Cardboard Testimony

Unless you have lived under a rock…which maybe you have :)…you have probably heard of cardboard testimonies. Check it out here if you haven’t seen one, and get your tissue ready! It is basically a way to share your testimony on a piece of cardboard in 2 brief statements. Our church is going to have a cardboard testimonies service in May and Barry and I were asked to submit our written testimony of the struggles we have been through the past few years and how the Lord has been faithful. Here is what I submitted…I will share Barry’s later…

“Where to start? We have been through so much since May 2008 but the Lord’s love and faithfulness for us has shown brightly through it all. We have been trying to become parents for three years now. We have been through countless tests, surgeries and procedures. We have lost two babies that are now in Heaven with Jesus. We have grieved like I never knew possible. We have been on an emotional and physical roller coaster. We have no idea what our future holds and it’s scary.

But here’s what we DO know. God is in total control. He has not forgotten us. He understands our pain. Everything that touches us has passed through the Lord’s hands first. And while we might not understand why we are experiencing these trials…HE DOES!

For the first time in our lives we have FELT His strength and comfort. We have experienced it firsthand and it’s a feeling like no other. There have been many days that we have felt like we just can’t go on and in those moments all we can do is cry out, “Lord, help!” And He does! He gives us the strength to get through that day. He gives us JOY in midst of sorrow and uncertainty. “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” John 10:10. Life’s circumstances might not be going the way WE would want them to but we can still have JOY through it all.

We can SEE Him using our experiences, trials and hardships to bring glory to His name. We have been able to share the comfort we have received with so many others who are hurting. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

I have a blog (http://www.whilewaitingiwillworship.blogspot.com/) to share our struggles and how the Lord is bringing indescribably peace through it all. The blog started off as a place to “vent” and has now become a ministry that I am absolutely humbled to be a part of. This blog has been viewed 28,409 times by people in 10 countries! How cool is that?? God is using some hard hard circumstances in our lives to bring glory to His name. I am in awe when I think that He is actually using little ol’ me!!

Steven Curtis Chapman’s wife, Mary Beth, once said that they have been given a “treasure” in the loss of Marie Sue. A “treasure” that none of them would have ever wanted but because of the circumstances in their lives they now have an amazing platform on which to witness to others. That is how we feel. We have been given this “treasure”…a gift that we never would have requested but look what the Lord is doing with it! While we wait to become parents here on earth we will continue to praise Him and follow His leading to use this “treasure” to draw others closer to Him as we share how the Lord, and only the Lord, continues to bring us through the darkest time of our lives.

My relationship with the Lord has never been closer. I feel on fire for Him and want my life to bring Him glory in whatever way He allows. We do not know where this journey will take us but we can be sure that HE knows and we are excited to see what He has in store!”

Man...I have no idea how we will put all of that onto a piece of cardboard!!