THE BREAKING BIRTHED SOMETHING

Whew. (*trigger warning*)

Okay, the breaking birthed something.

It was the afternoon my stepdad had been drinking for quite some time, and I was painting my toe nails in the bathroom at 16. I had just received salvation, and he began to curse the Lord and scream profanity. I threw my nail polish, stood up, and stood up to the man who had been tormenting my family for years and preying on me. He didn't come near me after that encounter, and the Lord totally reworked his schedule to where he was never home when my brother and I were.

It was the moment that I pulled up to my mom's new house while I was attending Carson Newman and discovered a for sale sign in the yard and no one being home. My mom had packed up the whole house (including all of my things), my brother, and headed north to be with someone she had just met online while I was staring at an empty house. And then, it hit. I was homeless. I was forced to drop out of school, work, and process healing in total abandonment, and yet, God showed up in ways that made no sense. He kept sending provision, provided the means to sleep on a few couches, and got me into an apartment to start over.

It was the day I got the call from my doctor that I had thyroid cancer, and they had no clue what stage I was at until I went in for surgery. And I was forced to give up all control over my body and my future because I had just gotten engaged to my first husband. However, while in surgery, all of the cancer was stuck inside the tumor and was removed along with half of my thyroid. And even though I had to be put on medicine for eternity, God did the impossible.

It was the moment that I knew my first marriage was totally over while simultaneously staring at the baby carrier as my ex-husband told me, "I'm miserable, and I don't want to be married to you anymore". And after two days, God confirmed and showed me all that I needed to know, and I walked through a divorce while working and not receiving any sort of rest. And yet, God kept showing up with a strength that was truly supernatural while I pushed to support us.

It was the moment that fear got a hold of my heart so heavy that I almost ran away from marrying my current husband because I had suppressed so much hidden fear and anxiety that decided to errupt one night. But in that moment of a total mental breakdown, Tyler met me with nothing but compassion and love as I unveiled every hidden fear that I had neatly tucked away. And through the tears and the hard truths, God moved mightily through my husband, and I knew that this was a real love that would not let me go.

It was the afternoon of June 28th, 2024 when God shut the door on my career for good, and I had an entire identity crisis right here in my living room. I was forced in that moment to become a stay at home mom because every daycare at that time was totally full, and my husband and I knew that there was no other way. We lost over half of our income in a moment, and I was being totally pressed. I was being totally crushed. And I was not understanding what was happening in that moment, but little did I know, God was birthing this.

Shew.

All of the breaking has been birthing something all along that I just couldn't see at the time.

Trust was being birthed.

Tenacity was being birthed.

Faith was being birthed.

Courage was being birthed and a ministry was too.

This is your reminder that every piece of what you have faced and what you are facing is just a testimony of God's goodness in the making.

This is a nudge to you that He isn't a wasteful God or an accidental God.

He is a God that moves with purpose and authority; therefore, He has a purpose for every storm, fire, trial, and season.

So fam, if you are feeling a little defeated or discouraged today, I want you to know that the breaking is birthing something within you and around you.

So, like we say here, "BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS."

GOD IS DOING SOMETHING HERE AND NOW.

SAM RIVERS JONES