“Ding Ding Ding” – Spiritual MMA: Round 2

A little more than 4 1/2 years since the last published post. I dropped that commitment. Excuses could be made but what’s the point? Truth is that life came at me like a sucker punch and I took some time on the mat, debating whether to get up or give up. Mystery solved – I’m up and fighting with everything I have, in Christ. That fight – it’s not with a left or right hook. No, it’s something way more powerful – my relationship with Jesus is first and foremost followed by prayer, and a community of folks who pray for and with me. But we’re getting way ahead of things because the last 4 1/2 years included a lot of knock outs.

My goal was and still is to share with transparency the the good, bad, and the ugly that is my life. Why? Because I want to tell you about Jesus. The testimony allowed me isn’t one that is filled with sunshine, rainbows and unicorns. There’s a lot of darkness, sadness, and pain. And it’s a journey that brought me to a relationship with Jesus – not a religion, a relationship. I feel led to share what was my life, my deliverance, and my life today for the sole purpose of encouraging others to trust in Jesus and not to wait! Right now. Right where you are.

After delaying, delaying, over analyzing and more delaying, I said “enough” and got busy. Started getting my notes together for things I’d write about, and put up a post. Can I tell you what happens when you are in obedience to Jesus? The enemy comes in strong to stop you. I had two choices: a) lean in and keep going where I know I was called or b) listen to the wrong voice. You can clearly see the choice made (insert sound of a game buzzer) was the wrong one! But we’re back. 1 John 4:4 “…He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (NKJV). Yes, the road will get bumpy but I KNOW that God is with me and will bring me through whatever it is the enemy throws at me. God is not surprised by any of it and in it all I have the opportunity to grow stronger as a result.

April 2020. What’s going on? A lot. After 18 years with Focus on the Family, I felt called to apply and was hired at Compassion International in May 2019. After just getting my groove with my team, there was a restructuring and I was assigned to serve a new team and let’s say that there was hesitation on both sides. In the midst of all that my husband begins to feel that after 29 years in CO, it’s time to move. Handling more than enough change at that moment I didn’t want more. And besides, our home which we’d purchased 13 years prior was almost complete in the remodeling and repairs – I loved it! We’d built community…I was comfortable. We started looking at houses online, having my mom and our kids join us on Zoom calls so we could show them. >>>>Zoom – now there’s something that wasn’t a household term before 2020. March 2020 the world lost its mind over a thing casually referred to as COVID and April found many of us working remotely and too many living in fear. Backing up – we’re looking online at houses, thinking the Southeast is next – no snow. One kid is active duty Navy and the other lives in IN, and my mom in NV – so nothing to hold us to CO. Late July and mom is hospitalized with pneumonia. After suffering alone, because COVID…they deem her healthy enough to go home early August. Then the call from the doctor, “can you come in to discuss x-rays” and a same week appointment. Friday, August 14th we learn Stage IV cancer.