In this blog post I wanted to share a part of our story when God were calling my family to go to New Zealand in July of 2009 for 5 months. I was 6 years old at the time, so I can hardly remember anything at all from our journey to New Zealand. But, I have heard my parents telling the story multiple times, and it has always amazed me.
My parents felt led to attend a school at Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in New Zealand. I was not speaking in school due to Selective Mutism, as you may have read about before on the blog. At this time my parents still didn’t know that there was a name for what I was experiencing, and it puzzled them as to why I didn’t speak at school when I could do so at home. My parents were praying and asking God if he was leading us there, and they especially wanted me to feel peace about us going there. They were a bit worried about how I was going to handle speaking a language, which I wasn’t familiar with as I wasn’t speaking outside the home. Then one morning I suddenly came downstairs and told them that we were going to New Zealand. They were very surprised as they hadn’t actually mentioned anything about it to me and my siblings yet. But, my parents knew at once that this was God speaking to them. God had clearly laid New Zealand on my heart, and this was his way to confirm to my parents about us going there. There are many instances that I am sure that some of you may be familiar with, when God speaks through someone else to confirm something that he said. It was the perfect confirmation for them as they had been worried about how it would affect me.
I actually have no recollection of this happening, and I only know from what my parents have told me. But, even though I don’t remember this, I know that God had somehow spoken to me about New Zealand. One thing that our story has taught me is that God speaks to everyone of his children. It doesn’t matter how old or young we are. At the beginning of this year I signed up to do a 10 day Bible study called Created to Hear God. This study was from Havilah Cunnington, and it was based on her most recent book. I can definitely relate to the feeling of hearing God speak through others and wondering how and what they must have done to hear God speak. If you can relate to this feeling, I would definitely recommend checking the book out. What I found to be so insightful from this study is how she mentioned that God does not only speak to elite people, or to those who deserve it. He doesn’t keep his voice from any of his children. God speaks to everyone. It might not always be through an audible voice as many might think. God speaks in many different ways, and he doesn’t always speak to everyone in the same way.
I was only 6 during this moment, as I shared. We should never dismiss a word that might be from God just because it comes from a child or a younger person because God can and often does speak through the younger ones. There is so much that God can teach us through children. We just have to be willing to listen and learn from them.
What I truly find so incredible about our journey to New Zealand is the testimony of how good and faithful God is. God sees the whole story and chapter. He truly cares about every little detail. My parents were worried and confused about the fact that I was not speaking in school, but little did they know that they would first hear the term Selective Mutism from my teacher in New Zealand who had experience with it in her own family. For a long time they couldn’t understand why I weren’t speaking in school, and hearing about SM finally helped them to understand what was going on. God has everything that we may be worried about worked out already. He doesn’t miss out a thing. It has not always been an easy journey, but time and time again we have seen God’s faithfulness.