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| The paths of God's children are marked with grace. |
Jennifer Schreiner was five years old when she first decided to follow the path of Jesus and give her heart to Him.
About 19 years later, however, she found herself on a different path. It was then, she said, while she was hanging with the wrong crowd and no longer living for God, when her mother was praying, asking Him to get her attention.
And He did.
Through a pregnancy.
Unable to take care of a child at that point in her life, she placed the baby for adoption.
At first it was difficult finding the right match. One couple was suggested to her, but she knew them and felt it would be awkward. So, she kept looking. Another was found, but then fell through a couple months later. Then, five different people at different times suggested the first couple, and she began to wonder if it was of God. It worked out, and that couple ended up adopting the baby.
Today, she recognizes God’s hand in the adoption. “The family I didn’t want to adopt her at first," she said, "has been the best family she could have had."
Although it was a hard time in her life, looking back, she now sees it as God’s grace. “I’m not sure I would have been able to do it if I was not turning to God,” she said.
She pointed out that it was also through the love and non-judging attitudes of her family and church that helped her through the difficult time and lead her back to the path of Jesus.
Today she rejoices not only for the grace of God in her own life, but also in the life of the child who was adopted almost 10 years ago and became a child of God at the age of five.
Jennifer is now married and she and her husband Brad have two daughters.
When she meets people who are going through similar situations to what she went through, she says she wants them to know that, “no matter what you have done, God wants a relationship with you.” She goes to God daily for strength and when things get tough, knowing that He is in control is a big deal to her, because that means she doesn’t have to fix it.
Her favorite verse in the Bible is Micah 6:8, which says, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (ESV)
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| Whatever paths your life has traveled, God's grace has always followed. |
