A dear friend of mine after a lifetime of walking in the ways of the Lord experienced a heart-rending betrayal. At the time I didn’t understand how she was able to get through it. Blessed with 4 wonderful children, she lived as a wife and mother devoted to God. Her children shining lights to others on their darkness days, yet the head of her family did the unthinkable by getting involved with a younger woman.

Without getting into the details or putting anyone on public display, as a bystander it was beyond painful for me just thinking about what this sweet lady was facing. I believe looking back at how my friend played out the cards she was dealt stands alone on what the power of God can do in a person’s life.

Faced with being single, children growing up and moving away to college, and grandchildren who need good role models, my friend chose not to stand alone. You see she purposed in her heart to replace all the space that her husband had filled with God. So when her husband moved his things out of the nightstand, my friend moved in her Bible. When his clothes were taken out of the closet, that space became the perfect prayer warrior room. Pictures were replaced with inspirational quotes and her time once given to her husband was now spent loving and caring for others. My friend became a great gift from God to this hurting world.

To this day it gets me how my friend exercised her wisdom in self-sacrificing and placed her family on a path to give mercy in order to get mercy. We have all witnessed sorrows in this world that come with selfish desires. My friend even opened her loving heart and open arms to her ex-husbands now wife and child. Yes, her husband did the unthinkable, but through tests and trials, Jesus became an even stronger present showing that when we are surrounded by His love we will encounter a love that never fails and actually grows beyond our wildest dreams.