"I
survived because the fire in me burns brighter than the fire around
me"...it is one of the sayings that I read several times a day. However,
I should say, I survive because of the
people that God places in our lives that have surrounded our family
with His love. I've heard about the body of Christ since I was young and
I know I have experienced it but never really recognized it like I have
in the past couple years. Looking back, I see
the body of Christ showing up in my family in powerful ways. I
recognize the many times that people surrounded and encouraged us .
Hindsight is 20/20!
Our
family has lived in Charlotte NC, San Antonio, TX, Cleveland , OH, and
Augusta, GA. I'm from a town outside of Augusta called Waynesboro. It is
the bird-dog capital of the world
(I just thought I would add that in case you were wondering)and has
absolutely wonderful people! It is a small town and has issues because
people have issues and we are sinners.
However the way they love
and care for people is something to be treasured. The encouragement and
prayer that people from my hometown share have kept my family going at
times when we thought we would not survive. I moved from there
to Augusta for my husband's medical school training and then onto
Cleveland, OH, San Antonio, TX, Charlotte, NC, and now back to Macon
Georgia. My husband and I met in college at Mercer University in Macon
and it is nice and surprising to be back! A lot has
changed since 1998...Mercer has changed, Macon has changed, and we have
changed both physically and spiritually.
One
of our pastors talks about looking at life through a God-centered
lense. I love looking back now and seeing how God's hand was all over
our story. Our story is His story and it
speaks of our sanctification journey. He continues to bring us closer
to Him each day. His provision ahead of our need has been amazing, but I
am not going to sugarcoat it and say that life has not hurt. Multiple
sclerosis changed our lives, having children
changed our lives (especially the twins), and medical training (all
stages) has created challenge after challenge where we have once again
been able to see God’s faithfulness to us. Life is hard! However, if I
look at my life through a God-centered lense,
I see His hand intervening in every phase of the journey.
In Augusta, we were part of a great church and established friendships that will last a lifetime.
I was able to teach and work with children which is what I love to do.
In Cleveland, we had our precious children (and boy did our lives change then). We had our son first and then two years later we had our twins.
We lived close to my
husband's family which was a huge blessing. We had family and friends
that surrounded and hoped us, a wonderful Bible study, residency spouses
club (my husband was in his medical residency), a great church and
small
group, and made friendships that I hope will last forever!
Then
we moved to San Antonio Texas. Shock and surprise is putting it mildly
for sure... The military had us put a list of places where we might end
up and San Antonio was not one
of those places. I'm so grateful that God's plans are not man's plans
and that His ways are higher than ours ways! In Deuteronomy 31:8, the
Bible tells us that God will personally go ahead of us and will not fail
nor abandon us." We saw this verse tenfold
in San Antonio. Wayside Chapel became our family as did my children's
preschool, and wonderful friends God brought into our lives. I had
friends watch my kiddos for countless doctor’s appointments. We went to
Thanksgiving and Easter with a good friends and
family. I had the opportunity to attend an amazing bible study with
other women that spurred me on in my faith. My husband was deployed to
Afghanistan and once again we saw God's provision at work. We had family
from Georgia and Ohio fly to Texas to be with
us. My sister-in-law from California flew all the way to Texas to be
with us. Thankfully my husband came back safely. That Christmas I
decided to make a lasagna because my husband loves lasagna. I had
finished making it and put it in the refrigerator (very
impressed with myself by the way) when I dropped the whole darn thing
on the floor putting it in the refrigerator. The glass shattered and
eggs, ricotta cheese, marinara sauce, and noodles ran down the
refrigerator. I honestly didn't know whether to laugh
or cry and I'm sure that I thought or said a few things that won't be
repeated. My oldest son helped me clean up the glass and wipe down the
refrigerator. I kept my twins contained so they would not step on the
glass. I texted my husband because I was so discouraged
about the lasagna and he told me how much he loved grilled cheese. Once
again, thank you, Lord! I ended up putting that on Facebook and a few
hours later our doorbell rang and a lasagna was sitting on our front
porch. My children still remember that story
and love telling people how an angel brought us lasagna because we
still don't know who it was... an angel indeed! We have countless
stories of God's provision in Texas and his love for us through other
people. We loved our time in San Antonio and had many
amazing experiences to remember!
After
Texas, we moved to Charlotte, North Carolina and we saw God's hand
protect us in ways that we had not recognized before! We moved about two weeks later I developed vertigo from
a lesion in my brain vortex.
My husband was back in training
and we knew this would be the most intense year that we had experienced
to date. We have three busy and growing children... two kindergartners
and one third grader. I realized that I could not drive and I had
never felt so discouraged and hopeless. How would I get them to school?
How would I get to church or my children to their activities? I didn't
want them to suffer because of this! We knew the training would only be
one year but I lay awake at night wondering
how I was going to find people to help me in such a short period of
time!
It seemed impossible! However I'm beginning to learn that our God shines in the
seemingly impossible! I had
a sweet friend that grew up in the same hometown and only lived a few
miles from me. Her family became my family and I felt like they adopted
us. She helped me drive my kids to activities and went to many
of my doctor’s appointments. We also went to church together every Wednesday
night and on Sundays when my husband was at work. She introduced me
another wonderful family that took my oldest son to his activities and
helped me from everything to unloading the
dishwasher and doing laundry! We lived in a great neighborhood and many
of the children road on the bus to the exact same school! The children
would play soccer and other games until the bus came. Our neighbors
surrounded us and we are forever thankful for
our body of Christ in the cul-de-sac and our time in Charlotte. It was
just one year but it was a life-changing year. Our family experienced
some difficult times but we saw God's provision even more clearly in our
lives. Once again, there was no denying his
provision and his presence!
Now
it seems that life is now full circle! My husband and I began in Macon,
GA and moved to Augusta, GA, Cleveland, OH, San Antonio, TX, Charlotte,
NC and now back to Macon, GA.
It is definitely very
different from college days! As I said before we are very different and
my goodness we have three kids now! However, God is still the same God,
providing for us and renewing our strength day by day. I pray that
my story gives all glory and honor to God. My prayer for you is that in
your story you experience and recognize His provision and His love
today!
"Now
to Him who is able to do more than we ask or imagine according to his
power at work within us, to Him be the glory forever and ever!"
Ephesians 3:20-21
You are such an encouragement! It is an honor to call you friend. You are giving Him all of the honor and glory! Stacey French
ReplyDeleteI love you!! It is an honor for me to call you friend:)
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