When Life Is Full Of Obstacles, God Gives Us Hope



My husband, with a dear friend who is also an evangelist, and our pastor


My husband has an amazing life story; God has brought him through many obstacles and transformed his life and circumstances!

When he was only six months old, his mother became overwhelmed and sent him to live with his aunt, in another country.  His aunt continued to raise him for the next ten years, and during that time he seldom saw his mother.

Then, one day, his mother decided she wanted him back.  His aunt obliged, sending my husband, only a young child at the time, halfway across the globe to live with his mother.  This woman that called herself "mother" was mostly a stranger to him.

It didn't take long for his mother to once again feel overwhelmed and frustrated with a child in the house.  She'd live alone, as a single woman, never married, for so long that this was an unbearable adjustment for her.  She became abusive, and after a few months Family and Child Services removed my husband from her home.

My husband spent the next few years in a foster home with a wonderful family, and they were a tremendous blessing in his life.  Even when he became somewhat difficult as a teenager, they loved him and treated him as one of their own.

When he was only 15, he bucked all authority, moved out, and was somehow able to rent a room in an old, rundown house on a busy street.  He lived a very wild life for the next couple of years, until some acquaintances invited him to church, and he committed his life to Christ.

It's amazing how God transforms our life.  The Apostle Paul, in Romans 12:2, urges us to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.  When Pierre let God in, when he was filled with His Spirit, God began to work in his mind, changing the way he saw everything: his friends, his family, his life circumstances.  God began to transform him and lead him down His perfect path.  This doesn't mean that everything was easy from this point on, but he was headed in the right direction.

My husband's social worker and her colleagues were astounded when my husband went on to college.  They told him that none of their charges had ever went on to college.  They were supportive and encouraging; with their help, my husband received a full scholarship to seminary.  For the next four years (1988-1992) he majored in Theology, studying to be a minister.

It's amazing how God heals our heart.  Pierre's relationship with his mother has slowly mended, and she's visited our home on a handful of occasions.  Pierre has traveled thousands of miles to visit with her as well.  They speak on the phone every so often, and it's evident that she's making a sincere effort to reconcile their relationship.

It's amazing how God uses our difficulties to minister to our future.  Before we married, we had many lengthy discussions about foster parenting and adopting.  We decided long ago that, if the Lord permitted, we would adopt children after having biological children.

Little did we know that adoption would be His ultimate plan for our family.  After four years of unexplained infertility, the Lord began to open the doors for adoption.  Shortly after, he blessed us with our first son, who we adopted at birth.  Nearly five years later, he blessed us with our second son, again adopted at birth.

It's amazing how God will bless our life if we turn our life over to Him.  The boy that was once tossed around, abused, and branded a "foster child" is now a passionate follower of Christ, Godly husband and father, and preaching the gospel.  Statistics tell us that he should be dead or in prison, selling drugs, or living a fragmented, broken life. 

But God gives us hope, and a new future.

"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. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you." (Jeremiah 29:11-12)



Be encouraged today, my friends ~



{Linked with Women in the Word Wednesday, Marriage Monday, and Walk With Him Wednesday}



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