A friend of mine told me that one of the highlights of her childhood would be the surprise picnic her Mother would have for her and her brothers and sisters. These picnics were not like most, she said many times she would come home from school and her Mom would have the picnic basket out and the tablecloth spread on the living room floor. There would be a spread of bread, butter and peaches. Her Mom, brothers and sisters would pretend like they were on a great trip seeing wondrous sights. Though the family had some hard times and their Mom had to struggle in raising the family the make believe picnic would always make the day brighter.
My friend said that it wasn't until she was older until she understood the picnics her Mom had. The days they had the picnics were the days there were no food in the house. Their Mother didn't want to worry the children, so she made a picnic basket to keep them afloat until the morrow. After learning about the picnics my friend said the picnics were even more special, for in them she saw the courage of her Mother in the face of adversity, and the deep love she had for her children to make what could have been a bitter day into a picnic.
The story of my friend reminds me of another mother who had to put her child into a basket of faith and that was baby Moses' mother. When she saw she could hid her baby no longer from the death sentence that had been passed down from the Pharaoh, she then made for Moses a basket of faith and placed him into it. She then placed the basket of faith holding her precious son into the Nile River. The Pharaoh's daughter found him and called for Moses' own mother to raise him. [Exodus 2:1-10]
A basket of faith can keep our dreams afloat, but we must look beyond the lack or fear of the today, and know that God holds our destinies. Today we may have bread, butter and peaches on the living room floor, but tomorrow we may be feasting at the king's table in the palace.
"And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes,..." Exodus 2:3