Along the lines of my last blog, I have been thinking about all the good things God has done in my life, in spite of my past or present circumstances. As I look at my life I see a theme of loss and redemption. God has redeemed every "lost" thing in my life and I know He will continue to do so because He always has. He is who He says He is and I can trust him with my life ...
I originally created this five minute slideshow (below) as a personal presentation for a communications class I was taking in college. The assignment was to present my life to my classmates in a creative way. I have since updated the ending, although the rest of the show is exactly as it was when I first made it. I hope you'll take the time to watch it!
The story follows many feelings I had as I was growing up in my broken family, from childhood to adulthood. The lyrics to "Things I Prayed For" by Eli could not have been more fitting. My parents divorced when I was one and my mom, who had custody of me and my older brother and sister, remarried when I was two. My step-dad is the only father I've ever known. The three of us were immediately joined with his three children, but he lost custody and their mother took them away to raise them in Arizona. He was reunited with them after more than 20 years when I was sent on a business trip to Arizona where I found and met them. During my teen years, my step-dad and mom separated for a short time, but got back together again after some counseling and each member of our family began giving our lives to the Lord. In my teens and again in my early twenties, my sister and her family left and we did not see them again for another seven years. We were reunited just before I found out I was pregnant with my first child after six years of infertility.
In this slideshow, I wanted to capture the difficulties of my life as well as my continual hope that I would "be someone" someday in spite of all of the adversity I had experienced. Hind sight is always 20/20 and I can now see how God has worked through the circumstances of my life to create a beautiful story of loss and redemption and that in Him, I have always been "someone."
"Taken separately, the experiences of life can work harm and not good. Taken together, they make a pattern of blessing and strength the like of which the world does not know." ~ V. Raymond Edman
"And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." ~ Romans 8:28
"Be inspired and look for God's handiwork in your life ... it's there ... you just have to look for it." ~ Me
