Nevertheless I am continually with Thee;
Thou hast taken hold of my right hand. Psalm 73:23
It is my birthday today and I am so full of love and gratitude to God. You see, I am continually with Him and He holds my right hand. To others, this may not mean much. To me, it’s everything.
Two months ago, in the process of separation from my husband and ultimately, divorce, I moved with my two girls nearly an hour away from our previous home to a town that is new to us. I did this for a few reasons. First, the town we formerly lived in was a high-rent district and having been a stay-at-home mom for the last nearly 12 years, I knew that I couldn’t afford to live in that area. I also wanted to start a new life where I wouldn’t constantly run into people who would ask me about the divorce. I wanted a fresh start.
Through an amazing process which is too long to describe here, God pointed us to a sweet little house which is half the size of our former house. In my previous life, I felt like I was married to my 2900 sq. ft. house. Now, I feel so much freer and this house seems to wrap its arms around me every time I enter. I look out onto horse property and to the sunrise over the evergreen hills.
We’ve now been here two months. I had never been in this town prior to the beginning of August but I truly love it. Nonetheless, when we arrived, I knew we were starting from square one. We knew only one family–my older daughter’s best friend had moved here just the month before, and because both my daughter and her best friend are on the same select softball teams that practice in this area, we had “followed” them, so to speak. But I knew her family only as acquaintances, nothing more. So Christian arrived with a built-in best friend, which I was grateful for, but Jillian, my 12-year-old, and I had no one.
I asked God to bring us friends. That seemed pretty likely for Jillian, who’s very social and has kids at school she could get to know. For me, however, I was skeptical. In my experience, it has taken years to get to know people to the point where you have a real comfort level.
I looked up a church on the internet and when we arrived the first time about a month ago, I was stunned to see that it was a very large one, with six services. I wasn’t sure I could feel at home in such a monolith, but within two weeks, Jillian had settled into the middle school church class and informed me she wasn’t budging. Lord?, I asked Him. But a week later, when Jillian arranged a ride with her friend Lauren to Tuesday night church, I went out to meet Lauren’s mom. We hit it off instantly. I was still skeptical, but a week later, she was at my house for more than two hours talking. That was only a week ago, and since then, she has called me regularly and doesn’t even announce who she is. She expects me to know her voice. And I do. Never, EVER, have I connected with someone that quickly and easily. Last night, she arrived on my doorstep with Lauren, and a homemade birthday cake in her hands. I was incredulous.
At about the same time that I was praying for a friend, I began to beseech God to help me get back into the freelance writing world, so that I can bring in money and continue to be a stay-at-home mom. I heard about a website for freelancers from Julie Cosgrove, one of the wonderful regular bloggers on this site. I went and registered on it. Within less than a week, I had three new freelance jobs. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. The website operates a little like eBay. Clients post writing jobs that they need to have done, and freelancers bid on them for the amount they are willing to do the job. On most jobs, there are several bidders, and I was never the low bidder. But I was the one they chose.
Nevertheless I am continually with Thee; Thou hast taken hold of my right hand. Had I come here without God, I would have been very, very alone. But He is here, every moment, holding my hand. And He is meeting every need to my utter amazement. And so I praise Him for His incredible grace on this, my birthday.
