Reassurance during Big Life Event
Deuteronomy 31:8 And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you, nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.
Judges 6:36-40 So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said—look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground then I will know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.
Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me a\speak just once more; Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry, but all the ground there be dew. And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.
Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.
Psalm 37:4-5 Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.
Proverbs 16:1, 9 The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. . . . A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.
Isaiah 30:21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand.
Isaiah 58:11 The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose water garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Until I was about 35 years old, I was nervous and anxious frequently. From 21 until the age of 33 years, I was a single parent. At 32, I met my husband and within a week of re-meeting, we were agreeing to be married the following year. He, too, had been divorced for more than ten years, and he and his two children had been living in Germany for about 5 years.
I was working full time as an RN in cardiac intensive care as well as going to school for my bachelor’s degree. When my husband and I reconnected, the three teens were put together and my son, who had always lived in New England, was now facing the fact he would be leaving all the kids he’d grown up with, and moving to a different country, school system and so forth. The good Lord blessed me with a child who was easy going, and even with life changes, kept a positive attitude and outlook. He and my husband’s two children and really bonded and already were close.
My husband and I chuckled often, feeling as though the Lord had opened the door to this union, had blessed it, and we just had to complete this family. I worried about his adjusting often, but he said repeatedly he was looking forward to this adventure. He fit right between the other two, the eldest was also male and only 7 months, and yet one grade ahead in school, and the youngest, a daughter was 17 months younger, so when we married they were 12,13, and 14 years old. They had already asked if we could make this permanent with an adoption, an idea my son had wanted as he didn’t want a different name from the rest of us. He never saw his biological father, had no ties there, so it seemed simple to him. Once the other two heard that, they too wanted to be adopted. Their biological mother had walked away when the kids were 2 and 4 and never looked back, was never in touch.
I won’t say there were not moments I was fraught with worry—what was I doing? Did I really agree to marry this man after a week, combine our family of teens, move to Germany, give up my nursing position, and upset my son’s routine, take him from his friends, and…and…
So then I would throw up to God a “Gideon prayer.” “Please, God if this is the right thing for us, then show me a sign.” And He did.
Thankfully, I was not unsure most days. It was scary to me to be taking my son from family and friends and all he knew and placing him in different school, different country and where many of their friends all spoke German. Each time I fretted, He gave the reassurance.
As a kid, I had a “pet” praying mantis. I found it, then carried it for much of the day, then placed it back in the shrub in my parents’ yard, then would return later. This continued throughout that summer when it finally “passed on.” I never saw many, but once we were planning the wedding, God placed one by the front door of our home, enabling me to see it daily coming or going. And each time, I was reassured that this was God’s will for our lives, the anxiety would fade. But that daily glimpse of that praying mantis always brought a smile and a quick thanks and awe at how awesome of Him.
The end of December, the praying mantis disappeared—very late to continue to see one alive, but if a sneaky thought from Satan would slither through my mind, I would ask for some reassurance again.
There was a huge, obese raccoon in the neighborhood, and I would see it waddling down the street; and I would get a hint, a whisper, that this was my reassurance. Again, I would smile and thank Him, then wonder if that big raccoon would be able to run if challenged by a predator.
During that early Spring, if I did not see the raccoon, I would see a handsome red winged blackbird which seemed to hang about my backyard. Again, that felt like His reassurance for me.
How blessed we were to join our families to become one. The kids are still close and always refer to one another as brother and sister, love their nieces and nephews, keep in close contact with me and with one another even though we all live several states or at least two to three hours apart.
I am so thankful God showed us His will, reassured my fears and anxieties, allowed this family to be joined and strengthened with an ease that seems impossible with three teenagers, and yet went so well. My God, thank You for directing my paths, blessing me with a wonderful family, and always reassuring me and ‘mybellaviews.’
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