Picket Fences Divorce Recovery Ministries

All is well?

2012-01-10T07:48:00.000-08:00

All is well? Is it really...? For some of you, all may not be well. The first time in your life, you are alone...scared...your hopes for the future have been stripped...you have nothing. That was me, eleven years ago this month.

My X moved out of the home a few days before Christmas, 1999. Although the stress of his abusive, bizarre behavior had subsided considerably, the new stressors were coming at me full force. I had been a stay at home mom for 3 years and at the time of the separation had no income except for teaching piano lessons in my home. By the time the X had moved out, most of my students knew they needed to find another teacher. My kids were attending preschool and Kindergarten in a small Christian school nearby and, if it weren't for them needing to get to school in the morning, I would have stayed in bed for months.

I had married the X with the expectation that I would be a pastor's wife for the rest of our years...well, that didn't happen. I was very much involved in the music ministry at our church....my neighbors and I were very close, as we were all stay at home moms with preschool children...I taught music one day/week at my kids' school. We had a nice house, two cars in the garage and two dogs...everything about our life was nice, except the marriage.

January 1999 was an absolutely terrifying month for me because I was coming to terms with the reality that I would more than likely be unable to keep my house or my nice life. My world collapsed.

Was all well in January 1999? Not with me....BUT....and praise God for the BUT...little did I know, all WAS well. God was there with me. I certainly didn't FEEL Him; in fact, I was so numb that I couldn't even THINK, much less talk to Him (pray). God knew that, in spite of my world collapsing, that He had my future secured. He knew that I would be OK. He had a plan for me. He had a way for me to bear my pain which was unbearable. He sent clues along the way: friends who said the right thing at the right time, the right praise song on the radio at the moment I needed to hear it, a kind deed from someone, some extra funds slipped my way from a stranger, a lawyer who processed my divorce pro bono, a friend's husband who came and fixed leaky pipes, parents who came and packed me up and drove me 1,100 miles back to my childhood home to start over.

Do I have a clue what will happen tomorrow? No way. But, I know that no matter what, no matter how crummy things may become...no matter how low I am taken...no matter what is taken away from me...that I am just passing through this life. My permanent home is not here. I am His child. I am signed, sealed and delivered....no matter what happens to me, I know where I am going when I die and NOTHING can ever take that away. So, yes, all is well, when we rest in Jesus.

Blessings,

Lisa D

PFDRM Ministry Team

"...though He slay me, yet will I trust Him..." Job 13:15

He never fails

2012-01-09T13:42:00.000-08:00

I am so thankful that our God is faithful. Even though our circumstances will always change and people will always fail us, He remains the same. Praise God, even if we go to bed defeated, we can wake up in the morning KNOWING that His mercies and love never fail and are new every morning.

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”
~ Lamentations 3:22-24

Will 2012 be a New Beginning?

2012-01-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

Even though we are four days into the new year, it is not too late to reflect on the past year and determine what adjustments are necessary to continue forward. I'm not necessarily talking about New Year's resolutions...but more of a mindset change.

The past is past is past is past. It's gone. There is nothing in the world anyone can say or do to go back and change anything that has already occurred. You can't take it back...you can't undo it. BUT, you can determine to learn from the past, leave the past IN the past, and start over with a new beginning.

For discussion:

1. Take a snapshot of your life in this exact moment. Are there things you would like to change?
2. How do you propose to make these changes?
3. Is there something that is keeping you mired in the past?
4. Are you willing to leave this in the past in order to start a New Beginning?

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13 - 14

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. I Corinthians 5:17

A New Beginning has been given to us through Christ. It's not easy to leave our past in the past, but it is possible through Him. And, if we fall, He is right there to pick us back up so we can start over again...and again...and again...

And this is the beginning...

2011-12-08T08:16:00.000-08:00

Since all things in the Earthly realm must have a beginning and an end, today marks the beginning of what will hopefully become a regularly updated "bloggifical" occurrence.

Even before my divorce was final in June 2000, I have found writing to be quite therapeutic. It is, however, quite ironic that today...the very day I decided to begin a blog...I cannot think of anything worthwhile to write about nor do I have much energy to write. I am so thankful that God does not operate in this fashion. He is always working...always here. Psalm 121:4 tells us that He doesn't allow our foot to slip; He doesn't sleep or slumber. He also never goes on vacation, never calls in sick, never takes a personal day, never forgets to show up.

God is. He is the I AM. He is not the:

I was

I used to be

I am going to be

I want to be

I should have been

I could have been

I might be

I might have been

No. He IS. He never leaves us...ever. He is working around us constantly, even when we do not feel Him or see Him. During my darkest hours of life, I certainly did not feel that He was present...but He was there with me the entire time. He will never leave you...ever! People may fail...no, people will ALWAYS fail you. He will NEVER fail.