Public "Thank You God"

Yesterday in our Wednesday night Prayer Service at our church, Woodsedge Community Church, Pastor Jeff Wells called us to come forward and make public declarations of thankfulness to God for something in our lives. It was a powerful time as person after person stood in front of the mic declaring thankfulness for restored marriages, restored relationships between parent and child, healing, promises of healing, etc. It was incredibly moving and I felt, strongly, that I should go forward and declare my thankfulness for a life that has been blessed...but if you know me, you know I'm a chicken!! I sat still and just let myself fill up on these public declarations. It was truly inspiring.

But, it has bugged me all day long that I did not go forward and declare a "Thank you, God" in front of my whole congregation to hear. This is not the same, but I wanted to do one here and now. If you know me, you know my voice is often heard loudest here, in written form.

So, I want to thank God for the opportunity he has given me to be a wife and mom. I was a wandering soul, without purpose or a clear path of what I was supposed to do. Marriage felt like a right step, but not quite right. Having a baby was incredible and filled a bit more of the puzzle in...but there was a piece missing. Than I turned my heart over to Jesus and all the puzzle pieces just fit. Through Him, I have had a great healing in my heart and have found my purpose. 12 years later (it has almost been 12 years to the day), I am still living out this purpose. I am still married to my wonderful, supportive husband and am now a mother of two. Without God, none of this would be. Oh, I might still be married and have my 2 children, but I would be broken and, likely, not living my life like I was meant to.

There is no doubt in my mind that my place is here, as helpmate to my husband and as mother to my children. God has further expanded my purpose by adding teacher to my resume and I am more blessed because of it. I have never felt more joy than I do now, in my present state. There is nothing so thrilling as homeschooling my kids and watching their joy and accomplishments from my front row seat. My children have never been happier than they are now, as homeschoolers. God has blessed us with so many new friends and contacts that make this journey so much better than life has ever been before.

It would be great to say that 12 years later that it has been as smooth as a nice drive in the country on a newly paved road, but it hasn't. We have had sharp turns and some deep, deep holes that have busted our tires on this drive of ours. At times, I question what I am doing...what we are doing. Why is it so hard? But, I am learning to praise Him through the rocky times and the easy times. We had a deep hole in the road these last couple days that I thought would knock our tires off and our wheels out of alignment, but He came through and the road, while still not smooth, is certainly a lot easier to drive through.

Through all the smooth patches and the rough patches, I do Thank God for bringing me to the place I am. I would not trade ANY of it for ANY amount of money or luxury. He has chosen me and I will gladly receive all He chooses to give me.