“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14 (NIV)
Last time we were together I spoke about how I allowed myself to stay in an abusive relationship for 1 ½ years. When I finally had the courage (and God’s divine intervention) to leave, the question that remained was whether or not I would ever find anyone to share my life with, was I worthy enough for someone else?
When God restores, He does it in such a breathtaking way it blows me away each and every time. God allowed me to meet and eventually marry the most amazing man, the father of our four children. Every day, every single day, I wake up and thank God for the privilege of sharing my life with him. Every night, every single night I go to bed thanking God for the privilege of the day we had together. My outward moods fluctuate and I get crabby at times, probably more than he would like, but at my core, I’m incredibly blessed and always thankful for the man God brought into my life.
Remember the reptile, Um Potato? He was returned to the store within the 3-week return policy window. The wonderful manager gave me three weeks to recover before trying again and this time she spent over two hours helping us pick out a submissive and actually quite curious and fun bearded dragon. Our littlest named her Jewel and she truly has lived up to her name. She fits into our family perfectly and I would truly miss her if we didn’t have her.
Regarding the situation our family finds ourselves in for 2018? Change is required and I believe change has happened by the time you’re reading this … however, it hasn’t happened by the time I’m writing this. So, if you’re interested in finding out how our lives have changed for the better, feel free to reach out to me in the comments or email me (clSwalwell99@gmail.com) and I will be happy to share with you how God turned our situation from one of growth to one of blessing.
That’s pretty bold of me to type today, knowing it hasn’t happened yet, but I also know God is bigger than anything we ourselves can do. I know He has spoken promises over our family regarding this issue. God loves to show off and draw people to Him more than I love to share the amazing things He’s done in our lives, and I really love sharing about His amazing miracles.
If God could redeem the abusive relationship I put myself in and replace it with a happy, godly marriage, and if God can redeem a crabby owner/animal existence and replace it with a “perfect fit,” then I know God will work the same redemption and restoration in the situation we currently find ourselves living.
The common denominator? Fully surrender to His ways, seek to obey when He speaks into the situation and then walk out what He command He gives, no matter how scary it might feel. Leaving the abusive relationship for the final time was scary … but being blessed with a godly, handsome, amazing husband was quite the reward. Giving up a crabby reptile wasn’t so scary, but choosing to try again caused some fear; yet, God rewarded that obedience with a Jewel of a dragon. The situation we find ourselves in now is a little scarier because there are a lot of unknowns, but seeing how God has redeemed and restored in the past makes me excited to see how He’s going to redeem and restore this situation in the very near future.
I will be sharing what He does for our family because I know with confidence He has already begun working behind the scenes.
© Cheri Swalwell 2018