Being a Cup holder for a King and a Builder of Walls

Yesterday, we were studying about Nehemiah,
cup bearer for King Artaxerxes,
King of Persia.

Nehemiah was ...I know, that is what I want to
type too...but no, not a bullfrog,
he was a prophet!

A prophet that happened to have a job with
one of the most important people in his time.

This job was vital.
It was Nehemiah's job to taste every thing that
the King was about to put in his mouth.

This sounded great to the kids until they heard the
reason for this.

The King had many enemies. Should they choose
to poison the King, they would instead get the
Cup bearer. That didn't sit quite so well with my
guys.

There were a couple of really cool things about this story.
The first relates to an unusual request.
Nehemiah heard God's call to come and rebuild the walls in
Jerusalem. A very dangerous proposition.
Walls were important to the security of a city since there
were no tanks or guns. Wall builders were kind of out
there without much defense.

Now, Nehemiah did not ask for a couple of weeks here or there
to get this accomplished...it was a four month trek across 900 miles
to get to Jerusalem from the palace in Persia.

Nehemiah asked for a Twelve Year Leave of Absence!

Twelve years! To build walls...

Warning, I am about to make a leap...

What is the average time that children are in school?

Approximately 12 years. Discounting Kindergarten
or College. 12 Years! What are we as parents doing during
this important time?

We are building walls!

We are teaching our children to defend themselves against
the pitfalls of life and of this world.

We are teaching them to be able to withstand the attacks
of debt, temptation, laziness, corrupting influencers, and so much more.

I just love this analogy. I am on a 12 year leave of absence
(sometimes I think it is a leave from sanity) to
build up the walls in my children's lives.
Granted I am not going to get all of this
"wall building" done in twelve years, that is
figurative, however my crazy mind made that
connection.

After his 12 years were up...
Nehemiah returned to Persia (Iran) to continue
his job as cup bearer for King Artaxerxes.
I love that too.
Wouldn't it have been so easy to just
decide not to go back or for the King to
decide he wasn't needed anymore?
Nope! He went back and picked up where
he left off.
He did not "lose out" on his important position
by doing the Lord's calling on his life.

I know my mind is stretching on this one. But I do know that
I was encouraged to think of my current calling this way!