Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today, I chose three testimonies from the Marriage/Family Category. Satan is attacking our families and I think it can help us to see that God is looking out for us. Satan wants to destroy families but God wants to preserve them. Often, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we listen to others tell their story, it helps us see that we are not alone. When we hear how God worked in their situation, it gives us hope that He will work in ours, too! I pray when you hear these testimonies, you get the faith and hope to believe that miracles can happen in your situation also. I pray you know that God wants is there with you and if you invite Him into your family issues He can help. We have all seen God working in our lives. However, we might not all be aware it is God working in our lives. This is why it is so important we start talking about it more. The more we share our experiences, the more people understand how God works and how much He truly loves us. If you would be willing to share any experience of how God has worked or is working in your life, please email me at catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching.com or click here. It won’t take up much of your time, and your story could be just the story that someone needs to hear today. Prayerfully consider sharing. Everyone has a story, and the world needs to hear them. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Witness Wednesday #121 More PopWe Stories (Marriage/Family)
Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today, I chose three testimonies from the Marriage/Family Category. Satan is attacking our families and I think it can help us to see that God is looking out for us. Satan wants to destroy families but God wants to preserve them. Often, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we listen to others tell their story, it helps us see that we are not alone. When we hear how God worked in their situation, it gives us hope that He will work in ours, too! I pray when you hear these testimonies, you get the faith and hope to believe that miracles can happen in your situation also. I pray you know that God wants is there with you and if you invite Him into your family issues He can help.
Zachary: 2016 started out as one of the most exciting years for me and my wife, Amanda. We were living in Calcutta, India; working at Calcutta School of Music and starting our own company to support local artists and musicians in the city. Amanda was expecting our first baby, Chloe West Ray, and she was due to arrive at the beginning of December. Amanda was in her third trimester when she became very sick one night. We admitted her into the hospital in Calcutta, India on a Monday night. Tuesday morning Amanda was feeling better and Chloe seemed to be doing ok too. Wednesday morning, before we were about to leave the hospital, we went in for one more ultra sound. I can still hear the doctor say, “We can’t find a heart beat” as if it was today. We found ourselves sitting in that hospital room broken and confused, with no idea of what the next steps would be.
There were very few words of comfort that helped. Although people were praying and offering their words of comfort, it felt like a season of being abandoned by God. The dreams of holding our little girl were stolen and shattered. Grief is a funny thing. The initial sting and pain becomes dull over time, but the memories and dull ache continues. I don’t think our hearts are created for this world to overcome “grief” from tragedies or loss of loved ones; it becomes a part of our story, our life. We become a different person. The beautiful thing is that God stays the same and meets us where we are. I can honestly say God tangibly became my refuge in one of the darkest times in my life. He brought a healing into my soul like no earthly person could. We may never be the way we were before, but He shapes us into a new and often stronger person. I don’t think we get over grief until we leave this world.
We found out the following year that we were expecting another baby. Due to the loss of Chloe, it was difficult to not allow our fear and worry to overwhelm our joy. We simultaneously jumped for joy, and breathed a sigh of relief when our son was born.
Pam: My husband and I had 7 kids – he had 3 and I had 2. Then we got custody of our 2 nephews. Less than a month after we received custody papers, our nephews’ dad passed away. Their mom lived nearby, but didn’t have much to do with the children. That has always caused its own set of problems.
When we were going to get the boys out of foster care, we had no idea how we’d provide for 2 more, except for the fact that God had always provided for the 7 of us! We were fully trusting in Him to provide for all 9 of us. He did just that! We always attended church with the kids. We served in the church and paid our tithes. God never let us down.
Recently, we had been praying for a job that would allow us more time together and get a lot of debt off of us. Biblically, we felt this was right. God is answering our prayers through a job we now have. We can work closer together and prayerfully begin to make more money and to pay off our debt.
Even though life with a triple blended family was tough, and there were times we wanted to give up, we didn’t. God saw us through. He is faithful and trustworthy. We hope and pray that our kids will remember that we gave and served, and that God was faithful. We are thankful!
Most of our kids are grown now and one is in the service. We pray they will always remember that their relationship with God is most important!
Theresa: In my past relationship, I walked on eggshells, was hyper-vigilant, and lived in fight or flight mode every day. His behavior was a constant up and down. He would ignore me, then act nice to make me think everything was okay, then abruptly follow it with rage. He would manipulate and gaslight me, keep me exhausted, and criticize me frequently. He’d make excuses for his behavior, never took accountability, and blamed me for everything. Nothing I did ever seemed right, and I slowly lost confidence in myself. I was lonely, unloved, and felt like a nobody. Any sign of me leaving resulted in violence. I was trapped in a trauma bond and I didn’t see a way out. Some nights I would pray just to make it through another day.
For years I endured financial, physical, mental, verbal, and emotional abuse. I had lost all hope but God had other plans for me. When I began focusing on the word of God and reading the Bible every day, I gained a newfound confidence that gave me the courage to seek help and find freedom. For the first time in a long time I am safe, hopeful, and looking forward to my future. I am blessed that God is giving me a second chance in life. Trials and tribulations are a part of this life, but with Christ, you can do all things!
Thank you all so much for sharing your stories. I pray you continue to rely on the Lord and that He continues to bless your families. I know it can be hard to share your story with the world and yet when you do it helps other’s see God working in their life as well. Thank you again!