I love gifts. Many more “mature” people suggest Christmas is for kids because they love to see the delight and excitement over Christmas morning on their children’s faces and it’s better to give than to receive but I seriously love getting gifts. I love giving gifts too, but I like presents and some of the best ones are the unexpected gifts, like the time when my Man got me a full spa day with 5 treatments. It was so good, and unfortunately for him, the experience turned me into a spa girl.

This week on Kingdom Bloggers we’re sharing stories about receiving a better gift, something opposite of what we asked for but it turning out better.

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I’ve been sharing a lot about experiences surrounding my trouble in my marriage. Generally, I live in the present and don’t want to live in the past but it’s also good to remember the alters of the past and see how God moved because it becomes a testimony of what God will do again.

My Man was not a Christian when we were married and in 1998, I began praying [more passionately] for God to move in my Man’s heart. My exact prayer was, “Please change Gary’s heart, but leave me alone.” I had watched God bring people to a place where they cry out to him and often it’s a low point. Where two are one (because of marriage), that means it affects both people. I liked my comfortable life and didn’t want to change it.

God answered my prayer in the EXACT opposite of what I prayed. My heart was changed and my Man’s was not (at least not with any obvious fruit).

I don’t believe God causes bad things to happen because he is a good God and likes to give good gifts to his people but sometimes the traumas in our lives work out so beautifully they almost seem as if they purposed and ordered by God - almost, but not quite. God takes everything and makes it beautiful so what the enemy purposed for destruction, God uses it for good. That’s what happened.

I moved from a lowercase ‘c’ christian to a capital ‘c’ Christian. My heart was completely wrecked for Jesus, it’s been 14 years and my heart burns brighter than ever before. I suppose it was the crux of my salvation testimony. It was the inciting incident that was a catalyst for my faith, which is still being fulfilled to this day.