One of the MOST important things for anyone standing for marriage restoration to learn is that we REALLY CAN and MUS rely totally and completely on God! I know ALL of us have our own horror stories of the times we tried to manage, control or manipulate our spouses or circumstances in some way to change our marital situations, and the disastrous results and consequences! So it really does my heart good to see testimonies and praise reports like the two below, which were posted on the ladies’ private FAM Fellowship website just last night and this morning! And the key to seeing God work so magnificently in our lives as these ladies have, is found in Matthew 6:32-34, which says For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

And these praise reports and testimonies certainly confirm the following two passages of scripture as well, which are also two of our favorites:

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Psalm 37:4-6
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

And for the ladies standing for marriage restoration, these ladies have most certainly learned to put 1 Peter 3:1-6 (instruction to wives for winning their husbands’ over when they are being disobedient to the Word) and the Lord has continuously amazed us with their testimonies and praise reports as a result of their willingness and reliance on God to follow HIS instructions for the restoration of their marriages! And they NEVER fail to praise the Lord and give Him glory for EVERYTHING, no matter how small or insignificant it might seem, and they are now experts when it comes to “looking for God in EVERYTHING!” So read the following praise reports from these ladies and be blessed and encouraged! And for visitors to the site who don’t know; NCP means Non-Covenant Person/Partner and SNO means Spouse Name Omitted.

A SUPER Praise Report!

I have quite a few praises, so I hope I will remember everything!

First, I praise God that He has moved in my finances in such an unimaginable way! I ended up needing quite a bit to get started with this new job and between the ministry and selling my baby crib, everything I needed was provided! Then I tried to pay back my mom the money I owed her and she refused to take it! And that left me with the money I needed to pay my credit card bills, and enough money to make it through another week with gas money!

Then today I made all the phone calls to find out exactly what I would need to move into the apartment, and it ended up being a bit more than I expected, but as usual God provided through the generosity of others! God put it on someone’s heart to send me everything I need above what SNO is going to provide, which leads me to my next praise.

SNO has been working over a week, and he even worked an entire day in the rain! I have not received any money from him to date but I am completely confident that it will be provided from God and through SNO. He has said over and over now that I will receive the money I need by Friday.

I also want to praise God on SNO’s behalf. He called me today and was talking about needing money for gas, and I told him that I would pray that he would come across what he needed. And within minutes of me saying that, as he was walking up the NCP’s front steps, he looked down, and there was a fifty dollar bill under the steps! He knew it wasn’t his, but he sure was very excited. When I talked to him later; it did not end up belonging to the NCP and I commented on how crazy it was that he found that at that very moment. Oh I love God!

My final praise is so big. I called the apartments today to make sure that the lady had moved out. Well, she is not completely out, but they said she will be out by tonight. Then the manager told me that they almost had a mess on their hands. Remember back when I originally got on the waiting list, there was a woman ahead of me on the list for a three bedroom apartment? An apartment opened up for her and then within days another opened for me, which was apparently unheard of happening so quickly. Well, the first lady was due to move into her apartment recently, but shortly beforehand, the people in the first “vacant” apartment decided not to move! But the lady had heard that there was indeed a second three bedroom that had opened up; MY three bedroom! So she assumed that I would be put back on the waiting list and that she would get that apartment. Honestly, I would have assumed the same thing, because it would seem fair to me. Instead the manager at the apartments told her that she had to go back on the waiting list, because she had already given that apartment to someone else; and she told me that she just had a strong feeling that this apartment was meant for me! Obviously, that did not make the other woman too happy, so she went to the district manager about it. But the apartment manager stood her ground, and she called the district manager and shared my story with her. Now the district manager is on board, and she told the other woman that they apologize, but that the other apartment was spoken for and that they would be happy to place her back at the top of the waiting list! LOL, I can see everyone’s jaw on the floor as you are reading this! This is all God, people! This apartment should not be mine. I did not have the credit (shouldn’t have had a good report!), didn’t meet the income requirements, still don’t have the money, and now I am being chosen over this other woman! This has God’s hand all over it! A friend of mine told me today that this apartment must have had my name on it when it was built!

