There are moments in each of our lives when we make a significant decision of faith. Beth is an accomplished business woman, active community member, surrogate mom to many and fun loving friend. Read her account of a new journey pursuing God.
Why God?
Why Now?
I realize that most people ask these questions before they turn 42 but I may not be the “norm”. The past 12 months have been a series of events that have led me straight to God regardless of whether I knew I was heading there or not. Whether I wanted to go or not.
In retrospect, there are things throughout my entire life that I have dismissed simply as “the way things were supposed to be” or “everything happens for a reason” which are all great ways to keep God at arm’s length.
But let’s get real (as I’ve been forced to do recently). I think, in all reality, everything started to become clear when my two smart, beautiful 13 year old daughters were telling us they were very unhappy at the new school they were attending. While, I chalked this up to them being in a new city, meeting new friends, etc. it kept eating at me. Finally, we realized there was an unusual amount of violence and lack of adult supervision at their school which ultimately resulted in their feelings of insecurity and vulnerability. My Momma Bear instincts kicked in and I started reaching out to my local contacts for alternatives. Please keep in mind that we recently relocated here to support my significant other in his job promotion…none of us chose this city (but in hindsight, we now realize God did).
So, within less than 48 hours I had multiple trusted resources tell me about this amazing Christian school right around the corner. Whoa, wait a minute…Christian school? Um, we believed in a higher power but let’s not get crazy. This school had chapel, recitation of bible verses and a dress code…and our girls had never even been to church. Furthermore, how could we possibly support our girls when we didn’t regularly attend church or even own bibles…there must be another alternative.
It was clearly family meeting time and based on everything they had experienced at public school, our girls were excited and relieved to attend the “Christian” school. So, we went out and got their uniforms, contacted our previous neighbor, the person we knew had a ‘direct phone’ to God for some advice. She assured us and affirmed our decision, promising to pray and walk alongside us in this new season.
So, they did great and excelled in every area…which we expected as these girls are super stars.
What we didn’t expect was that the school was adjacent to a church and this church, its pastors and all of the “family” welcomed us.
My fiancé and I looked at each other and although we hadn’t talked much about religion, we thought this was an amazing opportunity.
Over the next few months, we attended service after service, bought our own personal bibles and really embraced everything the church and God had to offer. Our girls excelled at school and we are able to see that God’s fingerprints have been all over our relationship and adult lives.
All of this only begs to ask the question…
Why Not God?
Why Not Now?
Beth…this is such a great reminder that God is in the details of our lives!! His pursuit of you is beautiful!
Beth, thank you for sharing your story. It was evident in our time with you, taking care of Ember and at the Mother’s Day tea , that you and your girls are lovely and special. The path with Christ is the greatest gift you can have and that you can share with your loved ones. God strengthen you as you continue to know Him better. Keep the posts coming. Give greetings to your daughters for me. Why not now?
Everyone needs a friend with a “direct line” to God. Love that your friend is so open to you and your family.