Believe

Several years ago, Cary and I did a Beth Moore Bible study together. It was called "Believing God" and I'm pretty sure that nothing has changed my life as drastically as that one Bible study. I've done it twice since then, and I will probably do it again someday. It rocked my world and brought about permanent change in my life. The basis of the study was that God has made promises to us, but unless we take them, claim them as our own, we don't reap the benefits of them. We were encouraged to wear a blue cord around our wrist, to remind us of His promises to us. I did that, and it soon became something bigger than I could ever have imagined. During that time we were going through a really rough time with Joshua and it just seemed that everything I was learning became a promise I started to claim for his life. The cord became a reminder to abide in prayer for Joshua. Before long I added a green cord for Carissa, and a purple for Kaylee. I wore the cords for over two years before I found a way that I could give them up. They were pretty nasty. Even had paint on them from where I had painted the house. I knew they had to go, but they meant so much to me! Because they were different weights, I could tell by feeling each one which child it represented. I cut them off, then cut the knot off each of them and put them in prayer boxes that I now wear as a bracelet. Over that period of time I had learned to stay in constant prayer for my kids. It was a lesson that had really sunk in, become a way of life for me. Things changed, Joshua came out of the difficult time and all for the better, but I will always give God the praise and thanks for the young man my son has become. God looked out for him, never took His eyes off him, and He heard ALL the prayers I prayed. Today was a HUGE day for me. I did probably the most emotional thing I have ever done. Jen and I had lunch-probably the last time before the wedding, and probably one of the most important things that has been on my "to do" list before leaving for Israel. I had the bracelet framed with the simple word "believe" written under it and I gave it to Jen. To most, it would seem like trash, but to me, I felt like I was giving away a limb. I am pretty sure Jen got it, and it will probably mean more as the years pass and the children come. We exchanged a few tears, and she heard my heart. There will always be difficult times in our lives, but through this I learned that I could believe what God has said. It represents a time in my life that I would never choose to relive, but also, a time that made me who I am today. Moses told his people to tell their descendants of the great things their God had done, Joshua told the Israelites to make memorials that would cause their children to ask and give them the opportunity to tell what the Lord had done. I asked Jen to hang it in their home and I pray that it is passed down through the generations to come with the story of our God that heard and answered. Believe. One small word that has come to mean so much to me.