Finally, my mom showed me how to walk with God and how to have faith in Him in the darkest of days.
Five years ago, when I was facing the darkest days of my life, the death of my mom and the end of my marriage, I knew how to turn to God because I’d watched my parents do it throughout theirs.
They had been my example of how to walk during the toughest of times and because that’s how they lived, I knew what to do.
I knew that even though my world was spinning out of control, God held all of me.
He held my son.
He held my situation.
And He held our futures.
God had given me Jeremiah 29:13-14 years before, and so that’s what I clung to. He declares “that if you search for Him with all of your heart, you will find Him. He will let you find Him!”
When so much was stripped from me, I decided to truly test this out.
I knew it was time to stop clinging to my parents’ faith and to fully grab a hold of my own.
I wondered if I really did search for Him with all I had, would I really find Him.
And you know what?...you do.
I spent a year searching, reading through the entire Bible, blogging about it and really spending my days with Him.
It was the most amazing year of my life, because it was then that I knew that God wasn’t just real, but He was faithful.
He truly cared about me and loved me.
I’ve continued to search for Him through going on adventures, traveling alone, and completing half-marathons. All of these activities take me out of my comfort zone, quiet the usual noise of my life, and plunge me into time alone away from any fillers.
When I head out on any of those, my goal is to have an experience with God, to invite Him in and allow my heart to be open to see Him in a new way, and for Him to be my companion.
He always shows up, teaches me something new, and reveals His splendor and goodness each time.
The greatest gift in all of it is I’ve learned He truly is faithful...through all of it, in all of it.
What His word says is true.
You don't just have to read it and think it and hope it.
He PROVES it. He LIVES it.
I honestly believe, I wouldn’t have ever made it through these tough times without the legacy my mom and dad left me.
They lived their faith, and it mattered.
It’s meant everything to me.
Though vulnerability seems to be something I fight, I’m here, speaking to you, because the prayers of a mom have caused me to not be able to run from a God that pursues me and a Jesus that loves me more than I can comprehend, and no matter how much I fight it, there's something greater than me not allowing me to run from it.
I don’t know much, but to steal from my favorite musician, David Crowder, “This I know”
You moms matter. Believe it, live it, take hold of it, and give that gift to your family, to your husband and to your children.
You matter!
Own it! Make memories with it, go on adventures because of it, and take the time you have and fill it with moments that will last a lifetime.
Because God made you and you matter to Him and to all He gave you to.
Tell your kids YOUR story! Tell them about your walk with the Lord. Tell them what He has done to save you, redeem you, and how His faithfulness has radically changed your view on life.
Live where you are at. I mean TRULY LIVE where you are at, because time will pass, it will fly, and all you can do is live the time you have. So make it count, soak in your moments, make memories, find your mountain tops and invite God into your life, your adventures, your decisions, your disappointments, and the holes inside your heart.
Yes, we are called to protect our children, but I think we are also called to prepare them. My mom didn’t do everything perfectly and there are conversations I wish we had more of, but the way she prayed, lived in community, and lived her faith, helped prepare (and in turn, protect) me for the difficulties life would bring.
Talk to your kids. Be honest, be real, have fun, and take them on adventures.
Ask God to be there, to show you, and to do His thing that we can’t even think to do.
Because it matters. YOU MATTER!
When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."
Deuteronomy 6:4-8
In Him,
Shelly
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