Noticing Goodness: When There's No Happily Ever After

Ginny Thomas, mentor mom and "mom" to many, shared her story with us at Tuesday's meeting.

She started her story by reminding us that God was present in it; and although it was not necessarily a "happily ever after," hers was a story of hope.

Ginny took care in her life to do what was right; to marry the "right" person, to go to church, to be a good mother and wife to the best of her abilities. But as she soon realized, doing all the right things didn't necessarily equal a perfect outcome.

She was involved in church, Bible study, and had two beautiful children. She was happy in her marriage, loved God, and was thankful for her blessings.

But her world came crashing down when after more than one affair, her husband left their family. She was on her own at that point. It was devastating.

But God was near.

But, God. He was everywhere in her life, from the very beginning. 

I think what struck me most about her story, wasn't the affairs, or the financial stress, or the three jobs she needed to take to support her family...

What struck me was that she actually did Notice Goodness through it.

The impression of her heart over the beat of the story, was that God is good. Always.

The story told was that we are loved. He loves to not only meet our needs and feed our souls, but He longs to bring us joy.

And when Ginny was gifted an anonymous $500 left on her car one day, she saw it as a gift a husband would give to his wife. She said it was like God was saying, "Buy yourself something pretty."

She saw it as an "I love you."

This was the point where my emotions overwhelmed me. 

How often do I interpret life circumstances as inconsistency in God's character? As bad things happen and people hurt me, when those I love abandon me, how often do I assume this is how God must be?

Instead of reflecting feelings of abandon upon God, Ginny gave herself with abandon to Him. 

Ginny's story, though she may not see it as a happily ever after, is actually a narrative of True Love.

Because God.

At the end of her talk, Ginny left us with the lyrics to Blessings by Laura Story, and so I leave this with you as well:

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nightsAre what it takes to know You're near?

And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can't satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?