Valentine’s special edition. This is my favorite testimony!
It was Easter Saturday, 2011. It was my very first Easter without my 7 year old and 4 year old children. Their dad and I parted ways that February. I didn’t want to spend one day without my children. My earth was shaken and I was devastated by ultimate betrayal and the changes that had to be endured because of it. I love love. (Not a typo). The questions then plagued me. Am I good enough? What am I suppose to do now? It was then in my frailty and unchosen solitude, I cried out to God. “Lord, I will be a single person for your service if that is what you want me to do.” In my heart I believed and continued to pray, “and if so, I know You will take away my need to love and to be loved.” Pause… plain and simple. His will would be made perfect when His plan was given room to grow. He would heal my heart under any circumstance. I absolutely believed that.
Easter Sunday came. The house was quiet, but I had a plan to beat the weepies. I promised my mother, then widowed and who didn’t attend church, that I would pick her up and take her to any church in her town that she had interest in. Being with her was just what my heart needed on that “first holiday.” She lived an hour away from me, so in the early evening I needed to head home to prepare for the workweek. I went to leave but my tire was flat. Oh man, I had gotten 4 brand new tires as a part of my trade- in deal two months prior. Pops, mom’s neighbor, brought up his compressor, aired me up and off I went. I stopped halfway to make sure it was still inflated and certainly it was.
Monday morning, it was flat again. It was time for the single lady to figure out that mammoth air compressor thing hiding out in the shed. I didn’t figure it out…. I called my ex husband’s dad who was the only family I had in Arab, the town I lived in, to help me out. He rushed over, which he always did if I needed anything. Aired up, I made it to the local tire shop on the way to work. The technician gave me the bad news, “Ma’am, I don’t know how you were driving on this tire. This tire is ripped.” A little surprised, I had him throw on my spare so I could take it to the dealership I purchased the car from to get the matching one.
My 40 mph donut and I began our half hour commute. I dropped off the car at the dealership north of town and had their courier service take me to work. Several hours passed, and an hour before quitting time I got a call from the dealership saying they had to order my tire and it would be ready the next day. Puzzled, I walked into my boss’s office next to mine musing how I was suppose to get home. As I sat pondering across the desk from him, he dialed an extension. “This is Martin,” answered the voice over the speaker.
What happened next I like to replay in my mind often. Mr. Foster asked, “Martin, where do you live?” “Arab,” he said. “Come to my office,” Mr. Foster replied with a smug grin without even looking at me. A little unsure Martin approached the door as I sat there facing straight ahead.
“Martin, you are taking this young lady home.”
Well, that’s the end. Or is it the beginning? That’s the end of the story of how I was given my husband in two days. We were coworkers who had barely spoken to each other besides a cordial hello. Why two days? Because God had to wait until Monday. You know…. I believe God knew me before my creation and what I would pray that day. I was 31 years young that year. The previous years He attempted to mold me. He planned the whole thing leading up to that prayer. Events, places and circumstances. Even the pain. I don’t think I would have been at such a place of humility unless the details made me question myself and my purpose. Many months after we started dating, I shared with Martin this story. He was such a shy guy, he never would have asked me on a date! I told him God must have really big plans for him. He gave us a partner for His service. Martin is such a beautiful man of God. A family oriented man which I really needed so that I would be able to trust again. God knew. Way to go God!
Single ladies (and gents), I didn’t give God the list of what I wanted in a future mate. I gave Him me. He knew far better what I needed than I did. And if He orchestrated all of that with a nod of His head because of a simple prayer, I have to ask you this: What is it that you need to ask Him? Prayer changes things! What are you waiting for? Get quiet with God and bask in His presence a bit. Get humble with Him. And if you’ve never experienced a relationship with God I want to pray with you.
God, you know my heart. You know the hearts and the threads of the lives that have entered into this prayer. We ask You to come into our hearts. We choose today to make room for You and enter into daily conversation with You. Things will change for the better. Alot of things will start to make sense. Our other relationships will get better. Our sense of purpose will shift. Lord, you know the details. Work it out. We give it to You. We ask for Your strength and the discernment of the next steps.
Love, In Christ,
Brandi
What Are You Made For? 