I grew up in a nice neighborhood, went to a private school and my family attended church regularly. To anyone looking at my family from the outside, we looked like the all-American family. But behind the façade, it was a different story. For most of my childhood, my parent’s relationship vacillated from open hostility to cold silence and contempt. Things were always worse when my mom was drinking. I have memories of being in my bedroom trying to go to sleep because I had school the next day, while listening to my parent’s shouting in the other room. One night after my mom had been drinking, I remember hearing her yelling in the hallway that she had a gun as she was banging on a locked door, behind which my older sisters were hiding in fear. Although no one ever told me to keep the ‘family secret’, somehow I just knew. I can remember sitting in Sunday school, or being with a camp counselor, and wishing I could tell someone my story, but instead I kept it all bottled up on the inside, creating a world of anxiety and fear inside of me.
But God’s timing is perfect, and at the right time, God began to change my story. My freshman year of college, it was as if God strategically put all these people in my life, to draw me to Himself. From classmates, to sorority sisters, to other women on my dorm floor, I just kept meeting people who had a relationship with Jesus! My heart was so hungry for what they had! My freshman year of college I gave my heart to Jesus, which was of course amazing, but the other thing that God did for me, was that He gave me a community of people that loved Him and who modeled for me what a healthy family and marriage could look like. I can remember hanging out in the home of our campus ministry director with his family, or going home on the weekend with one of my friends, and seeing modeled for me a home that I hoped to have one day. A place where home was a refuge rather than a battlefield. A place where you didn’t feel like you were constantly walking on eggshells, or where you could feel the tension in the air, but a place where there was love, laughter and life. Not perfect families of course, but families that were emotionally healthy. These individuals have no idea how their everyday lives changed the trajectory of mine.
In Galatians 4:4, Paul writes that ‘when the fullness of time had come, God sent His son.’ In other words, at the perfect time, God sent Jesus into the world! I have often thought about how God’s timing was perfect in my life. My freshman year of college, He sent all these wonderful Christians into my life, and put me in an environment that was so different from my home. Here I could begin to heal and find some normalcy and emotional health. I will always be grateful for my faith community in those years and how God used that community – at just the right time - to change my story.
- Anonymous
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My But, God moment came last June when after my annual physical, my doctor called to tell me that I had cancer. The type cancer that I had was one that has no medical cure. I knew that I had God to take care of me as He has always done since I gave my life to Him. I trust Him to provide my every need.
- Harold
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I failed my marriage. I would have never believed I could have done that, since I adored my high school sweetheart husband. I had him on a pedestal that he didn't want to be on - too much attention, too much responsibility, just too much. I thought we'd live together happily to old age, but we never really were. It was a lonely, alone place, maybe for both of us. There was an emptiness. I had convinced myself we had so much in common having grown up Baptists, children of educated, professional people, who had known each other since college days, but really we are so very different in every way. He didn't really allow God to be an active part of our daily lives. Saying the blessing at meals made him feel weird. (sigh) If we went to a new church, he went for a while, then sort of fell away. We were expected for Sunday lunch at noon at his parents - hard to do when church lets out at noon, especially if church is 20 minutes away - just an additional stress over different lifestyle preferences. I tried to buy into the lifestyle he created, but I was a fish out of water. I couldn't sustain it. One day I snapped and fell into the arms of another man - I was shocked. I heard a small voice in my right ear saying, 'Don't do it." I threw up my hands and told the voice, "I just don't care anymore, I'm so hungry for attention from someone." I wish desperately I had heeded that voice. But God was faithful even still, not to let go of me. I felt so guilty. After a few months of a handful of chance meetings with this man, I fell prostrate before the Lord and screamed, "Get the devil out of me!!!" I clawed my way back to Him. I couldn't get back into full relationship with God fast enough. The marriage just existed as before, but with a silent barrier between us. He knew. I knew he knew, but I couldn't confess, even though I wanted to in the beginning and later. I knew he would leave immediately. I wanted to hold the family together for our children. They say that's a mistake. It was hard especially on the youngest, who was left at home when the others went to college. We divorced when the last graduated. Two years later, he married one he had been infatuated with for many years - a thorn in my side, since he tried to make our families be good friends. (big sigh) But God is immensely good and loves to give good gifts to His children. He literally set me up in a new life with Him at the center. My joy is great. I regret that I failed Him and that there is a division in the family, but God can handle that too. Thank You God for never giving up on me.
- Anonymous
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When I was 25, my three-year-old marriage failed. My husband decided that, while he loved me, he was not IN love with me. I was devastated. I prayed so hard and couldn't understand why God would not restore my husband's love. But God knew better. Jeremiah 29:11 tells me "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." In my second marriage, I have been given a wonderful husband and children; blessings I couldn't have even imagined at age 25. God is good.
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In 1997, my father still lived alone in the house that he and one other man built in 1945. The neighborhood was in transition and the house next door had been converted into a "personal care home". The owners were friendly with him and sort of watched out for him. Since he was elderly, they had talked with him about their desire to purchase his home after his death. I was executor of his will, so after he passed I had the house and land appraised and agreed to sell and finance their purchase because they weren't approved for a mortgage. The first 5 payments were made on time. At the time, I was the Property Manager for a large retail center and was to attend a relevant convention in Atlanta, leaving Macon in mid-afternoon. I left the office and stopped by home to pickup my luggage, etc. When I turned into my drive, I saw a FedEx package at the front door. I opened it to find a cashier's check from a mortgage lender paying off the balance due on the loan. Needless to say, it went into the Estate Bank Account before I left town. As soon as the evening session was over, I went up to my room and found a flashing light on the phone. I was to call home. When I did, my husband said there was a story on the 6 o'clock news showing a picture of my borrower being caught on camera stealing a diamond ring from a jewelry store. When the police checked her purse they found credit cards owned by most of her clients! I had long known that I was in the care of a mighty God. This time he went BEFORE the events to protect me and my family financially. This story proves beyond a shadow of doubt that He is a God of prevenient grace.
- Anonymous