God has been so good and so faithful! I go on Monday or Tuesday of next week to sign the lease where I will be given my very own house keys! And we move in on the 29th, which is the following Saturday!! He has done so much for me in so many areas in the past few weeks; more than I could have ever imagined! I praise you, God!

I have continued to pray for SNO, of course, but I find it funny that since God started to move mightily in my circumstances, I have neither seen nor heard from SNO much at all. Now that is not to say God is not working on that end, because I know He is! But it has gotten extremely quiet over there on that side. I can’t wait to see what it is that He has been doing with SNO this entire time. If He has done all this for me, He must be moving powerfully in SNO’s life as well! Go God!

The Lord DOES Determine Our Steps!

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps” Proverbs 16:9

For those of you who aren’t sure about Proverbs 16:9 or haven’t seen evidence of this, I have really seen evidence of it in my life over the last week. One is big and the other may be superficial to some, but it is sort of a big deal to me. This is longer than I thought it would be, but it’s funny and I had to be detailed.

The first thing is that I have been staying at my house off and on for about 3 weeks now, and I have not completely moved yet. I don’t really know why except that SNO hasn’t asked me to. All he has done is suggest that I stay at my house a few times so I can “get used to it.” Basically, he’s suggested I stay about 3 nights a week and that we would “play it by ear.” He still feels the same way I do about how bad it would be for me to just up and leave without telling our neighbors what is going on with us (remember, he doesn’t want to divulge our divorce). They aren’t just our neighbors; they are very good friends, and we do a lot with them. Also, what SNO doesn’t know, is that God spoke to me months ago about our friends, because they are not saved. I think God wants to use my stand to witness to them. Anyway, SNO wanted to talk to our neighbors about 2 months ago and announce our split, but the timing has never been right. They have been on vacation or busy with children’s ball games, etc.; there just hasn’t been a chance. SNO’s plan was to do this a while back but God has so far made it difficult for this “talk” to take place. But I have not interfered in any way. I have not asked SNO to wait, and I have not refused to talk to our friends. I have only asked God to handle it for me. SNO’s “course” was to announce our split ages ago, but his “steps” have been ordered so that the timing is never right. The time may still come that we talk to our neighbors, but it has certainly not been in SNO’s timing.

The second thing that I praise God for is the redecorating done in our house. Since Christmas, SNO has decided that “his” house should be more contemporary. At first, it really bothered me that he was changing everything, and back at Christmas I was worried about not liking our house and wanting to change it again once we were restored. The first room SNO started with was our bedroom and to be honest, I do not like it. But, after some praying concerning this whole thing, God told me that the decor in my house did not matter and that I should let go of how I felt about it. So, I gave that worry to God and I have not concerned myself with it since. And do you know what? Since I gave it to God, SNO’s taste has definitely leaned more toward my taste in decor. I believe that God has influenced his taste so that I will be comfortable there when I move back. SNO’s “course” was to make things very modern, but his “steps” have been more compromising to include me. And, again, I did not confront him. I have not asked him to change anything; nor have I complained about anything he has picked out. The only thing I have done is offered my opinion WHEN HE HAS ASKED and given out complements. This redecorating addresses another topic I brought up to Linda some time ago about how I can’t “get my house ready” for my spouse to come home because I am the one who will be “coming home”, so I look at this as SNO is getting ready for my return – and he doesn’t even realize it! What’s really funny is that he bought the exact same color towels for our master bath that I did for my new bath. He didn’t even notice!!! I’m not even sure he saw my towels when I bought them. So, when I move back in, our towels will “merge” and we’ll have this whole new set of towels. That may sound insignificant, but one of our last arguments (fifteen months ago) was about needing new towels. It’s funny how things just work out.

God pays attention to all the details in our lives. Man may have all sorts of plans and ideas of how life should play out, but God can put up obstacles or take down barriers and determine our steps in that way. So, it doesn’t really matter what SNO’s plans are. I stopped concerning myself with his plans and so far, everything has worked out the way the Lord has wanted it. I haven’t let everything go, but I am trying because I see what happens when I do!

Posted Tuesday, September 18th, 2007 at 11:51 am in Seeds Of Faith.