So that we can all get to know each other a little better, let's introduce ourselves. Be sure to include your name and one way God has worked in your life big or small.
Here's mine for an example:
Kristyn Butts: Several years ago, it was the end of the month and the bank account was getting very low. I had decided that the groceries for the rest of the month were going to have to be bought with the credit card. When I went to the mailbox that day, there was a card with $100 in it. To this day, I have no idea where it came from, but thank God for whoever it was!
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YAY! I found a way to correct the typo!!!
ReplyDeleteKathy Mallard - Due to other committments - some made to my husband - I will be participating by blog. How has God worked in my life? I believe, at this moment, that being able to coordinate the FPU classes at Kellum is God working in our lives - both mine and Jerry's. We feel blessed to be able to work with these families and hopefully make a difference in the way they handle their finances and communicate as a couple. At the same time while being a part of these classes - God keeps us focused on the goals we have set for ourselves - financial and otherwise. Thanks Kristen for following the calling to put together this study. Love you
Kristyn Butts - God's provisions in my life have just been too many to even count and too great to even comprehend. I know I already posted one way God worked in my life, but I just had to share another.
ReplyDeleteI had prayed since high school for a Godly husband. To have a Christian husband was the deepest desire of my heart. However, as I drifted away from God slowly through college and young adulthood, I lost faith that such a man existed. So I compromised in what my heart desired and settled for lousy boyfriends. I then met Jason who was not saved but who I fell in love with (the feelings were unlike anything I'd ever felt before). We dated, were engaged, and married in less than 8 months. Slowly as I began to spend more time with God and really wanted to repair my relationship with Christ (that I had walked away from), I began to think that I had made a mistake and 'settled' in marriage instead of waiting for the Godly man I had always desired. My new prayer was that Jason would be saved and would become the man I wanted him to be (notice the 'I'). Shortly after the girls were born, Jason agreed that he wanted to raise our children in a church. So we started going to Kellum. God pounded on Jason's heart for the next month. One night Jason said to me, "If you want us to do this church thing, then we need to do it right. Call Pastor Jody and setup a time for us to meet." Later that week we met with Pastor Jody and Jason accepted Christ. Silly me thought my prayers had finally been answered and I now had the Christian husband I had longed for. Well God had a different plan, he has molded Jason into a man of God who is a leader in our church, our family, and who has a passion for outdoor ministry. He NOT just a Sunday morning Christian which I was happy with, but a man who loves His Savior! What I thought was no longer possible, God provided beyond my wildest dreams.
Ruth Roubal - This bible study has come into my life just as I have been wondering how I can save myself from the isolated invert I have become. I have buried myself in work, school, and family stress for the past years and must admit, yet AGAIN, I can't do it alone. I mention family and stress together, because the two seem to have become synonyms of each other. I didn't consider myself as actually 'praying' for God's help in reaching out to others...that would be highly presumptuous on my part to think that one who has not walked into a church in years nor opened a bible except to prove a point for perhaps longer actually had the right to request His attention. Guess He was listening anyway, eh? Go figure!
ReplyDeleteIt's so awesome how God hears the prayers of our hearts without us ever opening our mouths.
ReplyDeleteRuth Roubal-I looked around my living room today and noticed the plants I have managed to keep alive so far this winter. It is a standing joke that when Ruth brings a plant inside..it's a death sentence. I have put forth great effort to remember to water and care for these plants this year to prove to myself and others I can keep them alive (at least this year). It reminded me of the verses using the analogy of the tree that flourishes to the person who stays in God's word. Plants take a lot of care. Water, fertilizer, sunlight, not too much sunlight, repotting, turning, pruning, picking, spraying, protecting. I'm running myself ragged caring for these plants. To be sure, God's word is one powerful pill to be all the care we need. A vitamin worth taking. Did I mention I got my husband two of his favorite trees for Christmas...and the first thing I read is..."He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water..." Thanks God.
ReplyDeleteStaci Yopp - Well, my absolute biggest fault is my tendency to overthink things, so a broad question like, "How has God worked in your life?" can perplex me for hours! Where do you start with such a question? One of my favorite verses in the Bible asks the question that has always been near and dear to my heart. It says, "What is man that You are mindful of him?" I am constantly amazed at how God chooses to work in my life -- little ole' me! Doesn't He have better things to do! Yet He chooses to commune with me and be a part of my life. When I've been unsure about decisions that needed to be made, He has all but put road signs in my path to guide me. When I've been discouraged and lonely, He's sent awesome Christian friends to lift me up. When finances were tight, He sent financial guidance at just the right time.
ReplyDeleteSince all of that is pretty vague, I'll give a specific illustration. About six months ago, I felt God leading me to step back in my role at church as the music minister. I was realizing that I was spreading myself too thin on a day that is supposed to be dedicated to rest and worship. Being married to a pastor, I felt that my children needed to see some 'normalcy' (whatever that is!) on Sundays. I didn't want them to be a part of the Sunday hustle and bustle and miss the whole point. I also wanted to be able to be my husband's support system without being preoccupied with my own concerns. God absolutely affirmed my stepping back from my position through a speaker at Ridgecrest during a marriage retreat. As the tears streamed, I felt God quietly say, "You did the right thing." Those kind of things amaze me. Why should God take the time to affirm and speak to little ole' me? I could go on . . . but I'll save some for later!
