3 Miraculous Ways God Delivered Our Family

I think if we all look at our lives, we can say we are not where we want to be.
I know we certainly can, but I can testify we are definitely not where we used to be.

It was only 2 years ago, things were so different for us. Overwhelmingly difficult. A time of hardship for sure.

The Hardship

Kerwin was an over the road truck driver. He was gone most of the time. He tried to come home monthly, but that wasn’t guaranteed , especially in the early days when they didn’t pay enough for him to be able to take off.

It was extremely hard. We had somewhat prepared for the long distance marriage relationship, but was not prepared for the low pay and the carelessness of the truck driving industry, who didn’t care if truck drivers had families they wanted to get home to.

The pay eventually, got better, but it didn’t take the place of Kerwin’s presence. The boys missed him, I missed him. We were used to being around each other every available moment possible.

To top it off, when Nehemiah was 14 months, he had developed acute eczema, but a few days after Kerwin left, Nehemiah’s eczema got worse. It went from acute to severe eczema in a matter of days!

Nehemiah’s mild eczema

It was the beginning of a very dark time. Nehemiah’s eczema consumed our life. Finding the cause and curing it was all I could think of. You name it, we most likely tried it.

There was no such thing as sleep. Nehemiah was tortured all night long, scratching, itching and bleeding terribly. Staying up all night with him and waking up to start the day with, Jeremiah, it became too easy to become sleep deprived.

I wouldn’t be honest to say that I never felt lonely, resentful and abandoned. Our family was very young. Nehemiah was 1 and Jeremiah only 6 months at the time Kerwin went on the road. I felt like a single parent. I went from having a partner to having to handle the boys and everything else totally on my own.

It was always stressful and overwhelming. I finally hit a breaking point and started suffering from panic attacks. At one point I would have them multiple times a day.

I felt like a mess and ashamed that my mind and body had turned against me. I viewed myself as a strong person but overnight became weak and I hated it. It opened the door to new fears that I had to eventually learn to overcome.

We were living with my mother at the time because we wanted to save up for getting our own home and Kerwin didn’t want me to be alone while he was gone. His intentions were good and my mother graciously allowed the boys and I to stay, but I definitely felt alone despite living in a house full of family.

The lonliness of being over the road started to affect Kerwin. It took it’s toll on him mentally, emotionally and physically.

He started to experience some anxiety and I became extremely worried concerning his health and his state of mind.

It was the beginning of 2017 when Kerwin came home to visit. We shared how we both were fed up with this situation. This lifestyle was becoming unbearable and putting a strain on our marriage and family.

We had discussed the fact that we never took a family vacation with just us and the boys. We decided then our goal that year was to take a family vacation, no excuses! This led to setting even more goals, such as him getting off the road and getting our own place. At that point, we didn’t care if it was an apt, a rental or purchasing our own home. We just knew it was time to get back together as afamily.

I remember saying “Lord, I don’t know how all this can be accomplished.” (But, it’s not for us to know, we just have to believe.) We decided to believe it could be done.

A True Miracle..

Since deciding to walk by faith that our family would be restored back together, I started to notice Nehemiah’s skin was clearing up. It was such a miracle to witness. The illness that stole my baby’s skin, hair and zapped his once lively and happy personality was now leaving. He was being restored to what God had originated him to be.

We were excited to see the change. We were in the middle of a fruit detox, but I honestly believe it was God’s grace and mercy that truly healed him. All glory goes to God and nothing I did.

I wish I could say I stood perfectly in faith, but I spent many nights crying out to God why, how do I deal with this and heal my baby!!

He is faithful, He does heal the sick!

A Mini Vacation

As Nehemiah’s eczema was healing, it freed me up to be able to go on the road with Kerwin to a trip to California. He was excited that my mom didn’t mind watching the boys for some much needed time alone.

I absolutely love going on the road with Kerwin. I had only gone with him two other times.
One was an overnight trip and the other was for almost two weeks.

This time was definitely needed, to get away from everything. At the time, my grandma had just passed and we were in the middle of stepping out on faith and shopping for a home loan.

