If Leah can do it, you can too

Ever feel like life is just too hard?  Sometimes it feels like the deck is stacked
against you and no matter how you try, you can’t win. 

You’ve tried in the past and it cost
you.  You were embarrassed and you failed
and you don’t want to go there again.

We’ve got a daughter who often feels that way.  Life has dealt her a tough
hand.  Her chromosomal disorder and
speech issues make even small tasks feel frustrating, sometimes.  Leah is 18 now and while school this past
year has been good, it’s still difficult to find her own way in a world that
moves fast.  She loves her family and our
home in the country, but is shy around new people and situations.  Change is hard for her.

Nevertheless, we believe that Leah has something to give
back to those who are less fortunate than her. 
She has no less to give than any of us.  So this summer is her fifth time spending a month or more as a missionary
(the last three without either Karen or me along).  She went down to Mexico to join the AIM work
crew at our base there.  They keep the
base clean and help the missionaries who are there on short-term trips.

The problem is that the last time down there wasn’t easy
for Leah. When the session was over, she was more than ready to come home.  Parts of the summer felt like failure to her.

You’d think after our past struggles that we’d just give up, but here in the
Barnes family we believe in “getting back on the horse.” So we wiped away the
tears, reassured her about what a wonderful servant and missionary she is, and
sent her back.

Not wanting to meddle, we waited and were excited when the
initial reports were positive.  Leah had
a good start to her summer. Her team loved her and she was contributing.  Then a couple of weeks ago, disaster
struck.  She got sick and was miserable
for three days.  After that she hit
bottom and all she could think about was coming home.

We had a fateful phone call with her leaders.  Do we admit failure and call it quits or keep
on going?  The issue was made more complicated by our impending trip to Africa.  Fortunately, she was blessed
with a wonderful team that cheered her on and encouraged her.  “C’mon Leah, you can do this! We need you here!”  And we all prayed.

And so, she turned the corner.  It was amazing to us. We went to the brink of
disaster and then Leah pulled herself up by her bootstraps and showed every
person out there who feels challenged or handicapped that it’s possible to do
more than they would have thought possible. 

The lesson Leah has preached with her life this summer is
that if there’s pain in your life, chances are that God wants you to stop being
a victim and face into it.  It doesn’t
matter what your challenges are in life, you can serve and make a difference.