“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Romans 15:13
Unfortunately, when turning on the news or flipping through social media, I tend to find myself thinking about how the world lacks faith, hope, and most importantly, love. Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely things to be joyous about, even in our most trying times. For example, watching the clip of the young boy who shared the Gospel with everyone on The Jennifer Hudson Show immediately gave me a spark of joy. Hearing my own son burst into laughter while his father and I play board games always makes me smile and gets me excited for his future. And then I think about his future. What does that look like when today we see the world (seemingly) falling apart? Even in our own city, after being here for 5+ years, it seems clearer the areas in which we lack those three foundational elements mentioned in Romans 15:13. Although I can never know the future, I can work to help spread a little more faith, hope, and most of all, love. So I want to share a testimony below, and I hope for future articles and entries, you all will too! 🙂
I want to share just one of many testimonies I have about the goodness of our Lord and Savior. This isn’t the testimony that brought me to Christ, but examples of His goodness and what He’s done for my life. Recently, my husband and I entered parenthood and have been loving on our sweet boy for 10 months, and soon, we’ll get to love on our precious girl in April! God made me a mom long before my children arrived, and actually being able to have my own family is such an incredible, supernatural feeling. However, the road to motherhood was definitely not as easy as I thought, and the struggles of pregnancy, miscarriage, chemical pregnancies…really took a toll on my mental health. My outlook on life began to fade as my husband and I tried to push through the struggles. I was definitely losing faith, lacking in hope, and feeling less than loved by God. After we miscarried our first, it felt like a hard punch in the gut, but I knew I couldn’t just cave to those less than desirable feelings. So, my husband and I read our Bibles together more, prayed together more, and worked to create a stronger foundation of faith on which our marriage would stand. Along the way, I watched as God sent people to talk to me, help me heal, and encourage me that it’s never ‘all for nothing’. He even had us in the right place to see a beautiful rainbow at a time when I was doubtful, but hopeful, and that rainbow strengthened that hope. Later that year, after temporarily giving up on trying to conceive, we found out we were expecting our baby boy! I was definitely nervous throughout my pregnancy, and we had a few complications that led to an early birth, but every step of the way God kept us both and I am so thankful to Him for our blessing. Seriously, if it weren’t for God, our son would not be here and so I thank You Lord! I also thank the Lord for the lessons and growth I experienced throughout that time of our lives. Now, we get to enjoy ALL the giggles and fun things (and tough things) that come along with being parents.
Remember, as I share different things God has worked on in my life for His glory and my benefit, I want to invite you all to share as well and spread more of that faith, hope, and love! I really want to get to know more people who live in Euclid and build those connections through some positive outlets, such as writing about the good things going on in our lives. Even if you don’t share the same faith beliefs, your stories can still have the ability to positively impact others in the community. If you don’t feel as comfortable writing up your story, feel free to e-mail me at tbburns3@gmail.com and I’d be happy to scribe for you as we talk!