Stand in the Gap

By Maribeth Spangenberg (Contact)

And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

Ezekiel 22:30

Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

Psalm 106:23

As everyone bowed their heads in prayer, the only sound that could be heard above the voice of the preacher was that of sniffling mothers. In all of the 300-person congregation there was not a woman who had borne a child that did not have a tear in her eye or a lump in her throat. The Lord's blessing in the presentation had been that evident!

For weeks previously, my daughter Kaitlyn had scoured the auditorium after each service, seeking out mothers. Armed with her digital camera and check-off list, she had sought to attain her goal of clicking a picture of every mother in our congregation posed with at least one, if not all of, her children.

Her sister, Melissa, on the other hand, had spent tireless hours on her electronic piano and adjacent computer, arranging her original music and PowerPoint presentation. There was no doubt that the combination of both of my daughters' efforts would produce a truly heart wrenching and thought provoking "special" in honor of the mothers of our church on their special day!

Although many heard the music, viewed the presentation, and shed the tears, very few knew the story behind the lyrics. They were penned by a mother, who had been in the trenches of prayer, in the spiritual warfare for her children's souls. Six months earlier her middle teenager had trusted the Lord as his Personal Savior, and exactly two months later, his slightly older brother followed. The mother was so filled with gratefulness to the Lord, and had such a sense of God's Grace and Mercy in her family's lives, that she had sat down and allowed the words to flow in a poem.

My daughters were given a copy of the poem, and put it to music. Then they decided to use in their Mother's Day presentation at church.

After the presentation many mothers approached my daughters with a request for the lyrics and words. It had so moved them as prayer warriors for their own children's souls.

I was thankful that Melissa and Kaitlyn had prevented me from previewing their presentation, although, at times, I admit, I had made it difficult for them. The surprise for me was that they had saved MY picture with ALL my children until the end, and then immediately followed it with a full screen, capital-lettered "THANKS MOM".

"We had wanted to print it across YOUR picture, Mom, but then Dad pointed out that you would feed bad in being shown favoritism, and we didn't want to do that to you on Mother's Day, so we put you last with the "Thank You" immediately following. I was hoping that you would catch the subliminal," Melissa said with a big smile and a sense of God-given accomplishment across her face.

I gave her a big squeeze and a long hug, and, as I tried to focus through the tears, I replied, "I caught it. Thank you so much!"

It was indeed the best Mother's Day ever!