Probably the phrase that best describes the experience of divorce would be that it feels like your whole world is falling apart and you have no control over it at all.
So many things are at risk: your future, your finances, your friendships, your living space…the list is very long. With so much at risk, though, one discovers an important fact that so many of us take for granted when things are going well in our lives.
I cannot begin to describe the value of the various relationships of my life to offer encouragement, comfort and support during that terribly trying time. Family members offered refuge, love, a listening ear, and even financial assistance - without which I would have had a much harder time. Good friends encouraged me and stood with me, helping me to see God’s hand at work even in those difficult times. Knowing that fellow Christians were praying for me helped me keep my focus and priorities. In it all, I discovered the people I could count on in my time of need, and those, as the saying goes, who were fair weather friends. The incredible thing is that I ended up amazed at how many great people God had placed in my life.Family members offered support time and time again.My mailbox filled with greeting cards of encouragement.Friends invited me to spent time with them in various venues, such as playing games or eating out together. Sometimes, when it was just what I needed, it was the willingness of these friends allowing me simply to unload my heavy heart over the phone. As my world fell apart - I learned through those experiences that no matter what else was going on that I was truly wealthy. I had a great treasure in the form of wonderful family and friends, people who truly cared about me and my children. I don’t suppose they realize how it meant to me for even the simplest things that helped me keep going on. I can never fully repay these friends for what they did for me. I can only hope I can be as good a friend and support for somebody else. I guess that is part of the point in writing the Finding God books in the first place, to pass on some of the encouragement I received when I so desperately needed it. It is rewarding for me that every now and then I hear back from folks telling me that the books have helped them.
Whatever your situation in life, I encourage you to realize the treasure you have in the friends and family members who care for you, however few or many they may be. If you are in a time where you need that love and support, don’t be afraid to reach out and ask, because you will learn that most of them do want to help you, but simply don’t know how. Odds are God has placed those people into your lives for a purpose, much as the biblical Queen Esther found that she was in the palace “for such a time as this.” God provides for His people, but never forget He often works through the people He brings into your life.If you get to feeling guilty about always seeming to be on the receiving end, remember you can always “pay it forward” as the saying goes, to someone you will know in need, at a future date.
For those of you who served as my treasures 17 years ago, thank you once again. I don’t know what I would have done without you. Your support and help has never been forgotten.
