A Story to Tell, My Testimony
“For I know
the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to
harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and
come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me
when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13
For this is
my testimony, a story to tell. I truly give God all the glory as this is all God given. God gave me this title many years ago during my
youth ministry years as a youth pastor’s wife. My story is not how I had
planned my life would have gone but God had far greater plans for me. I was
married for 26 years and shortly after my mom went on to be with the Lord in
2010, my former spouse left me. He came back and we went through marriage
counseling but then months later he left again this time for good and filed for
divorce. Within a little over a year, I had lost my mom, my husband and the
youth ministry, all of which I was very passionate about. I felt like Job but
he went through much worse than I could have ever imagined.
We were
youth pastors and when he left he resigned and I was soon experiencing what my
mom had gone through. My dad had left my mom after 37 years of marriage and
filed for divorce. My mom then came to live with us a few years later until she
went on to be with the Lord. She was an incredible woman of faith. She fought
the battle of cancer and her faith in God never wavered. I thank God for my
mom. She helped me in more ways than she will ever know. When I went through my
divorce, I had to totally lean on God. I remember just pressing into His Word
and praying for hours and hours. My story is one that sadly is more common now
days. See what the enemy meant for bad, God intended for good.
My story is
not that different than any other ordinary person. My story is one that God
gave me many years ago during my youth ministry years in which I had started a
blog and wrote down all the messages God started to give me. It seemed He liked
2 or 3 am, that was the time most of the messages were given to me and I would
write them down. I remember one night my friend and I were up at our church for
our prayer meeting and after praying we got together and shared what the Lord
had given us. He laid 3 things on my heart, one was a scripture from Ezekiel
chapters 3 and 33, second was “A Story to Tell,” which I thought was a book,
then lastly public speaker which I put a question mark by. As most people know
me, I do not like to speak in front of people at all; I tend to get very
nervous. I have no problem speaking in front of little kids but it was hard
just to speak in the messages God gave me in front of our youth but I did and
wow the Holy Spirit moved in an amazing way. Little did I know God’s plans for
my life were starting to unfold and He was speaking to me. During the time of
my youth ministry years, as God was not only giving me messages but visions
through dreams. These visions were taking place. I then realized that the dream
God gave me was real. I was having them quite often then they started to settle
down. One week I had these dreams for about 3 nights in a row and I thought at
the time it was the enemy trying to attack me. I shared the dreams with my
husband at the time as they concerned him. The dreams were about him seeing
someone else, the next night it was about him resigning as youth pastor and him
leaving me the first time, then the third night was him leaving me and filing
for divorce and me finding out that he was having an affair. God even gave me
the person and her younger daughter in the dream but at the time I didn’t piece
that part together. A year and a half later when things started happening, I
began to realize the dreams were warning dreams from the Lord. When he left me
and resigned then came back didn’t think much of the dream until he left me the
last time and filed for divorce then the dreams came back to me very vividly.
When I found out about the affair and who it was well the dreams were dead on.
God gave me the dreams in the order that it all happened. I now realize it was
not the enemy attacking me but God giving me these dreams as a warning.
“For our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms” Ephesians 6:12.
The hardest
part of the divorce for me was the fact that this was taking place when my son
was getting married in April of 2012.
God had blessed us with a son and a daughter, truly blessings from the
Lord. He also answered this mom’s prayer for godly spouses and so very thankful
to God for them. I have been blessed with a beautiful daughter in love and
their handsome precious son, my grandson Malakai, whom has brought such joy to
our family, truly a blessing from the Lord and my amazing son in law, truly a
blessing and a man of God. God has blessed our family more than I could
imagine, He has given us a very blessed extended family and very thankful to
God for that. I give Him all the praises because He so deserving of it.
I look back
on my life and think of where I was at one time in my life and thank God He
spared my life and gave me chance after chance. He never let go of me and I
know that because I always felt this tugging at my heart especially after the
kids were born I knew I needed to get back in church and I wanted our kids to
be brought up in a Christian home. I wanted them to know the Lord like I did
when I was a little girl. When the kids were toddlers we enrolled them in a
Christian preschool which the directors started witnessing to us and asked us
to come visit and so we did. It took a good year before we did so and that
first visit we both loved it. We went back and I gave my heart to the Lord, my
ex-husband gave his life to the Lord months later right at the beginning of the
new year. It was amazing and from then on our lives were changed. God moved in
so many ways and began to use us. We started working with the youth. God led us
to a new church in a town right by where we lived and we got involved in that
church. I was a Missionette teacher and we also were just starting to get
involved in the youth ministry but God had other plans for us. My former
husband had this job opportunity come up in St. Louis, close to where his dad
lived and it was very timely as his dad was diagnosed with cancer and was in
the last stages so was not given much time to live. After much prayer, we both
heard from the Lord and it was yes for him to take the job and we were to move.
