Today I have the privilege hosting Lori Schumaker here with her guest post. I’ve gotten to know Lori pretty well these last few months during the launching of her first book, Surrendered Hearts. I consider Lori a mentor of mine (even though I’ve never met her in person yet!) through her incredible wisdom on her blog and the inspiration in this book.

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In the Pain

I think most all of us have been there are some point or another. Right in the middle of a broken mess, we could barely see our next step out, much less how it could ever be redeemed. It may have felt as the death of a dream or a mistake too large to ever overcome.

I know I’ve been there. I understand the pain of regret.

But I also understand the power of a God who has no mountain too large nor any mistake too big to redeem.

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. -Philippians 1:6 NIV

*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will get a small commission if you purchase items through my site. You can read my full disclosure here.*

As a child, I knew about God. I soaked in the Bible stories my mother read to me out of my favorite children’s Bible, but still I didn’t know the Word of God—and there’s a significant difference. You see, knowing the stories gives us a few history lessons and a general outline of who God is. Knowing the Word of God fills in the missing pieces and teaches us about His character. It draws us near and allows us to build a relationship with Him. It becomes a sort of GPS system, leading us to victory when we live within His will.

When we only know about God, we can’t fully understand who we are in Him. We don’t grasp the true value of our identity as children of God. And without that knowledge, the things of this world can take hold of us far too quickly.

Brokenness is a Part of Life

We all experience it. We are all affected by it. There is no escaping it. As a child, I didn’t know how to protect myself from the brokenness of the world. I didn’t know how to put on the armor of God. So I slipped, faded, and fell into places I never wanted to be. Places that perpetuated a vicious cycle of brokenness, of guilt, and of condemnation in my life that would take me years to overcome.

If only I had understood all that Jesus did for me as He paid the price for my sin with His own life on the cross, defeating the enemy forever. If only I had understood that my value was not tied to the mistakes I’d made, that His love was for me, despite my past. But I didn’t, and because of that, I traveled in darkness for a long time.

But God uses darkness too. What I couldn’t see then, that I do see now, is how God could take all the ugly—the hurt, the pain, the shame, the sin— and use it for good. It’s not that He wanted me to suffer or sin, but suffering is inevitable in this broken world. And because we are human, we cannot achieve perfection. Not even near it. So, yes, we will sin. But if we lean into Him and, in an act of surrender, ask Him to forgive us and make our hearts new, He can and will redeem our messes.

Surrendered

Every broken step I took, God used as preparation for what was to come. With loving care, He weaved together those early broken steps with later, well-chosen ones and created in me the groundwork I needed for surrender. Through them, He prepared me to grieve for the broken and to have a heart for the least of these. He prepared me to believe in the miracle and power of His love.

Friends, God took all that pain and all the years of preparation to bring me to my daughter. And then after she came home, He used it to equip me to be the mama she needed. Today He continues to use it as He’s given me the opportunity to share our story through my book, Surrendered Hearts: An Adoption Story of Love, Loss, and Learning to Trust.

But it’s not just what God did in my life. It’s what He promises to do in each of our lives. He uses every moment as our training ground – as our preparation for something better than we could ever imagine.

And I believe with everything in me that He is doing the same for you.

Lean in.

Get to know Him.

Surrender.

And someday you will look back and see how He used even the darkest days as preparation for something wonderful.

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As wife, adoptive and biological mom, teacher, writer, speaker, and coach, Lori’s heart is to encourage others to meet the challenges of life with the hope of Christ. Wherever you find yourself today – walking through the difficult, longing to find your identity and follow your purpose, or simply experiencing a season of beautiful chaos, Lori’s blog found at www.LoriSchumaker.com is a place where you can find the encouragement you need today. In her first book she shares her family’s adoption story and lessons on surrender, trust, and loving well. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

 

Be sure to check out Lori’s book. It really is a book you could read in less than 24 hours and with all the emotion involved, it will be hard to put the book down. I truly was inspired by her story of faith of her beautiful daughter! Click here to purchase her book. PLUS, check out her free resources by clicking on the image below!

 

 

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