“I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you without an outstretched arm…” Exodus

On June 24, 2004, I left a treatment facility in the middle of desert with a promise. God promised He would redeem the mess I made of my life, replace self-loathing with love, and give me LIFE through His Son. I only had a little faith, because honestly recovery seemed  impossible and I was scared to death of life on the other side. Sometimes what we know, even if its miserable, feels better than trudging into the unknown.  God promised me He would use my past to do incredible things…to write His story in the lives of others. {Really, God? I was extremely skeptical}.

June 24, 2006 {just two years later} – I was in China. As a missionary. And my friend Elengi snuck me into her dorm {foreigners weren’t allowed} to share the Gospel with three of her roommates. I met Elengi, “by accident”, as I was complaining about how much I didn’t like China and arguing with God for bringing me there. Elengi was hungry to learn about Jesus, and just 3 weeks before June 24, she prayed to ask Christ to be her Savior, and then told EVERYONE in her family. She represented the FIRST PERSON in her hometown to know Jesus. And on June 24, she translated as I shared the truth of life with Christ with her three friends. I walked home that night, crying, realizing God not only had kept His promise, but He gave me an ‘extra’ dose of His goodness by choosing the  same day I left treatment.

June 24, 2010 – Michael brought me to this bench in a beautiful garden in Germany with a poem.  He told me I was the greatest blessing in his life, the woman he wanted to marry, the woman he wanted to mother his children, the woman he wanted to walk through life with, and the ONE!  As a symbol of his love, he gave me his ring – a ring he had worn since he was 12 years old as a promise to wait and pray for his wife. HE CHOSE ME! I just cried.

The theme that runs through June 24 for me is not my faithfulness, not my ‘efforts’ for God, but God’s mercy in never giving up on me. Ever. I still screw up, and at times run back to my ‘old life’,  but He continues to redeem my past and use me to write His story of redemption in lives of others. Hallelujah!

In the words of Madeline L’Engle:

“In a very real sense not one of us is qualified, but it seems God continually chooses the most unqualified to do his work, to bear his glory. If we are qualified, we tend to think that we have done the job ourselves. If we are forced to accept our evident lack of qualification, then there’s no danger that we will confuse God’s work with our own…”

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• Did I screw up God’s plans for me?
• Your Story Must Be Told
• What Now? Part II : Where You Lead, I Will Follow
• “…God? I’m still not married.” | A Guest Post from my husband