It was also a time to reconnect as a couple, something that was much needed at the time as well.

Our First Family Vacation

A few weeks after Kerwin and I got back from our trip to California, we set off to Galveston, Tx to take the boys to the beach.

I couldn’t believe God had allowed the opportunity for us to really go on our first family vacation. At this time Nehemiah was 3 and Jeremiah 2. This was the first time we were alone as a family EVER!

Fun on the beach!

It was such fun spending time as a family. We all enjoyed it! The boys loved being there at the beach. They had a hard time leaving when it was time to go.

We even spent a day just lounging around in the hotel room. I got much-needed rest which wasn’t easy since I was battling anxiety and having panic attacks like crazy during that time.

It was great seeing the boys getting a chance to play and spend time with daddy.

Finally Off the Road

A month after we came home from our vacation, Kerwin was offered a local position in the DFW area. It was unbelievable!

Finally the day had come that I could see my hubby daily! But before we could truly celebrate, it was time to find a place to call home. He had the position in Dallas-Ft.Worth, but we were still located in Shreveport, La.

It was still a victory that we had! And we were happy for it.

We’re Home!

After months of searching, almost two months after we got back home from vacation we were able to get our preapproval to shop for our home!

We felt like little fish in a big pond. The home buying process was a very intimidating one, but God had blessed us with a realtor who didn’t give up on us and a loan company that smiled and held our hand the entire time.

Next thing we know we are at the closing table closing on our first home.

Homeowners!!

I can’t explain the feeling. Little us, who were staying with my mom all that time was now moving into our very own home.

This home felt like a reward from God for enduring everything we had to endure over the years.

It was everything we wanted and more.

A true blessing. I still sit in awe, wondering how did we get here?

Just the Beginning

That’s the short version of our story. There is much more to say, but this post gives a bit of a background of what we have had to overcome to get to where we are now.

As we still continue to get settle where we are, we discover there is much more God has for us. This is our journey now. Getting back to being a family, learning how God sees family and walking into the purpose He has called our family to.

He has so much good in store for His families. We want to know what it all entails so we can share as we learn.

What is something God has had your family overcome? He is so faithful! Let’s encourage one another with our story!


4 comments:

  1. What a beautiful testimony of Gods Goodness! I still suffer with anxiety, no where near as bad as I use to. I’m praying some day it will end. It sucks to be a single parent take it from me who has been one majority of my parenting life and it’s hard. Sure it built a strong woman but an emotional basket case. I am so proud of you for treading the waters through the storm. Remember when Maddison had eczema really bad God healed her too. Sometimes our kids stress when we stress and unfortunately it appears in a difficult way. I’m so thankful that God has once again worked a perfect work and he will continue to bless you and Kerwin ♥️

    1. I understand, I still have some triggers to overcome, but no where as bad as it once was. It will come to complete healing if we stay looking at Him. I plan to write more about it. God has shown me a lot during this season of suffering.
      I agree and do remember Maddison going through it. I thought of y’all during that time. I do believe Nehemiah’s eczema was stress related due to the circumstances and timing. He had developed somewhat separation anxiety because he and Kerwin are really close and he didn’t understand why daddy kept leaving like that.
      I appreciate the comment. I receive the blessing!

  2. Wow, what a great post! Reading about it like that shows me even more clearly how miraculous everything was. I’m so happy that things are so much better for you now – in every area!
    You know our story. It sounds a lot like yours! But God has definitely been faithful to us in the midst of foreclosure, homelessness, poverty, unemployment, and near hopelessness. Praise the Lord! I hope you have a wonderful baby shower. I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there. But I will definitely come to see that little princess when she comes on my birthday, August 17th. 🙂

    1. You guys have such a story to tell! It will help so many. You have taught us a lot and I don’t take it for granted.
      When reading back over this post, it was amazing to see the timing of everything. I couldn’t call it anything, but miraculous.
      The baby shower was so wonderful, couldn’t imagine it coming out the way it did and everyone working together.
      I look forward to you’re visit when she arrives!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *