Our First Weekend

 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

That verse hangs in my home.  It is a verse I know by heart and recite often when anxiousness floods my heart. Having the verse in my home as well as memorized does not alleviate all feelings of anxiousness.  Unfortunately those moments still come.

I have been feeling anxious all week this week.  I have been worried about my kids and the transition from single mom to married mom.  Matthew and I, before being married, participated in pre-marital counseling and now married, are continuing with counseling.  For me, the transition of starting a blended family was overwhelming.  My kids have already been through so much and I did not want more added stress placed up on them, which led me to worry. 

We are fortunate enough to have a Christian/Faith based counselor.  She has been amazing over the past few months helping me deal with the issues of abuse in my own life that I feared would keep me from having a healthy marriage.  She has brought me such a long way.  When she volunteered to counsel Matthew and me together, I was thrilled.  She has been so incredibly good to us and really helped to prepare me for this transition. 

As my worry about Matthew’s presence in the home came out in our session, she gave me quite a bit to think about.  She stated that my children might be apprehensive at first with there being a person sharing my room but that it would not take long for them to see the genuine love Matthew and I have for one another and they would be ok.  It is not that I did not believe her but after dealing with so much animosity over the past couple of years, I was reluctant to get too excited about certain things.

 Well this weekend was the great big test.  As we went to bed, I was a basket of nerves wondering how they were feeling as we all went to bed.  How did the children handle the new arrangements?  Like champions! I worried for nothing.  There was no weirdness  AT ALL. It has been amazing.  I truly believe that our counselor was right.  They are witnessing something they have not seen.  There is a man living in their home that treats their mommy with a great deal of respect and love as well as exemplifies Christ for them.  Again, I am back to being shocked by God’s truth.  There is no room for ugliness when God is the center of your home.  My children see that and are now experiencing it and wow, just wow.  I know it is only the first weekend but this weekend was a really big deal.  They have been through a lot and have heard a lot of untruth and it has affected them in great ways.  This weekend, all those things were tossed out the front door as they recognize truth for what it is and embraced that we are family.  It was an amazing weekend!  I am truly blessed!