When Courage is Closest to Home: Hemming Your Family in Hope

By Cynthia Ruchti

God's Brave Women - Cynthia's Story

In college, I thought the bravest thing I could do for God was volunteer to work in an orphanage in China. Then the dream shifted to Mexico since, after all, I had three years of Spanish under my belt. Then I got married and realized it would take a lot more courage to care for my own kids.

Still had to raise my own support, since the household budget didn’t cover everything.

Still had to deal with plenty of ugly challenges, and I’m not just talking about diaper blow-outs and toddlers/youth/pre-teens who couldn’t manage to “hit the bucket,” if you know what I mean.

Still counted down the days until “furlough,” then realized a mom doesn’t qualify for furlough. No reassignments every four years to recoup, visit friends, regroup, and…raise more support.

I once despised snakes, mice, and spiders. A few years into parenting, I realized I’d need to delete those phobias and become the go-to person when my little ones spied a snake, mouse, or cobweb (much less spider). I was no longer the person standing on a chair, but the one standing between my children and real or imagined danger.

Who knew how much courage it would take to dive back into caring for an infant after a nine-year hiatus, and after already deciding that two children were probably enough? Or that it would necessitate taking Saltines and Sprite with me to stave off morning sickness while taking my Sociology final in my grand scheme to augment our one-income family by pursuing a degree in Elementary Ed…which, as it turns out, wasn’t anywhere close to God’s plan for me.