God would provide the home and He did just that all in one weekend when we went
house hunting. Amazing how things fall into place when you rely on God and
leave it all in His hands and truly trust Him. He had this all planned out from
the very beginning. It was hard on my son who was in middle school at the time
and was also 12 years old and not to mention was a little on the quiet side. He
was not happy to hear the news as he was leaving all his friends that he grew
up with. My daughter was the more outgoing one and very sociable so I wasn’t
too worried about her because she made friends very easily. She had no problem
with the news, it was hard for her to leave her friends but she knew we had
prayed about this. God led us to find a church fairly quickly and then we got
involved. I was involved as a girls Missionettes teacher, taught Sunday School
for a bit then began to teach Little Kids church on one Sunday a month, then we
felt the call to become youth sponsors. We approached our youth pastors and
they both prayed and said yes. Then later our youth pastor had approached my
ex-husband (my husband at the time) and asked him if he had been called into
ministry because God was speaking to him and asking him to approach him about
this calling. My ex-husband did tell him
yes that God had started speaking to his heart about this matter and later on he
took the steps to get credentialed. As our kids grew, it was our daughter’s
last year in youth as my ex-husband was made youth pastor; we had been the
interim youth pastors a couple times before being made the official youth
pastors for our church which led to many amazing adventures. God truly blessed
our youth ministry. During that time we took yearly Mission Trips within our
country, did fundraising for Missions Trips and Youth Camps, activities for the
kids. We outgrew our room and had to knock out a wall to enlarge the youth room
which was awesome. God was moving in our youth group and their lives. I don’t
regret those years because lives were changed.
My daughter
then got married and shortly after her marriage, my mom was diagnosed with
T-Cell Lymphoma cancer which was a very aggressive type of cancer and she was
in the third stage. It was all very devastating to us and Bill was already
having trouble with his knee which the doctors were looking at him having a
full knee replacement. As time went by the oncologist put her on the highest
form after trying one chemo then a test trial which wasn’t working and her
cancer was getting bigger but had not yet spread so they put her on the highest
chemo for that type which was a very aggressive chemo as well and one she would
have to be in the hospital to have for 3 days. I was a substitute teacher
during this time which was great because it allowed me to be with mom, take her
to treatments and stay at the hospital with her. We made several trips back to
hospital as we were told that would happen and it was common. It seemed she
would go a week and a half then have to go back to the hospital for another
stay for at least 2 or 3 days then we would get to go home. At the end of
treatment mom was feeling much better so we were hopeful and had been praying
for a miracle from the Lord but later on we would find out news that she only
had months to live that the chemo had reduced it but then it grew back and this
time much larger and had spread which was not good. My sister was with my mom
at the time of the news as I was at youth camp and received the news. I was a
mess when I heard the news so it was hard for me to hold it together during
worship and our youth camp and my youth group all prayed over me and for my
mom. When I got home my mom had wanted to go back to Arkansas to stay and be
buried there when the time came as she was only given 2 to 4 weeks to live. We
left the next week for Arkansas as my sister drove up and met us half way and I
left with my mom and sister as my ex had to work. The kids said their goodbyes
as well knowing this may be the last time they saw their grandma alive. Hospice
was brought in and shortly afterwards we saw the decline and mom passed went
onto be with the Lord on Friday morning, July 2nd, 2010 in her
sleep. My mom had always said that was how she wanted to go and God granted her
that desire. She was peaceful with everything. When my mom got the news, she
cried but then she accepted that she was going to be with Jesus. She had such
faith and strength through it all. That is what helped inspire me when the
storms really hit hard. It is hard not having either parent around when trials
come and you really are unsure who to talk to. I was blessed with a close
friend that God used in an incredible way to minister to me as she had went
through a divorce many years prior and very similar to my story but her kids
were young at the time. She ministered to me and was there for me during that
very difficult time. I look at what God has done for her now and it is truly
amazing. God brought an amazing man of God into her life in which they got
married and so truly blessed. Praise be to God for all He has done and is
continuing to do in our life! Keep praising Him no matter good or bad, He is in
control.
I don’t
regret what all I went through because God did an amazing work in me in which I
am going to share. I give God all the glory for this is all for Him. Without
Him I would not be where I am today. I am thankful for the storms in my life
because they have made me who I am today. I pray that as I share what God has
laid upon my heart to write that this encourages others and motivates others to
take that leap of faith as I have done so. My prayer is that this would help
save those who are struggling in their marriage or relationship, help those who
are single, those who are battling depression, loneliness, and help those who
are facing trials in their life. Whatever you are facing may God help use this
to meet you where you are in life. God bless you and may God’s peace be with
you.
What God has
done in my life is truly amazing. I have been blessed that God has placed
special people in my life to minister to me and help me to grow. The Holy
Spirit is moving in my life in incredible ways and I am truly blessed and
thankful for His Holy Presence in my life. May this blessing from the Lord
inspire you in your journey in life. Maybe you are experiencing something
similar to this or maybe you are going through divorce now, keep the faith and
keep seeking God in all of it. He is in control. Keep your focus on the Lord
and give Him all your burdens. He has you in the palm of his hand.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and
lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways submit to him, and He will
make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
“I lift up
my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the
Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2).
“The Lord
will keep you from all harm – he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch
over your coming and going both now and forevermore” (Psalm 121:7-8).