I’ve seen a lot of hope emerge from difficulty. My parents got divorced when I was 10. It was a really hopeless situation. I felt alone and like the Lord had abandoned us. As a 10 year old I remember picturing the Lord watching our family crumble as he sat with his feet on a desk watching from above. However, I got to see the Lord put my family back together. My mom, brother and I became so close. I developed a deep connection and close relationship with my mom. I was able to open up to her about my anger and helplessness I felt towards the Lord and she helped point me back to Him. Divorce is never in God’s design, but He taught me about Himself and made us closer as a family and closer to Him. Having divorced parents is hard. I started dating Taylor in September 2019. I began to realize that I had buried a lot of emotions and pain to “survive”. I was taking out hurts and pain on Taylor because of the deep wounds I had. Add clinical anxiety on top of that for a great mix....I began to open up about these things to Meleena James and then determined the Lord was leading me to pursue biblical counseling. I had never taken time to unravel all of that hurt and misalignment I believed about myself and about God. I never have believed I was capable of living a life without anxiety. I learned an important lesson, the Lord did not design me to live this way. I was able to fight against mental illness instead of lay down and let it run my life (depends on the day still- again, learning and growing!) Taylor stayed next to me through it all. He sat patiently, letting me hear the Lord on my own time, reminding me of who I was in the Lord, and speaking truth and life over me. That persistence, love, and grace from Taylor was one of the most tangible ways I have ever seen the grace of the Lord in a tangible way. I’m still in a process of healing, I probably always will be. However, for the first time in my life I have hope. I have hope of healing.
avery weaver