This is Hagar

Five years ago I became very interested in learning more about a single mom in a complicated relationship named Hagar. Her story was not as well known as some. She was a marginalized slave woman who made a brief appearance in the story of Abraham found in Genesis 15-21. I have never seen her pictured in the illustrated board book in the Sunday school rooms across from my office at church, but when my then three-year-old began working her words into his simple mealtime prayers saying, "Thank you for God to see us." (from Genesis 16:13), I knew her story needed to be told.

When I was asked to speak in church this upcoming Sunday, Mother's Day 2019, I saw an opportunity to reopen this personal investigation into the woman who's words had impacted me so profoundly. 

I have loved getting to know Hagar better these past few weeks and have become aware of some interesting facts about her that I had not noticed before. According to the journal article, Hagar, Victim or Villain? by John L. Thompson, Hagar was the first recorded person in the Bible to be visited by an angel. She was the first to receive an annunciation and the only woman in all of Scripture to receive a promise of innumerable descendants. 

There's so much more about Hagar to know. So much to relate to even today. And I feel that God has put a few things on my heart that He wants us to learn from Hagar. 

Please pray for me as I join with women throughout history in the sharing of the good news of the gospel, from the women who first saw the empty tomb to women such as Mary Lee Cagle and Phoebe Palmer, who helped shape the church I'm a part of since it's earliest days. I am so thankful that He has allowed me to be part of telling His story.