8:28.....Have you ever had one of those times when God reminded you that He's been there all along? I had one of those experiences. June 26, 2004, Laura (my fiance') and I were sitting in the crowd watching our good friends Russ and Jessi get hitched. As I sat there I thought, "Hey, that's cool. There anniversary is 6/26. Russ must have done that to help him remember. That dude is one smart....hey, wait a minute, Laura and I's anniversary will be 8/28. Score! I shouldn't have a problem at all remembering that..." It was at that moment that God put His mighty hand on my shoulder and I had one of those moments I had only read about.
For those of you who don't know alot about me, I moved back to Montgomery in 2000 after a handful of really tough years. During that time I felt God remove my calling as a youth minister. I worked a humbling job in a machine shop for 6 months sweeping floors, scraping grease, and loading parts (I was the only one in the shop with a college degree). I got divorced after 2 and a half tumultuous years, and basically came crawling back home looking for shelter.
My friends and my family helped bring me back (I'll get into that in another post), and then I met Laura, we dated, got engaged, and are getting married in 8 days (wow, one sentence that covers almost 2 and half years!)
Anyway, back to the story....it was in that pew...during that wedding...that God whispered in my ear, "Remember Romans 8:28... 'All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose'..." God had been with me all along. Through giving up my calling, dealing with the humility of working a "grunt" job, struggling through a divorce that rocked my world, He was always there. Coming home, getting back on my feet, refocusing on His message and His mission, meeting Laura and falling in love again (something I wasn't sure would or could happen again), He was always there.
So...my anniversary, 8:28, will always be a reminder that I never have been and never will be alone. No matter what happens, God will never leave. He loves me. He's looking out for me. What can I say, God is good!
Thank You Lord for being faithful to a child who lost his way...
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1 comment:
I will never get tired of hearing that testimony! One of my co-workers responded to Baron's message like this, and I totally agree:
"A smart man (and woman) realizes it takes three to make a marriage work and that he & she aren’t the most important of the three. You are very blessed to find a Godly man – as is he to have found you! He will be a better husband and father because of these trials -because he has used them as stepping stones to build on rather than tripping stones to fall down over. Sometimes nothing makes sense except to believe in the goodness and faithfulness of God and that he will work it all out – we just have to hang in there and let him drag us through to the end."
I am so blessed to have such a wonderful man in my life.
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