718 days and counting
By Lt. Sarah Micula
There are many acronyms in The Salvation Army. I’d like to add one more. IYKYK: “If you know, you know.”
I’ve been attending The Salvation Army since I was a baby. I’ve been a sunbeam, junior soldier and senior soldier. I worked as an employee at territorial headquarters and the adult rehabilitation center in Chicago for a total of 13 years. So, I thought I knew what an officer’s job was. I’d worshipped and worked with quite a few of them. But as it turns out, you don’t know until you know. I didn’t know the heartache. I didn’t know the fulfillment. I didn’t know the stress. And I didn’t know the freedom. I didn’t know until I knew.
You don’t know, until you know, the privilege and sorrow of walking with a family as they face saying goodbye to their newborn baby, until you’re in the thick of it with them.
You don’t know, until you know, the laughter and joy that helps you get through another day when you watch your explorers troop listen and eagerly form answers together about how often to wash bed sheets as they work on their laundry emblem.
You don’t know, until you know, the hope you feel that gets you through defeat until you see new kids learn old Sunday school songs and gleefully jump to their feet to sing their part, “Halleujah!”
You don’t know, until you know, the assurance you can experience until you see your corps’ leaders acknowledge, “This is out of my comfort zone, but I see God growing me.”
And you don’t know, until you know, the ways God will grow and stretch you as you learn to balance a corps budget, pray for your congregation, or overcome doubt or fear.
I invite you, dear reader, to pray this scripture over me and all officers and soldiers, “We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.” Colossians 1:9b-10 (NLT).
