The answer to that for us is simple. God. However, when I expressed that answer to a woman at the library the other day, she didn't stop there like most. She went further. "How exactly does God come into play?" she asked maybe a little, doubtful, but genuine.
"Well," I answered, "He gives us peace when it's crazy, patience, when we have had enough, and wisdom, when we don't know what to do." She seemed slightly, like, "ok, maybe." and started to walk away, but not before I slipped her a little folded up piece of paper.
When I was little, my mom used to hand out Bible tracts. She gave them to waitresses and bag boys with a nice tip. She gave them to the cashier to read on her break. Just about anyone, was someone, with whom my mom wanted to share Jesus. You see, my mom was that person once. She was seeking. And one day, a woman, who also wanted to share Jesus, picked my mom's name out of the phone book and offered her a free hair cut. My mom has never been one to turn down a free anything so she went, and got her free hair cut. but also got freedom from sin. My mom was seeking. And just like that, because someone else was willing to share, she found Peace.
A few months after Christmas I got the idea to turn our Christmas letter into a tract. I was so excited. I ran it by my editor, (Paul) and my campus pastor and got the thumbs up. Now, when people ask us these questions, instead of worrying about the negative way they sometimes refer to my blessings, it has become fun way for us to turn the tables. Instead of bracing for the questions, or the stares, or even just the curious onlooker, we are now looking for them!! Who will ask one of the questions! We fold them up like a little card and on the front it says "Since you asked....."
The reason this is so exciting for me is that if you hand someone a regular tract, they might read it, but they might not. However, in our case, if these people are already curious enough to ask a stranger in the middle of the grocery store questions about her personal life, then they are going to be curious enough (read nosy) to read the whole darn thing! Right down to all the good stuff about Jesus!
So why am I sharing this with you? Well, despite the dangerously declining birthrate in America (topic for another blog!) I have SO MANY FRIENDS with big (3 or more kids ) families. Truly, if you have 3 kids, you have been asked most of these questions! And a lot of these same friends also love sharing about Jesus. So I wanted to make this available to you, big family people out there, so that you could adapt it, make it your own, and also start sharing with people the truth of how we do it!! Since they asked! Seriously, think about how many times a week you get asked these question and all those opportunities to share the gospel? Let's do it! (A google document is at the bottom. Email me if it doesn't work or if you have a more efficient way of sharing. I am no techie, that is for sure!)
p.s. There are so many ways to adapt this. Even as Christians we can get tired of answering the same questions about a certain part of our lives. Consider how you can instead use that to share what makes you who you are in Christ, even if it is not in writing like this.
1 Peter 3:15
****For best results click on the link below, then click on File > Download As > Word doc, or whatever format you choose.****
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Pt5FelSu7nwaGGtM_2g7Hvw7oLA_q7B5jFOxN5kXP2o/edit?usp=sharing
