Unexpected Confidence

I’m not always sure why God used becoming a military family to bring a renewed strength to my family. Many times I have thought it was an odd choice. Thankfully my ways are not His ways, so I’ve stopped questioning His choice. There are too many reasons to be grateful for the journey He has taken us on.

What I find mind boggling is how God showed up and gave an unexpected boost of confidence to each member of my family. It was a boost of confidence that was desperately needed even though some may not have realized how much that boost was needed. As I look back and see how God orchestrated each step, and how each of us grew as a result, I’m in awe.

It began with giving a husband and father the confidence to pursue a lifelong dream at the age of 41 to serve His country. Soon after, confidence was found for a son to follow in his father’s footsteps. Serving his country was not a lifelong dream, but he was in need of knowing he was capable of so much more than he ever allowed himself to believe. He showed another son that he too could pursue a dream…a dream for a life filled with music.

As these men of mine began their new adventures, two of them being led away from home, I wanted my life to come to a stop. How would I possibly manage? For this introvert, confidence was needed to simply venture outside of the house on my own. God gave me the confidence to keep moving forward.

He gave me confidence to send my husband off to become a soldier and begin a new chapter in our life.

He gave me confidence to let go of my son the day he left for Boot Camp to become a sailor.

He gave me confidence to support my youngest son in pursuing his dream, because sometimes we moms need confidence in our ability to be a supporting mom.

He gave me confidence to say to my husband, when he called to tell me an injury during his training was now going to keep him away longer than originally planned, that “Everything will be okay.”

He gave me confidence to hop in the car with only a few hours’ notice and make the drive from Chicago to South Carolina to bring my husband home to recover from his injury prior to completing his training.

He gave me confidence to say, “I can handle this,” when I opened my front door one morning to 22 inches of snow.

More recently, He was with me as I rose from my seat one Sunday morning and took those scary steps to the front of the sanctuary. I grabbed hold of the microphone and stood before our entire congregation as the leader of our new Military Support Ministry and shared my heart on why supporting our troop’s matters. The hand that held my notes would not stop shaking. God gave me the confidence to speak.

Every time I hit the “Publish” button on a new post, it’s because He has given me the confidence to believe that my stories matter.

How do we grab hold of this confidence God wants to give us?

In Matthew 4:19 Jesus says, “Come, follow me.” When we make the choice to follow Jesus, we are surrendering relying on our own agenda, and trusting His. It’s a choice we make daily to surrender and trust that He has us right where we are for a purpose. When we put our trust in Him, He will give us the confidence needed to fulfill His plan.

We may not do it perfectly, but He isn’t asking us to be perfect. There were many times I found myself in tears when my husband was gone. On that day I stood before our congregation, my words were far from perfect and it was more than obvious how badly my one hand was shaking. I wouldn't be surprised if you were able to find several posts with some kind of grammatical error. But every day I make the choice to keep on following Him.

God makes no mistakes so put your trust in Him.

With a grateful heart, thank you God! On my own, these things would not have been possible — with you all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)