Biggest Loser, Conclusion -- Greatest Gain: Christ Alone

Just this past weekend our family had the incredible blessing to spend Easter weekend all together, at the federal prison. As our 6 kids (now ages almost 4 to 17) and I made the very long, over 8-hour drive out of state on Good Friday, it gave me the opportunity to reflect on our life-altering challenge of incarceration and my personal crisis of faith. We are currently at our halfway mark – 2½ years done and 2 ½ years left to go. The verse that immediately came to mind was Philippians 3:8 (NIV), “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.”

As I drove almost 500 miles across the Midwest, I realized that the major losses of my marriage to incarceration, my full-time job and its benefits, our cherished house of 10 years and my worldly identity were allowed by God to draw me ever close to Him alone. He literally had to take away everything over the past 2½ years to personally show me where I was truly placing my trust – in my handsome husband, in my successful corporate career, in my beautiful home, and in my independent identity.

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Continued from Biggest Loser -- the story of one Mom's journey of hope through devastating loss.

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As He peeled back the layers of my sin and gently revealed these surprising blind spots to me, it became evident that I was pouring my time and talents into things that I thought were “good” but were not God’s “best” for me. A glance at my calendar and checkbook would have shown that over the years, I was striving more to accomplish my own agendas and ways while hoping and praying for God’s blessings, instead of completely seeking Him first BEFORE I planned my daily schedule and budgeted my income and expenses to glorify Him alone.

God used this difficult and unwanted crisis to give me an amazing second chance to completely rebuild my life, our marriage, my career, our home, and my identity -- from the inside-out, on the foundation of my relationship with Him through His Word, prayer and fellowship of His body, the church. Matthew 6:33 reminds me to “… seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” God has been so incredibly faithful to provide for our every need and even many wants!

The most surprising realization I made through this journey was that the most precious possessions I had on this earth were in our minivan (our 6 restless kids) and in my husband at the prison. I learned that I need to be so dependent on Christ alone and the good news of the Gospel, every day, in order for our marriage and family to survive the challenges of incarceration. Apart from Christ and His message of hope, I know that our marriage would have already ended in divorce and we would have had very broken, unhealthy relationships with each of our 6 kids.

This is why I am so thankful for the Entrusted with a Child’s Heart biblical parenting study, which ends with the powerful lessons on “Growing in Relationships”. Betsy encourages me that “there are no perfect relationships this side of eternity. But the ones that are the best are the ones where biblical principles are applied and conflict is worked through diligently… Lifelong relationships require grace, sacrifice and accountability.” I want God’s best for our family and each of our lifelong relationships!

On a personal note, I am so grateful to share “my journey of hope through devastating loss”! This opportunity has given me an amazing passion for personal revival in and through Christ alone, defined as “a restoration to life, vigor and strength; a restoration to use.” By His grace, I have never felt so full of life, vigor and strength in Him – so excited to see what He will do next in our adventure of faith!  We pray that God will mightily use our story, truly His story, to bless, encourage and challenge you in your own journey with Him!

The End.

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