Bianca's Story

My parents were not religious and never went to church. My mother told me that she did not believe in Jesus, because if there was really a God, she wouldn’t have the miserable life she was living. I married my high school sweetheart at the age of 21 in a Catholic church that we only attended on Easter and Christmas. Our marriage was never what I would consider a normal one and after 2 children and ten years our marriage ended when my husband decided to embrace a homosexual lifestyle. I became a single mom of 2 young children for 6 years until I married a man who also had 2 children. We then had 3 children together, our first diagnosed legally deaf at 4 months, followed by twins. We found ourselves living in a 1600sq ft home with 7 children, as well as my brother in law, who had moved in with us after his relationship ended and he had nowhere else to go. We were busy trying to make ends meet and raise our children. My days were consumed with taking care of our kids and driving our daughter 70 miles round trip to the school for the deaf each day, so when my husband lost his job, we lost all our income. We had to turn to food banks and churches for food to feed our family and were blessed by the generosity of so many during that difficult and uncertain time. Looking back, I can see how God provided what we needed every day, even though I didn’t acknowledge Him at the time.

Our house was about to go into foreclosure when we decided to put it up for sale and move to North Carolina. We weathered some difficult and challenging years with our 4 older kids, then took in a friend and her child for a couple of years after a horrible divorce, followed by caring for 2 of our parents. We were trying our best to raise our children and help those we love through their own difficulties, but somewhere along the way, in the midst of it all, my husband and I stopped working on our marriage. When he was let go from his job the second time, our relationship spiraled downhill. The day we separated, all I could do was cry. I didn’t know what to do. I saw a Bible I had been given several years earlier that I had rarely opened, sitting on top of a stack of books that I was packing up. I picked it up and threw it on the bed. It landed open to Psalm 138 and I just began reading with tears running down my face, “The Lord will work out his plans for your life… he will not abandon you.” I started reading it out loud, chapter after chapter, and an amazing peace came over me. I began to believe that God would work out His plan for our lives and would bring us through the difficulties we now faced. For the first time, God felt real to me and I wanted Jesus in my life. A desire to walk with Him and learn all I could about Him began that day.  I knew I needed to go to church, so I started taking the 3 children we still had at home to a church in our community. As the pastor taught each week, I began to understand God’s Word little by little.

Our divorce was finalized a year later, seemingly ending a 19 year relationship. I cried often, but the closer I grew to Jesus, the more I knew we were going to be alright. The crying eventually subsided as Jesus carried me. My faith grew stronger, as did my relationship with the Lord. I stopped depending on others and started depending on Jesus. The kids and I moved again and decided to try a new church that a co-worker had been talking about for a while that always seemed to be doing such great activities. She kept telling me that I should come one Sunday, so I finally did! She was so surprised to see me coming through the door that Sunday! During the service, I felt as though the Pastor was talking directly to me. I kept thinking about the church after I left, so I took my kids with me the next week and they loved it too! One of the pastors connected me with his small group and taught many classes that helped me in my daily walk with Jesus and I finally felt connected to God and a church family.

My ex-husband had some unfortunate circumstances that led him to losing his job again. He was eventually evicted from his apartment and was thinking about moving back across the country. I knew the kids would be devastated if they could no longer see him, so I began to help him as much as I could, but being a single mom of 3 didn't leave much to give. During this time, we started talking about everything that had happened between us and began growing closer again. When he began having to stay at homeless shelters and at times on the street, I felt as though I needed to do what I could to help him with a place to stay. We worked out an arrangement and the kids moved to one bedroom so he had a place to come in the evening to eat dinner and sleep. It wasn’t long before he started attending church with us and he loved it too. I truly believe that God lead him back to us and to the church through all the difficult circumstances. We both surrendered our lives to Jesus Christ and He saved us and changed our lives!

We were married again July 2018, almost 5 years after we divorced. Our lives are completely different now. God is at the center of our marriage. We have learned to place our burdens at the feet of Jesus and trust Him. We still go through trials and we still struggle financially at times, but the difference now is that we both know that God will provide for us and meet each need we face. We are at peace because we have faith that He will take care of us.

I used to be embarrassed and ashamed to talk about what happened in our relationship, but one of my sister’s in Christ once told me, “God allows things to happen that He doesn’t like in order to accomplish the things He loves.” I believe He let the divorce happen so that we would learn to trust Him and so we can now glorify Jesus Christ through telling our story of what He has done for us. If you are going through similar things, I want you to know that accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior can change everything. Just as I read in Psalm 138 that day when I felt as though my world was falling apart, I want you to know that the Lord will work out His plans for your life. He will not abandon you. Place your faith in Him and Trust Him.

"The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to ll who call on him in truth. He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them." Psalm 145:18-19

Faith, Hope and Love,

Bianca (Raleigh, NC)

PLEASE share Bianca's story with your network of friends. Someone somewhere needs to hear about the hope that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. You can be a part of impacting lives by sending this message forward into the world. Your story His glory. #thetrajectoryproject