A Fighting Spirit

Gertrude is one of our girls at New Day that I can relate to because she is a fighter and so am I. Let me explain.




I'll never forget the day that we went to visit Gertrude's village to see about bringing her to New Day. Her grandmother was caring for her after her mother's death but did not feel that she could care for her any longer. After visiting for some time, we decided that Gertrude should join our New Day family.

On the trip back to New Day Gertrude was talking up a storm asking lots of questions. This was very unusual because usually the first day is very scary for the children. One question she asked was, "Do the children at New Day fight?" Papa Wes told her, "No, we don't allow the children to fight." Well, maybe they do sometimes, but it is not something we just let go by. We didn't know why she would ask such a question until after she had been with us awhile. We learned that Gertrude liked to fight. In fact, she picked on Joseph, one of her new brothers, relentlessly. 

Gertrude has since accepted Christ and is growing into a beautiful young lady. She still has a fighting spirit, but as she grows we pray that her fighting spirit will be used for God's glory.

Like Gertrude, I've always had a fighting spirit within me. This fighting spirit got me into a lot of trouble before accepting Christ and it still gets me into trouble when I don't submit to the Lord's plan but try to do things my way. 

We were so young when we started our mission
career in 1991.

On the good side, this fighting spirit has helped me to stay on the mission field many times when I wanted to give up. It has helped me say "no" to things that I know are not good for me, and it has most recently helped me to come out of a long period of spiritual dryness.

Okay, it is time to get to the point of this whole post. I have struggled to keep up my blog for the last six years for various reasons. I had decided to forget it once and for all, and then my fighting spirit kicked in again. My first thought was "No, I don't want to do this again," but then I remembered a verse the Lord had given us while Wes was in the hospital following his stroke. Psalm 11:4 says, "Let those who fear the Lord say: "His love endures forever."  Wes and I made a commitment that the Wilcox house would say "His love endures forever," every opportunity that is given to us. I guess, for me, that means blogging again!

I've decided to use my fighting spirit this time to keep up this blog in spite of the obstacles that I know will come at New Day, like: power outages, a busy schedule, internet problems, and just plain not wanting to blog. My prayer is that each blog post will be a testimony of God's goodness and His enduring love. I pray that this time my fighting spirit will be used for God's glory!

Author:  Laurie Wilcox