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“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17:7‬ (NLT)

As a young child, I lost my mother. I had already experienced the loss of my dad through divorce. And my mother had remarried, bringing a new dad into my life when I was three. By the time I was ten, my whole world had turned upside down.

Bringing a new mom into my life brought a lot of changes in our home. One that started right away was going to church as a family for the very first time. It was this event that led to meeting my future husband, Robert, six years later.

Definitely a God thing that I couldn’t see when I was just ten…

How do you recover from such early, devastating losses in your life?

But God…

As I attended church, I fell in love with the music. Especially the piano. I begged my parents for one, but there was no money for a piano, let alone lessons. So I turned to God with my request. I promised that I would always play for Him if I got the chance to learn. A couple months later, a new piano was waiting for me one afternoon after school. God used my grandparents to answer a fourteen-year-old’s prayer. My new mom took a part time job to see I got lessons, and I began working on my promise.

Yes, God…

A couple years later I was attending a state youth fellowship, and I was asked to play for an absent accompanist. I accepted and took my place. When the page number was announced and the director called out the name of the hymn, I looked up for direction and knew instantly how God was going to use me in His service forever. My future husband was directing that day.

Oh, God…

We married three years later and served as music and youth ministers for over forty years. As his wife for nearly forty-eight years, I lost not just my husband but my best friend and encourager, my solid rock through life’s losses, a wonderful dad and Papa, and my reason for understanding that God works “in all things.”

I couldn’t see the good in losing Robert, but I had learned to trust that it would come.

From a young child until that moment in time…

I begged God to take my hurt and use it for His honor.

Don’t wait, I cried.

Use me now.

The past three years have been some of the most revealing about who God made me to be.

Oh, not to God.

But to me.

And God reminds me every day that He planned this journey for me – even before I was born.

I still play for church today. I promised over half a century ago. And a promise is a promise.

God orchestrated the music of my life. And the conductor hasn’t stepped down from His podium yet.

Now, God…

“O Lord, I give my life to you.”
Psalms ‭25:1 (NLT)‬

‭I. Am. Blessed. ♥️‬

Dear God, we have to thank You for how You worked in our lives to get us where we could be used by You. What a master designer You are! And You did it all because You love us. How can we not love You and share You with others in our lives? Thank You, Father. Amen.