It’s that time of year when we look back on the year we’ve had. I hope your’s was nice. Mine was.... well a lot of things, so keep reading if this interests you. Haha. Honestly, I’ve been thinking about how I might wrap up this year for months now. The year I’ve had can hardly be summarized. It was one I will surely never forget.
Frankly, I don’t like to think about how this year began. Just looking back to the first half of 2018 makes me grimace. After 2 long years of trial and disappointment, by January of 2018 my hope had been virtually crushed to nothing. I caught a sickness that lasted 40 days (including a nasty flu in the middle of it that made me miss Rocco’s All-Star game. *Tears*) I was on the couch for weeks; it was like my body felt the way my spirit did! A number of other heartbreaking things happened in the following months, starting 2018 as the lowest year of my life - by far. Many tears were shed as I saw God take away any sliver of earthly hope & security we had, one thing after another. It was BRUTAL! A real rock-bottom season in life. We had been in a faith valley for 2 years already, but it just kept getting worse, & we couldn’t understand why God needed us to face so many consecutive trials. It was truly mystifying. Nearly every night I would unintentionally wake Rocco up in the middle of the night with some anxious dream that would have me yelling, crying, frantically searching for something. Talk about a crazy time... We were truly at the end of ourselves. But in the eye of the storm, my husband & I fought side by side. The hard times pulled us closer together and we relied on God (and each other) in such desperate and important ways. There was no room for fighting of any kind - life was hard enough! We were a team, but at our core we still really did have faith in God. The walls of our life burned down, but the ashes remained. & I am still believing to this day that God is reshaping those ashes into something IN.CRED.I.BLE. The setbacks and disappointments have been so unwanted, I have literally begged God to change so many things in the past. But He chose the steep path for us, & though I may have fought our destiny one or two hundred times, I now receive it with a deeper gratitude that is far too intense to explain. I always say “you don’t know what you don’t know - until you know what you didn’t know.” God reveals things to us in one step at a time for a reason. But don’t think He’s a slow God... I said God reveals things to us one step at a time, not does things one step at a time. He could be setting a thousand treasures in your path right now & you’re just finding them one at a time. Simply put, you can trust His sovereignty. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but it’s in the valleys that we seek Him to our fullest potential. And the lessons are much more profound in the dark. Trust me, I know from years of experience - It’s like I’ve earned an involuntary degree in “Walking By Faith” or “Overcoming Agressive Spirtual Battles.” Is there a university for that? Should be... LOL. Hear me loud and clear: The beauty in following Jesus is that there is purpose in the pain and beauty in the scars. Nothing is wasted. Isn’t that comforting to read? We never asked for any of our trials... I didn’t ask God to bring me to the absolute end of myself... my sanity... my hope... etc. But He made it happen. For profound, often mysterious reasons. Truthfully, it took me months to feel hopeful again - to dream again. Living in a makeshift apartment with no job/career opportunities had been so hard on me, but you better believe I worked every day to combat the sadness I was feeling in this valley. I sang every single day, always hit the gym, & started making myself leave the apartment more. ANYTHING to get me out of that little living room where I was sick on the couch for over a month! Oh, the tear stains that rental couch must have! (Yes, we can laugh at my past pain now! Haha.) I rode out the storm, understanding there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop the waves; no prayer that could save me. But God was IN the storm. And finally, around July, I sensed a new hope rising us from the ashes of our situation. As many of you know, (against all odds) for the majority of the past four months Rocco has been playing for a great new team in a wonderful city. The people are kind and the atmosphere is lively and fun. We are living day-to-day in a hotel, but looking back at how terrible 2018 began, I couldn’t be more thankful for where 2018 is ending. My 2018 began as a devastating, hopeless, miserable year... but is ending on a contrasting note: Healing. Hopeful. and Happy. Never give up on the path. You just never know what could be a mile away. With the greatest sincerity, I am praying for each of you to grow in profound ways in 2019! I pray that you become more like the people God has really made you to be, & I pray you will boldly trust Him in the paths you find yourselves on. Never give up on yourselves & never give up on the God who loves you and has total control over even the greatest of giants. With love, Abby Grimaldi #BornToShine Ministries
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Sometimes I notice myself feeling desensitized to Jesus. I've known Him for so long that I can forget just how significant He is, particularly how significant His birth and death are. The best way for me to keep my beliefs fresh is 1. for me to spend time studying the Bible deeper to understand the cultural context in which these events occurred. And 2. for me to spend time reflecting on them. But why is any of this worth my time? I'll give you a hint: It shouldn't be to impress people or make them think you're some brilliant Christian... It SHOULD be to maximize your impact as a believer. I know from experience that when the gospel is fresh in my life, that's what will flow out of me. When it's dry and distant in my mind, I forfeit the daily opportunities to evangelize by simply being mindful of Jesus in everything. So I hope this scripture and reflection will help you bring the focus back to where it should be. It is Christmas week, after all!
