Not gonna lie, I took that freedom and RAN! As I’ve stated numerous times previously, I made my fair share of mistakes in the past. Some I regret, but they also helped shape me into the woman that God created me to be. I’m choosing to own them, this IS my “Redemption Song”.
While there was still a sense of heartbrokeness for what might’ve been, there was a new hope blossoming in me. Endless possibilities for a single mom and her 7 year old son. I went into a bit of a spiral, but I wouldn’t consider it a downward one. I was living for Austin and me now, 100% authentically just for he and I. I decided to go to school for dental assisting and began that September. Several of my girlfriends and I happened to be single during this time. Me, Melissa and Carly mostly and our five kids + a few others most days and nights. We had the time of our lives, us and the kids! They’re to this day just as close as their moms are and we all remain family. Looking back on the things we did, the choices we made, the things we’ve endured, is a direct road map to who we’ve all become. The dinners we threw together every evening while the kids ran wild, until well into dark sometimes, were some of the best times! On one such occasion the hilarity inside amongst the moms, prevented us from hearing the calamity coming from outside. That is until Austin came inside screaming that our dog Zeus was killing another dog outside. The back story here is that our female dog Sassy was in heat and a blue heeler from up the road kept coming to “visit” her. Zeus definitely wasn’t having it and had the dog by the throat “kill shaking” it by the time we got outside. Zeus was a pitbull and arguably the best dog I’ve ever owned, and that night he was protecting his people and his “woman” from that dog. Obviously i couldn’t stand by and let that happen and ran directly into the ruckus while Melissa ran and jumped in my car, turned on the headlights and started beeping the horn. Then Carly picked up a 2X4 off the ground and ran over to the dogs and I and I told her to hit him (meaning Zeus). I had him by his collar and was holding on with everything I had, but he wasn’t letting go and that heeler was covered in blood. Carly started hitting but she was hitting the heeler, the half dead dog! I said, No hit Zeus, to which she replied “I can’t hit Zeus” while crying. I know this sounds like a terrible thing to reminisce about, but in fact, the heeler not only got away, but came back for more over and over again throughout the next few days! That’s just a small bit of insight to the shananigans we found ourselves in constantly.
When you’re in seasons like that in life, when things seem so uncertain, moving so fast in a million different directions all at once, it can be easy to miss what’s right in front of you. Those were the days that brought us together, not just as friends, but as sisters. Those woman would, and have since walked through fire with me and I with them.They were there to lift me up when I’d let myself forget who was orchestrating the whole thing, the one who made us for each other, we became sisters then, and are still now, but also in Christ. It took us a long winding road to figure that last part out, but I can say it confidently now. There’s no other explanation. For each of us to survive the trials the enemy has laid out for us and to do it together, has not only been a blessing but a miracle.
Now Carly is my gardening, music connoisseur, lover of all people, shoulder to lean on & someone I know I can count on. Melissa is my brilliant, badass now almost sister-in-law (she’s been with my brother for like 9 or ten years now and will someday be the next Melissa Moon), attorney, defender, also shoulder and ride or die, she’s literally become family. These women, they were gifts from Our Lord that I never knew I needed, but He did. They got me through all that stuff years ago and here they are still carrying me and mine through some things that were orchestrated by the devil himself. Things that have had me back in my reclusive space, hiding from fear, worry and doubt. BUT, He knew this was coming and He made a way for me, these women, and CeeCee and Michelle, my Thursday Girls bible study group, my church family, my extended family.,and MANY other people who love us and we them. He’s poured out His love on my family and I overflowing and abundantly, HE sustains us.
In the book of John Chapter 11, we are told of the resurrection of Lazarus. (If you don’t know this story, I encourage you to read it!) Jesus receives word that his friend Lazarus is dying and chooses to wait until he’s dead so that He could raise him and put the unbelievers doubt to rest. He says it’s to bring glory to the Son of God. While we don’t always understand what HIS plan is for us, we can be sure that there is a reason and trust in it. That’s what we’re living currently in our world, trusting the Lord and His plan and loving and leaning into the Army He has given us in love.
Psalm 91:4 NIV He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
