My Fairy Tail come true...

My teammate and parter for life- good thing he's so cute! :) 

Lately I have been thinking a lot about God's restoration and healing. One thing that I have been realizing is that God is going to use our past experiences to minister to others as well. God uses our failures, sins, victories, and struggles all for HIS GLORY!

I can testify to all of this. When I got pregnant about 3 years ago, I truly thought that I had failed-myself, God, and my family. In my heart and in my head I was thinking, "What did I do?... How could this happen to me?... It's all over... My life is never going to be what I wanted it to be...and God will never use me." In my mind, I had given up my "fairy tail" dream life that I was looking forward to. I didn't want a baby at 19, I didn't want to drop out of school, and I never thought I would get married so young.. This was my truth at that point...but little did I know what God had in store....

Now, because of the Lord and all He has brought me through, my truth couldn't be more opposite- it's God's TRUTH! I was just thinking this morning that I have honestly never been happier! Correction....I have never experienced the JOY of the Lord like I am now. (..."Happiness is based on happenings, but JOY is based on Christ!") Everything that I ever dreamed of, God has blessed me with times 100000 and that is because I let go of MY grip on my life and I placed everything in the hands of the Lord. I surrendered all I had at that point and said, "Ok God, I need help. I need you. I don't know what you are doing right now, but I TRUST YOU. I trust you to restore, to heal, and to make all of this RIGHT." And what a faithful God He is because I have an amazing husband who loves me dearly - marriage couldn't be more fun, enjoyable, and rewarding, I have a beautiful daughter- the best gift I could have asked for, I am back in school, and doing ministry side-by-side with my man! Life is good huh?! 

I realized that God loves to bless His children, but blessing doesn't come when we are living for ourselves. Sin is real. The consequences are real. and Living sold out for Christ couldn't be more serious. 

The point of saying all this isn't to brag about what I have or what my life is like, but it is a TESTIMONY and REFLECTION of God's goodness and restoration!! One of my favorite verses since I can remember is Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." This verse has such a deep and precious meaning to me like never before. God has good plans for us- plans that he Has for us when we are following Him in OBEDIENCE! This is the key- if we are living for ourselves and our sinful desires, we will be miserable. Nothing is greater than living in the will of God. 

A few years ago, I was hopeless and struggling with what God was doing with my life. I had come to the point where I was going to suck it up and deal with the life that I had chose for myself- how unnecessary. God doesn't call us to settle and think that He can't do miracles!  Now, God is using my (HIS) story and my life to minister to others. What a powerful God we serve. He did a miracle in my marriage, my relationships, and my life and there is HOPE in any situation because of Christ. All we have to do is fall on our knees, humble ourselves, and submit to our Lord and Savior! 

Because of God's healing, restoration, forgiveness, and PERFECT plan for me, my fairy tail came true, and I couldn't be more thankful! There is nothing that I would rather do, than share this testimony of God's love with others and remind them of the HOPE there is CHRIST! 

"You make all things new 
You make all things new 
You redeem and You transform 
You renew and You restore 
You make all things new 
You make all things new 
And forever we will watch and worship You"

- Steven Curtis Chapman

Our gift from God!