverty, malnutrition and disease, death is no stranger to them, and many experience the grief of losing a child. I could talk with them about it, pray with them and for them, having experienced a little of what they had to endure.

As those of us who have lived a long life know, life is full of grief and losses. What do we do when life throws us lemons? We make lemonade! Then we take that lemonade and serve it to others with a smile! The joy we give to others is contagious and takes us out of our own pity party.

Elfrieda Neufeld Schroeder

e-mail: eschroed@watarts.uwaterloo.ca