What Faith Can Do...

Today I have found myself thinking of one particular friend all day.  I think it was a text from Dustin last night that made me think of her.  Michelle is someone who has been very special in my life.  She has been an inspiration and encouragement in so many ways for me.  In fact without her and her husband, Bob, I often wonder if I would have found the courage to take the path that has led me to this moment, this exciting experience of planning a wedding!  I look at my relationship with Michelle and Bob and find it amazes me that God was looking ahead months before the moment I met Dustin.  He started to build an important relationship the October before we met.  Sometimes we wonder why things happen to us.  Why do those hard times that seem as if they will rip our very soul out of us take place.  Why does God allow those moments that make absolutely no sense in the anguish they cause?  I can't say I know all of those answers, but I do understand them.  I realize that makes no sense, but I understand because my relationship with Dustin is a result of what comes from those moments we allow God to use our pain, agony and uncertainty to speak to others.  In Michelle I spent months learning about the silent strength that a woman can find in the middle of terrifying uncertainty.  I watched a woman who allowed her fears to draw her closer to God and by that build a bond in her marriage that I couldn't help but admire and long for.  In her willingness to share her fears, faith and struggles God was using her to prepare me for meeting Dustin.  I tend to share my story with Dustin rather sparingly because it's something special to me, but thinking of Michelle today for some reason has me feeling the need to share exactly how she has impacted my life.  The relationship that God began to put in place in my life even before Michelle was Kirby.  Kirby and I built a friendship over a couple of years that in January of 2011 led to a random text that was totally Kirby.  A text asking me when I was coming to church with him.  A question which I found out a little later was inspired by the fact he wanted me to meet someone.  Now Kirby is not the type to make a second career as a matchmaker so when the text came it pretty much seemed like a message from God...lol.  Anyway long story short I went to church with Kirby the next week and met Dustin.  The following month was a challenge for me as I felt God leading me a direction I had not expected.  Rather than into a relationship with Dustin I felt him leading me to the church I had visited.   Totally did not see that coming.  Michelle and Bob during that struggle proved invaluable.  As I struggled and prayed they became neutral ground for me to voice my struggles where I was assured they were praying that God would show the path he had for me.  When that path was revealed they were there to offer support, encouragement and prayer when the friendship with Dustin progressed at what was sometimes a painfully slow pace.  The unwavering faith that Michelle had displayed in the face of unbelievably slow answers to prayer gave me someone to talk to that I knew understood first had the struggle I was having with faith, trusting God with an unknown future and the emotional pain so intense it's physical pain at times that can come from waiting on God to answer.  Michelle was there to share my excitement the day Dustin asked me on our first date and was there to offer support, prayer and encouragement that the wait would be worth it when a second date was over a month in coming.  I often find myself thinking of Michelle at the times my faith feels like it's wavering a little.  Because of her I've slowly learned to take those things that worry me to God a LOT earlier than I use to.  I get to the end of today and realize that maybe the reason I was thinking of Michelle earlier was because God knew I needed the reminder of her.  Dustin's comment on strength that brought her to mind was something I needed to take the latest wedding "issue" to arise to God and ask for guidance rather than rush into "fix it" mode only to find out...  He sent the answer before the problem ever became a problem, I just didn't know it yet.  It's funny how he works those things out sometimes.  It brings to mind the song by Kutless "That's What Faith Can Do".   

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do

I'm completely convinced that those time the things happen to test our faith in what can seem like unbelievable unfair ways are God's way of using us to be an encouragement, inspiration and symbol of hope to others if we allow him to use our pain to show his glory.  That's what Michelle's faith has done for me.  It's been an example of how that silent strength that a woman can find in God in moments of distress can have a positive affect on everyone around her.  I've found myself looking to Michelle's faith a lot during my relationship with Dustin as the challenges of our differences sometimes have felt like a lot to handle.  There are times it stands like a beacon of hope and encouragement that God will use the moment I'm struggling with in an awesome way.