Being Brave While Waiting

By Rachel Larkin

God's Brave Women - Rachel's Story

Pain shot down my leg as I left my parents’ home on my morning walk. After a week of bed rest from another slipped disc in my back, I was keen to breathe and move. Home schooling paused while healing took place.

As I crossed the road, I took in a large breath, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” I released the air in one long exhale, “I shall not want.” I desperately needed my morning walk and talk with my Father. As I struggled to set any sort of pace, my mind was crazy with where to start. Tears welled up, stinging my eyes. I pulled my cap down further as I passed peering neighbours.

“Father, I don’t know what to do now. Life is such a mess. How did it get like this?”

My three sons, still sleeping in my parents’ garage, had no idea of the full extent of my worries. My husband, thousands of my miles away overseas, was trying to prepare a better life for us. His serious car accident in my sisters’ uninsured car resulted in an expensive court settlement and major car repairs, wiping out our entire savings.

Mining in Australia was the promised saviour to our failed business, but the current downturn meant jobs were drying up. The good news of finally securing a mining job was quickly squashed two days on the site when the company was declared bankrupted. Planes were rushed into the desert picking up the hundreds of miners and taking them back to their families in Perth. We only had enough money for the plane home to New Zealand.

“What now Father? He arrives tomorrow. What can I do?”

Pain spasmed across my lower back. I stopped and stretched. I hadn’t been able to stop the tears flowi