My Story of Hope

Wow.......this was a hard one for me. I wasn't sure if I should even participate, because I have so many different things to talk about! But, most of all, my ministry is that I can look back over my life and see that it is a story that has unfolded, as only God could've written it. I can see His hand in every chapter and I can't wait to see how the story unfolds!

The first thing that I love to share with others is the fact that I was adopted when I was 13 months old. Adoption has always been something that I've been proud of. My life has been so blessed because of the parents that God chose for me. I love to share my adoption story because it is a story of such great love. You can find it on my sidebar, from my perspective and from my Mom's perspective.

My life was going along great until my Mom passed away unexpectedly. I battled grief over losing her for almost 5 years. Losing your Mom is something that you expect, but when it happened to me, I felt that it took everything I knew to be true away from me. I guess she was the security that I held on to all those years, and when she was gone, I almost felt orphaned again. But, if she had known the beautiful things that resulted from the journey I went on these past five years, I know that she wouldn't change a thing.

The only thing that helped me through my grief was the Lord. I thought when my Mom died that no one else in the world would ever love me as much as she did, but the Lord showed me that He had always been there, just waiting for me to come back to Him. I was stubborn for many years, trying it "my" way, until blogging opened up a whole new world for me. In blogging, I saw and met so many strong, Christian women who were proud of their relationship with the Lord and I wanted to know Him in that way too. It took one simple prayer, when I asked Him to simply show me who He is. That changed everything for me and my life has never been the same. I love to share what I'm learning and what the Lord is showing me on this journey to grow in my faith. My story is proof that He loves each one of us so much, and He patiently waits for us to want to know Him better.

As I grow in my relationship with Him, He is helping me through many struggles. One thing that I have battled since losing my Mom is anxiety. Anxiety is what kept me out of church for all those years and away from Him. You see, even though I knew Him and I was saved, I allowed the anxiety to keep me away. The enemy is cunning and if he knows he's already lost your soul, he will do everything in his power to make sure he steals your joy and keeps you from your God-given purpose and destiny. It's something I still battle on a daily basis, but every day the Lord shows me in new ways the love He has for me. He sent so many people to help me through it, which eventually resulted in my husband being saved too. This Easter will be one year that we've been going to church as a family and I couldn't have imagined in a million years that it would've turned out that way!

I have 3 little girls who I adore. They are the light of my life. Recently, God has been laying it on our hearts for a possible future adoption. Still, I battle my fears daily between wanting to control things and learning to let go of my fears and let God's will be done. So, I am very excited to see how this part of the story turns out!

Every day, it seems I learn more about who God made me to be, and I become more accepting of myself. My blog is just a chronicle of all of these things. I am just an ordinary girl and I would love for others to look at me and see how God can make all things new again! One of my favorite songs is by Leeland and it says "I am a new creation. I have been born again!" That is exactly how I would describe this past year. An awesome story of hope has been unfolding in my life and my family's life..........so I hope you will come back and read along. I don't know how many chapters it will hold, but because God has written it, I know that it will have the perfect ending!!

Visit Kelly's blog to read about other ministries!