Karen.... Oh how has God worked in my life, let me count the ways. Way too many to list, so I will just give a quick background which will include a few of the biggest ways God has worked in this messy life of mine. Married a man that I thought I could "fix" at the age of 21 in 2001. He was not a believer except that he "believed" the Bible and everything God related was a scam or just a bunch of stories made up to make everyone feel quilty. Like I said, I tried to fix him and change his views, and so on. He resented the time I spent in church, working with the youth, or volunteering on different projects, which resulted in me spending less time doing those things. After 5 years of marriage he told me that he wanted to leave. I was crushed, even though my marriage was not perfect and we argued, this was a HUGE failure on my part. But God had bigger and better things in store for me, I just could not see them yet. For days on end, I could not sleep, eat, concentrate. It is embarassing to think of now, but I literally begged him to stay, promising all kinds of crazy things. But, thank goodness, he never changed his mind Shortly before that time I prayed that God would strengthen me and see me through this. And he surely did! I realized I had a whole new perspective on things. I had time to designate to working with the youth, or visiting who I wanted to visit without feeling guilty. After a short time I began to pray that God would send a man into my life that HE wanted me to be with, not a man of my own choosing. I remarried in 2007 to Jeff, a wonderful man who loves me, his daughter Amber, his parents, and the Lord. He had always believed, but had never been Baptized. Pastor Jody baptized him in October 2009 on Homecoming Sunday. What a great day.
ReplyDeleteWow, I said this was going to be short. But I would be omitting something huge if I did not tell of something else. I lost my father very suddenly in a tragic car accident, he was only 52, I was only 22. I had lost many family members up to this point, but nothing compared to this agony. I still struggle with the injustice of this, because we as humans believe there is a reason for everything, everything has to be explained. I don't know why he ran off the road and smashed into a tree on his way to work. The autopsy gave no reasons either. I believe there are things we will never know but that one day we will be reunited and then I might better understand. God provided comfort to me during that time and has allowed me to provide comfort to others who lose their parent way too early.
INFERTILITY!! This is somethings that I have battled off and on since 2002 to no avail. This is one that I struggle with so often. I have promised the Lord that I will love him even if he never gives Jeff and I a child together. Perhaps he sent me Jeff, who has a beautiful daughter Amber to whom I am a full-time step mommy, so that I can enjoy some of the fruits of being a parent. We continue to pray that God will bless us with a child together.
Whew, sorry this was long. I have found it amazingly easy to pour out my soul when not face to face. Thanks for listening. Love each and every one of you beautiful ladies.
Linda
ReplyDeleteHow has God worked in my life? I am a living testament to His faithfulness. Twelve years ago, I thought my life was over when my husband left. I come from a family of divorce, and never wanted my children to know that kind of pain. My father left when I was ten and I have not seen him since. Dealing with rejection and abandonment was all I ever knew. I was never able to depend on a man. When I met my husband, I thought my prince had come. Imagine how horrible it was when he also rejected me and left. Not only did I have to deal with him leaving, but what it was about me that caused him to be unfaithful in our marriage. He stripped me of all my self-worth and left me feeling helpless. Here was a man that was a deacon in the church and professed to be a Christian. What happened? We were supposed to be safe. Why was this happening to me? My world was falling apart and there wasn't anything I could do to shop it. I fell deep into depression and cried all the time. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that my two children needed me and depended on me to get myself out of bed and keep going. I felt that my life had ended the day he walked out. I was angry, hurt, confused, and could not understand why God "allowed" this to happen. I thought I had the "perfect life"...wonderful husband, great children, everything anyone could ever want. I was so content and happy with my life. In an instant, it all came tumbling down. It took me a long time to recover, but I know now that God had to get my attention and remind me that HE was my God, and not my husband. I'm not proud of that, but it is the truth. God had to break me down, to raise me up. I don't have the "things" that my other life offered, but I have EVERYTHING in Him. He has blessed me with the love and respect of my children, wonderful friends that have seen me through dark times, and the promise that HE will never leave me, nor forsake me. I have been single now for 12 years, and I am ready for the mate that God has in store for me. I don't enjoy being alone. I have so much love to give, but I know that God is with me and reminding me that I am His. I need to be patient and wait on Him. I will continue to pray for a Godly man that will "love the Lord their God with all their heart". I will wait knowing that the same God that holds the world in His hands, is holding my heart and giving me the strength and courage to face another day. I had to realize that sometimes you have to "go through the valley" to "stand upon the mountain of God". To remember that my self worth is not validated by man, but by God. I still suffer from periodic depression, insecurities, and self medicating with "food", but hopefully, with God's help and your prayers, I can overcome. I am so very thankful that "he chose me" and brought me from a life of sin into His perfect salvation and love through the cross. His grace is sufficient and His love is endless. To think that when He went to the cross, He was thinking of me. What love!! Isn't it amazing? Isn't He amazing?