My heart is rejoicing and crying at the same time tonight.
To understand, I need to fill you in on what has been going on the last year.
My mom & dad were divorced 2 years ago after being separated for over 3 years.
That same month, my sister & I and our husbands and our 4 kiddos picked up and moved across the country. That tore my heart wide open. I found out later that it tore the heart of my mother even more. It is easy to put aside heartache when you are excited and looking forward, which is what I did. But we left her in the midst of her heartache and pain. We were her comfort, her friends, the only people on the planet that KNEW exactly what she was going through. And for some reason, the Lord led us to be parted at what was the most painful time of her life. Who can understand the ways of the Lord?
She pressed into the Lord, leaned into His arms, listened to His heart, sought His face, fell at His feet and began the healing of her heart. She learned to open up and be vulnerable. She had to seek out fellowship and deepen friendships. We all did. It is so easy to let your family become your whole world and rely on them instead of the Lord when things get tough. But we had to learn a new way. A better way. A way that could bring true healing.
A couple of months after moving across the country, my sister and her family moved away from the town where we all lived. God separated us even further. It broke my heart. I didn't understand it at all. But in the walking it out, I found a deeper relationship with my God and with my husband. What I hadn't realized until we were away from all of our family was that I had never done the "leaving & cleaving" that we vowed on our wedding day. He had always felt 2nd place in my life. My husband of 12 years became my best friend. Our family began changing in new and exciting ways. And exactly a year after leaving the South and my family, we moved back to the South and the same house we had left behind. It had never sold and the Lord told us to pack up and head home. And we did.
We had not been home long at all when we found out that my mom was losing the house she had lived in for 16 years. She began looking for a place to live. After much searching and much frustration on her part, we felt like she was supposed to move in with us. She was reluctant at first, not wanting to impose. But as God shut every other door she agreed and moved into our house almost a year ago. What a tremendous blessing! We have had a wonderful year together.
A week before she moved in, I received a message on FB from a man that had known me as a child asking if my mom was on FB. His son had moved in across from my grandparents and he had heard that my mom & dad were divorced. His wife had passed away a couple of years earlier so he wanted to see how mom was doing. He says that my mom was a "direct & immediate answer to prayer". He had prayed that day to the Lord to let his path cross with my mom. (Not sure how that would happen since they live 1,000 miles apart). But that night I signed onto FB for the first time in almost a year and he saw my name and sent the message. That began their story. They emailed for several months, then texted and eventually began talking on the phone. Mom would laugh and giggle while reading his emails and texts. And she began smiling again. Smiling a lot. It did my heart so good to see it. After many months of talking and seeing each other, he proposed and she accepted. And last week they were married. He is a wonderful man with a wonderful family. He loves the Lord with His whole heart and He loves His family, my mom and now our family with everything he has in him. He is honorable, compassionate, generous, kind, loving, selfless, funny, and he chose my mom. He cherishes her and I can see that she has opened up her heart again to receive love and she loves him so much in return. They are so sweet together. I am so happy for both of them. I am excited to see what God will do in their marriage and in their life together. It is a new beginning.
And today they left with all of her belongings in a moving truck to go to a town 1,000 miles away. So my heart is rejoicing in the love and excitement of this new beginning but crying because of the separation . I know that we will be fine and that God will walk us through, like He always has before. But I feel like this last year has been an undeserved gift, a surprise, a blessing. My, how things can change in a year.
So thankful to the Lord for this precious time. So thankful that I was allowed to see her fall in love again. So thankful to have watched her heal and open up her heart. So thankful to be with her while she shopped for her wedding dress. So thankful to have had her at our boys' baseball games this spring. So thankful for the presence and friendship of my sweet momma in our home. So thankful for love she gave, the time she shared, and the cake we have eaten together. I love you momma!!! I will miss having you close. Thank you for being my mom and my friend. I look forward to seeing what God is going to do in your life. In the lives of our whole family. Jesus came to restore and I am seeing it happen right before my eyes.
Here is the song that all the kids sang at the wedding. It was precious!
