In her own words: The ordinary days
Editor’s note: Katie Mahl is one of the 9th-grade confirmation students sharing her faith story on Sunday mornings this fall. The last session will be Sunday, 10:20-11:05 a.m., in Fellowship Hall.
I’ve always wondered what it was like for Jesus to really be on this earth. To be walking and talking like all of us. I think sometimes we tend to think that Jesus just bounced from miracle to miracle and every day was just a bible story.
But his ministry lasted for three years. The gospels don’t really even cover that much. What about all the ordinary days?
Jesus probably had favorite foods, a favorite color, a favorite day, and a morning routine, and got sore feet. He probably got blisters and hiccups and sweat and got sick. Maybe he even snored. Or all the times he laughed until he almost threw up, and he probably had inside jokes with the disciples. Imagine that. Having an inside joke with the son of God.
He had human skills too. He could build houses, cook, wash dishes and clothes, and read. What about passing dinner rolls at the table with Jesus, and bumping hands, or praying at the table and holding God’s Son’s hand. Maybe someday John was tired, and he leaned his head on Jesus, and could hear his heart beating. Maybe, one night, a disciple woke up, and looked over to see Jesus looking up at the stars, playing and they sat together and prayed.
Do you think that maybe the normal days outnumbered the miraculous days so much that the disciples sometimes almost forgot?
Then he goes to turn water into wine, heals sick people, feeds 5,000, and they just kind of lose their breath. Not because they didn’t expect him to accomplish the impossible, but because this God has been living with them. It is not the miracles that are unthinkable. The Son of God walked on the same Earth you and I walk on. I think sometimes we forget how Jesus was just like you and me.
Jesus went through so many hardships and losses throughout his life. That was one of the hardest parts of creating my faith. If God was really there, why was I losing all my friends, how come I was getting bullied at school, why were people so mean to each other? As time went on and as I got older, it became more clear to me that the things happening to me and around me were happening so I could help by trying to bring God’s love into other people’s lives. I went from questioning if God was even really there to praying every day to help other people – until this summer.
After a summer filled with camp and a mission trip, a friend of mine committed suicide. My summer changed in a moment’s notice from growth in my faith to questioning if God really is present in my life. It became evident to me in middle school that our world is full of hurt and hatred, but it’s also filled with love, if you look in the right places.
At camp this summer, I opened up about my doubts in how God can be present in my life after all the pain and hardship I have been put through. From choosing the wrong friends, to being bullied, to losing people, to watching our current world as we know it fade away. After an hour of talking and tears, it was evident to me that God had been there with me through it all. I’m still not sure how this world that our God created can be filled with this much hate and hurt, but I do know that we aren’t going through this alone. I also know that hurt and pain can turn into the most beautiful things – it only takes time.
-Katie Mahl is a student at Davenport Central High School
Bonnie Fox
Katie, thank you for sharing this painful story with us. You have wisdom way beyond your years. You are blessed with a wonderful family. Bonnie