His Grace is Sufficient

I seriously can't believe the summer is almost over. I don't know about where you live, but where I am from; school starts next week. Our youngest begins his junior year, and I can't believe we only have one left to graduate High School. I have warned him that I might suffocate him!!! As summer fades into a memory, the hope of fall is right around the corner, and for us that means Football!!!! I absolutely love me some football!

There are so many memories from this summer, ones that I will treasure forever, and others I would be happy to forget.....But in all of them God was good and His grace was sufficient. I am reminded of how far he has brought me since last summer, the healing I have experienced and the freedom that healing brings. Snapshots of past hurts and pains are replaced with snapshots of forgiveness, healing and helping others.

One snapshot that blesses me every time I think of it, is a conversation I had with one of the most precious young women I have ever met, she was nearing her wedding day and was so afraid the pain of her own childhood abuse would affect her life as a wife. With tears streaming down her face, she shared her journey with me. It was one of tremendous pain, wounds that ran deep......and as she was sharing the intimate details of her heart, ones that she held very close, I realized I was sitting with a miracle. The person before me was a miracle,knowing what she had been through and the woman she is today, is nothing short of a miracle. She radiated Christ, her gentle and quiet spirit was refreshing, and you would never ever guess what she had endured.

It's in those moments that I am so thankful for the journey I survived, because in that journey, I can feel her pain, validate her pain, understand her pain, but most importantly, I wouldn't trade those sweet relationships for anything. When she had finished sharing her journey and the fear she was holding onto, the Lord pressed something on my heart so heavy it was as if I would explode if I didn't share it with her.

The words just spilled out.......YOU MADE IT, you walked through the worst thing you can imagine and you survived. You survived!!!! You are here, with me today, a strong, godly woman. He carried you through your pain, giving you a sound mind. Why would he not continue to carry you now? Whatever you face from this day forward, His grace is sufficient. As soon as I had finished saying those words to her, I felt in my own spirit that the Lord was telling me, "that goes for you too" His Grace is Sufficient....

Another snapshot I will store up and treasure in my heart, is walking with a precious young lady as she began and finished her own counseling. She trusted me with her journey, allowing me to love her through her healing process. I have literally witnessed God transform her before my eyes. The connection I have with her will always and forever be dear to me. I pray God will always allow me to be a part of her journey. It's a relationship that can't be manipulated, it is God given......And I can't even begin to imagine what God has in store for her!! His Grace is Sufficient.....

My counseling was finished in November of last year, but my healing continues day by day. And as strange as it sounds, I heal a little bit more every time I share my journey with someone. I believe every time I share I take back a little more control....His Grace is Sufficient....

But he said to me,"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" Therefore I will baoast all the more gladly about my weaknessess, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9