God's work among us
Posted on January 19, 2011 by Pastor Tom
Do you ever wonder if God is real or is doing anything among us as a church today? I received some proof today in this note.
“I watched her die. It took six months from diagnosis and I knew all along she was going to die. However, it wasn’t until 1:05am, June 5th, 1995, I realized she was gone and wasn’t coming back. I was 16 and her funeral signified the last day for 15 years I would set foot inside a church.
I have to be quite honest and admit that I don’t know if I stopped believing in God so much as I was sure that he stopped believing in me. I was lost after my mom died, as if I wasn’t lost enough just by being 16, I had lost the one person I truly thought I would never lose. My father was a great father throughout everything but he lacked one strong characteristic, he wasn’t my mother.
The next 12 years would prove challenging. I got my first boyfriend, my first child, I graduated from Medical Radiation Technology, I lost a baby, I moved numerous times, I had another baby, I would lose my boyfriend and rush into another relationship and then in 2007 I almost died. On June 25th, 2007, I hemorrhaged, had emergency surgery and blood transfusions. I was the patient I always treated. Lying there in a hospital bed was when I knew I had to stop being a passive participant in my life and that I had to take my life back. When I got out of the hospital I ended my destructive relationship, got a dog, took my kids to Disney World and was pretty confident I didn’t need anybody.
God didn’t have a role in my life beyond a bystander for those 12 years. I have always known God existed and I prayed constantly that he was taking care of my mom but I didn’t really pray for myself because that was selfish.
In September 2008 I was given an opportunity to change careers, I did and slowly started to feel valued for what I could offer. Something I had not felt very often.
January 2010 my 3rd relationship failed and I spent a lot of time with self-pity. Little did I suspect things would get worse. April 2010 Chandra would come to my door and give me a ticket for The Big Cook night at the church. What Chandra didn’t know that day was how significantly that act would affect my life. In March, I had begun to get ill. It started slowly, first in my ankles, then it moved to my knees, then my elbows and then one day I couldn’t walk down the stairs of my 2-story house.
The first diagnosis was Rheumatoid Arthritis, the second diagnosis was Lupus but when the doctor’s found my lungs were affected, the decided diagnosis was Sarcoidosis and I was dealing with all of this when Chandra had come to the door.
The Big Cook night was the first time in 15 years I set foot inside a church and somewhat significantly Mother’s Day was the first service I attended at SVBC. I have been attending services fairly regularly since.
I have my questions and maybe I always will. I have to accept that I won’t know everything – God will tell me what I need to know in His own time.
I do know 2 things – after leading many different kinds of lives I am choosing to lead a life led by Jesus Christ and the Bible. The second thing I know is I aspire to demonstrate my faith the way I have seen the SVBC congregation do. I have been a victim of the kindness of the people here and for that I am forever changed. I know now that God exists and he cares for me.”
We exist so God can keep doing His work like this folks. Keep on keeping on!