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘no’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, & to live self-controlled, upright & godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.” Titus 1:11-14 People waited a very long time for Jesus to come. We're talking many, many generations. Prior to His arrival on earth, there was no once-&-for-all way to cover our sins & be totally forgiven for good. They used to have to find spotless lambs & kill them, using their sacrificial blood as a covering for their sins... & then they’d sin again & have to go through the process over & over. There was such a great distance between God and man. That distance is also called “our sin.” The promise of a Messiah coming one day to save God's people was the hope they clung to. That's something we tend to forget about in our era... the great anticipation of the Savior's arrival & the deep desperation many must have felt. This may be a memory lane lesson taking you back to 3rd grade Sunday school, but stick with me: We didn’t deserve it, but God’s love for humanity is so deep & limitless that He sent His beloved Son to enter this earth as a helpless baby. Unlike the lavish king people expected Him to be, Jesus was raised by a simple carpenter & a young, surely nervous mother. Have you ever thought about how strange it is that the "King of the Jews" had a life that looked nothing like that of a royal? He had no throne, no title, no glamorous image. At 30 he (finally) was prompted by God to begin HIs ministry. He spent three years performing miracles & ministering to people. Some believed His true identity, Messiah & Son of God, and LOVED Him. Others did not; especially the religious leaders. They HATED Him. He led a sinless life & performed the most amazing, life-changing miracles, yet his fate was to be brutally beaten and crucified by the very people He came to save. The Bible tells us He did not WANT to be beaten & crucified... He was fully God, but He was still fully human too! But He knew He was our only hope, so He didn’t fight the people who viciously beat and killed Him. He knew WHO He was sent to this earth for: Us. & He knew WHAT He was sent to the earth for... to endure all of that, just so we (sinners) could be in close relationship with God forever. And don't forget that many will choose to reject that invitation anyway! The extent of God's love is much greater than we can understand. We must never forget that. For Jesus it’s completely unfair. Totally unjust. Disturbingly cruel. Entirely undeserved. It makes me stop and grieve sometimes... thinking about all He went through for me... how sad God must have been watching His Son suffer. But it’s NOT a tragedy to Him. And it shouldn’t be to us. Yes, we should feel deeply thankful when we reflect on all of that. BUT, it’s the most joyful news we will ever receive! Why? Because Jesus’s life and death had (and have) PURPOSE. Without Jesus coming to die for our sins - and without Jesus raising from the dead... sin and death would still have the final say. We would all be separate from God forever and on a speeding train to Hell. Satan would win. Thank God that doesn’t have to be our fate! Because of Jesus’s complete blood sacrifice on the cross, we can be fully forgiven for ALL of our sins - past, present, future. ALL. OF. THEM. We deserve Hell, but God loves us too much to give up on us without a fight. The thought of His precious children spending eternity away from Him in misery is NOT His desire! After all, He made us in His image to have close relationship with Him. It's just that our sin gets in the way. So He sent Jesus to be the one & ONLY WAY. Yes, there is only one way to Heaven, and His Name is Jesus. The good news is, it's all quite simple from here. When we accept Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, believing He died for our sin & rose from the dead for our eternal life, we can be SAVED from the terrible fate we deserve as sinners. All we need to do is acknowledge that we are sinners in need of God’s Grace... believe that Jesus died and rose again for us... & confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord... and BOOM. If you were sincere, you have just been totally forgiven. “My sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow” describes salvation perfectly. “It’s really that simple? I grew up in a church where it seemed so much harder than that...” Yes, it’s really that simple. And to my friends who are already walking with the Lord: It’s time we all work up the courage to share this good news with someone that God loves. Spoiler Alert: God loves all of us - so it shouldn't be hard to find someone! Please promise me you will try your very best to not become desensitized to the Good News. God calls us to SHARE it because we all NEED it! So today I challenge you to ask God who He wants you to share the Good News with. Eternity is at stake. I hope you feel urgency! I know I do. It’s hard to be bold, but it’s the most loving thing you can be in this situation. And to my questioning/new believing friends, feel free to reach out to me if you are wondering what you should do next after you’ve heard the Good News. I am a safe person that you can ask any spiritual question to! In closing, have a a wonderful Christmas week everyone! Allow yourself the chance to remember just how meaningful the Reason for the Season is! Merry Christmas! Love, Abby Grimaldi #BornToShine |
AuthorChristian Singer-Songwriter, Writer, Hockey Wife, & Fitness Fanatic. Nomad with North Dakota roots. Archives
January 2020
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