The Day I Realized I Was A Lazy Christian {Meet Gladys}

Today’s post features my “Weekend Warrior,” and, y’all, we have a BORING ALERT. When You see the picture of the book today, you are going to close the browser and never buy it.

THAT WOULD BE A HUGE MISTAKE!!

I became introduced to this series  of “Christian Missionary Heroes” through Sonlight’s homeschool reading program. I would have never ever in a bazillion years picked up a book called “George Mueller” with a cover like this.

But we had to read it, for school. I’m the mom, after all. What could I do? Inside I was a skeptic. But that little book. It changed me, for real. Don’t you love when books do that? Unexpectedly?

So I searched for more books in this series, and found this one:

Again, BORING ALERT. “Gladys Aylward”? What a name! I’m going to give these guys a D- for intriguing covers. But the story?

The best.

And here is the part where I explain how I’m a lazy Christian. Let me tell you about Gladys. Gladys Aylward got the idea that the Lord wanted her to be a missionary in China when she was a little girl. She knew no one or nothing about China. She just had an idea.

(When I think I have an idea that comes from God, I expect him to pave open the floodgates of heaven and make it the easiest, most positive experience I will ever have. Because, HELLO! It was God’s plan in the first place. I am always shocked and dismayed if things are the teensiest bit difficult. And maybe give up. That is me.)

Not Gladys.

With nothing but a vision to go on, Gladys determined to make her dream of ministering to the Chinese people a reality. The obstacles she faced include (but are not limited to, as I am not finished the book):

• getting told she was too dumb to be a missionary
• working for years cleaning houses to raise money to be a missionary (literally years, saving every penny)
• standing up and practicing her preaching in the middle of London, just to get better at it
• taking a train into a military battlefield in Russia, because it was the cheapest route to China
• On the route to China: being taken prisoner twice / running out of food / spending three nights sleeping on snow and nearly freezing to death
• walking for 3 days to a small village
• riding mules for 1 day to an even smaller village
• And then, when she actually arrived, being SPIT AT and THROWN MUD AT by the Chinese – the very people she came to minister to. (They called foreigners “devils.”

AT WHAT POINT WOULD YOU OR I JUST GIVE UP?

Probably the first one.

Reading this completely inspirational story reminds me that:

• My Christian life is way too easy
• I give up way too easily
• I expect life to be happy and comfortable
• Jesus gave up everything for us, and we are to lay down our lives as well.

This whole book is like a foreign language to our Netflix / fast-food / disposable everything / reach-for-your-dreams society.

But goodness gracious do we need it.

If you have kids, and you like to read to them, for goodness sakes buy this book. Buy the series, actually.

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