When I look back over the last nine months, I can truly trace the hand of God on my life. With excitement, I greeted the new year, 2024, with great expectations. My mind invited me to say “YES” to God in serving Him through open doors and opportunities. Stepping outside my comfort zone blessed me with cherished memories and grand experiences. For the first time ever, I participated in The Annual Off The Field NFL Wives Association Fashion Show. Desiring to be more vocal and available for God to use me, I said yes to being a speaker in the 2nd Annual Dr. Barb’s Speak Off. Both events were held during the week of Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Between January 1st and the second week of 2024, our family experienced sudden events that seemed as if they were a part of an ugly prank. First, my husband was fired from his NFL Coaching job. Second, my back rendered me immobile and in so much pain that I could barely walk, think straight, or think at all. I was facing making a decision to have a six hour surgery to fuse my spine or to receive an injection saddled with muscle relaxers and pain pills that would offer me time to think it over. Third, the carousel of coaching jobs never came back around for my husband which left us back in the familiar zone that I call, “The I Don’t Know Zone”. That fire I had inside of me was beginning to smother out. I almost lost my footing, BUT GOD.
What kept me sane were days when I would sit, pray, and focus on the word of God. Many days I found myself walking at Jacksonville beach and listening to the ocean’s waves. I would watch the surfers while in amazement at how they were able to defy gravity riding the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. I began to see God in all of His majestical ways. God the strong Creator, Elohim, presented Himself to me through eyes that needed to see Him all around me—in the ocean, sky, wind, birds, seashells, sand, and man. There, at the beach, I could feel Him and His strength, creativity, and love. There was never a time when I did not connect with Him there. While seeking God’s guidance and presence on those days, I knew that no matter what came our way, God was in the midst. With Him, all things would work together for our good.
During the time my back went out to the time I had committed to be in Las Vegas, my back pain was becoming manageable with the medications prescribed to me. Thankfully, I made it to Las Vegas, spoke in Dr. Barb’s Speak Off, and participated in the Off The Field NFL Wives Association Fashion Show. With laced, cute, and dressy sneakers I walked the runway trusting God for each step of the way. I learned during that month-long period of time, to not focus on thoughts of defeat. Somewhere deep inside of me, I knew God had ordered my steps for these events. When I think about when I first said yes, everything was optimal and in place. I did not want the situations that occurred to negate my faith in God. I knew God gave me a word and that was to say “yes” to Him. I knew that God was in control whether my husband got a job coaching this season or whether he did not. I knew that my back was under the authority of God. I did not have that surgery in February. Today is September 24th and I still have not had the surgery. My quality of life has improved tremendously over these several months. To God be the glory for His healing power!
The grace of God has kept me physically, mentally, and emotionally. In the 13 years of my husband working in the NFL as a coach, this is the most amount of time that we have spent together. Visiting our young adult children, friends, and family have allowed the days to turn into weeks and the weeks into months. The storm that seemed to have raged so violently in the first two weeks of the new year has calmed. There are times when I will look to the left and to the right and become distracted in my thinking. On the other side of that, there are also times when God’s still small voice speaks to me and says, “Peace be still”. I am here to encourage each and everyone of you to stay the course, run your race, and keep your eyes focused on Christ Jesus. There will be days when the wind will blow, storms will rage, and lightning will appear, but these are not signs that we should quit or give up. In fact, we should pray, study God’s word, and be even more determined to not give up. Daniel prayed and fasted for 21 days. Help was on the way when he first prayed.
My prayer for you today is that you will know and do the following:
1. Be Still and Know
2. God Loves YOU
3. God is Omnipresent
4. Keep Pressing
5. Help Is On The Way
6. Finish Strong
May the rest of your year bless you in all areas of your life. May God’s grace and mercy be with you each day and may your 2024 ending be greater than your beginning.
In Jesus Christ name I pray these things for you,
Amen
Nuggets
Be Still and Know that I AM GOD (Emphasis added)
“He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.””
Psalms 46:10 NIV
God loves us
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16 NKJV
God is always Present
There is no place that we can go where He is not there.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.””
Joshua 1:9 NKJV
Keep Pressing
There Is a Blessing in Your Pressing
“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:14 NIV
Don’t Give Up
Help Is On The Way
“While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill— while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:”
Daniel 9:20-23 NIV
“Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.””
Daniel 10:12-14 NKJV
Finish Strong
We Are Better Together
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
II Timothy 4:7 NKJV
The race is not given to the swift nor to the strong, but to the one who endures unto the end. Let’s finish the last leg of this 2024 race together and stronger than ever.
“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.””
Acts 4:8-12 NKJV
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