Yesterday I sat across the table from a dear friend, eating a delicious turkey wrap she brought me for lunch. We shared stories back and forth of God’s goodness, provision, blessing and miracles, in both our lives, within the past year. She reminded me of how much my husband and I were striving to have a successful business, yet how defeated we were when it failed. How we were falsely accused of stealing people’s money and “sailing off into the sunset, richer than ever”, yet literally struggling paycheck to paycheck to make rent and buy groceries. In our early 40’s, yet starting all over after losing our home, vehicles, “friends” and even family due to betrayal. When it all came crashing down, we truly didn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. We were defeated and discouraged to the point of having no hope for a brighter future. #butGod

While I can’t tell you if the loss of our business was part of God’s plan for us, or simply the result of some amateur business decisions on our part (or both?), I can tell you that, in a way only God can do, He moved mountains to bring us where we are today!

Upon receiving the news that the investors were backing out of their commitment to invest in our business, God opened the door for Tyler to get an amazing job in Texas. He also opened the doors for us to rent a home where our fur babies were allowed. While we lost our home in California and had our vehicles repossessed and towed from our home in the middle of the night (talk about humiliating), God provided us with two used vehicles, completely paid for and in working condition. Then again, only by the grace of God, the trustee over our bankruptcy, released our California home, so we could sell it. In an email he sent to us, he told us there wasn’t enough profit for him to keep the house, so instead, he was releasing it from the bankruptcy and wanted us to sell it and use the profits to buy a home in Texas. Who’s ever heard of such a thing? It was a miracle!

Then, our bankruptcy was discharged just two days before we closed on a four year old home, in Texas! We never dreamed we’d be buying a home any time soon, much less buying a practically brand new home. We couldn’t have planned this if we had tried, #butGod had greater plans for us.

Mind you, this all sounds amazing, but amidst all of these blessings have been excruciatingly painful times, with my Mom’s cancer diagnosis in March, and me traveling back and forth to California to help her, until flying out here September 13th, for the final time, to help her full-time, until Jesus takes her home.

I share all this because I want you to know that it is not without much pain and great loss that we have seen the hand of God working in such beautiful ways. People looking on the outside may only see the blessings, not the losses; the very great and painful losses we have endured within the past 13 months. #butGod remained faithful to us and never left our side!

Proverbs 10:22 says:

I can attest to the validity of this verse in our lives, because the entire six years of our business, we toiled and stressed, lost countless hours of sleep and felt completely overwhelmed. However, even with all the losses we have faced, God has been immeasurably good to us and blessed us with far more than we could have earned on our own (we tried!). It just goes to show you that when God blesses, He can’t be out-blessed! When we are walking in obedience to Him, trusting Him and relying on Him for everything HE PROVIDES, HE ALWAYS PROVIDES.

While my heart aches during this season of pain I am currently walking with my Mom, I couldn’t be more grateful for all the BLESSINGS God has brought to my husband and I, and for how He promises to use, even this difficult time, to bring more blessings.

Friend, I have no idea what chapter of life you are in: blessings or losses, but I can’t encourage you enough to hold on to Jesus through it all. He truly is all you need and He will never, ever leave you lacking any good thing (Psalm 34:10).

Praying blessings without toil, upon you and yours!