(Angel & Yilda weren’t ready for what happened to their home or the strain it would place on their group relationships. Listen to Yilda retell the story of how God used a broken floor to lead them closer to God and deeper in community.)
THINGS DON’T ALWAYS MAKE ANY SENSE…
BUMP!
We all heard that blatant thud in the living room, and a sudden silence filled the room with a chilling sensation…
Immediately a cry of desperation, frustration and disbelief broke the silence: “JACK1, WHAT DID YOU DO! Why?—
We heard someone rushing downstairs…
Then a pain-filled remark:
“Uggh…You BROKE the floor!”
(It was my older son’s voice.)
“Oh no!”—this was the unspoken reaction showing in everyone’s eyes in the family room.
We were just getting ready to close our community group meeting in prayer.
Angel—my husband—immediately went to the living room to calm down the kids…while I stopped everyone in our group from leaving the family room… because we were just getting ready to pray.
And we were going to pray… no matter what.
I looked at Jack’s parents’ eyes…
There was a mix of confusion, embarrassment and… a myriad of mixed emotions. (Hard to explain.)
Then Jack’s mom… in sadness, added one more prayer request… for his son Jack who was struggling with some particular issues, and for God to lead them as parents…
We prayed…
And then I sat in a corner with Jack, held hands while talking about what just happened… and prayed with him.
The situation struck everyone in the group… not just the floor.
The two big dents on the hardwood floor suddenly ignited everyone’s anxiety and the “what if that 5-pound dumbbell had fallen on someone’s head” … or on Windy—our doggy.
Yeah. The anxiety…those “what if’s”… the fear… the doubts… the confusion… Those emotions that many times hit us when things happen that don’t make any sense, were suddenly clouding our way.
We’ve been leading this community group for 4 months now. We’ve a connected beautifully in such an amazing way with each individual in the group. We came to love each and every one of them… including their kids.
My two boys (fourteen and twelve) had decided to serve too in our meetings… by taking care of the younger kids.
Everything was going so well…
And then… this happens.
Suddenly Alejandro, my older son is feeling “not adequate” to help anymore… Jack’s parents feel embarrassed and trying to find a way to fix the situation… the rest of the group is startled with questions, such as…
“Should we hire a baby-sitter?” “Maybe we need to move our meeting to church as they can provide child care…” “Maybe we need to meet somewhere else…” “What should we do…?”
One thing I’ve learned in my walk with Jesus is… to always bring the matter to Him…first.
That’s what we did that day, and the following days of that event.
Angel and I prayed earnestly. We prayed for our group, for our kids, for Jack and for Jack’s parents. We continued encouraging the group to continue praying… to bring the matter to Jesus, and to trust in His mighty power…
We also asked Jack’s parents to pray together, and to also pray with Jack as well for the following days.
In God’s direction… we decided to continue meeting in our home. We decided to cast out fear and confusion… in His name. We decided to trust our loving God—who knows the big picture—and lay down our worries at His feet… and not coming back for them.
He will take care of us…of each and every one of us…because He loves us.
Otherwise, what kind of message we would be giving to Jack—that little kid that I have come to love so dearly—if because of what he did, we decided to move our meeting elsewhere out of our house? That would just harbor guilt… embarrassment… rejection… as opposed to love, redemption and forgiveness that Christ is for us.
Little did we all know, that we were entering into another phase of our relationship as a family in Christ.
In our next meeting after that event, I first met with the kids and showed Alejandro to conduct a mini Bible study with the kids, while Angel led the group that night. After a while I joined the group, and before we closed in prayer… I called all the kids to join us.
As a group—while holding hands—we told Jack and his parents…that we were a family. That we loved them, and that as a group we were going to support them by standing together and praying for them.
One day, after the church’s service, I sat with Jack’s mom to talk about how things were going…
She told me how by praying together as a couple and praying with Jack, was bringing the family closer…
She said, “This is the beginning of something…I don’t know what it is…but something good is going to come out of this.”
This is so true, and many times so difficult to see.
God is so good.
It’s so easy to get distracted by the clashing waves and the harsh wind. So easy to move our eyes away from Jesus…
All I can say is that where God leads, He provides…
And He not only gave me this new family that I have in my group, but also new beloved friends… and the love, encouragement and support of a leadership that is praying earnestly for Angel and me.
I cannot stress enough how important it is as leaders, to also trust in our coaches. Knowing that my group coach and church leaders were praying for my family, for my friends, and for my group… made us stronger and filled us with joy and peace.
We were never alone. We were never in the dark.
We had no idea what we were getting into when we decided to host and lead this community group. But guess what?
This is what we’ve witnessed so far… The more we put ourselves in Jesus’ hands… the more we are amazed at His glory.
Not only we’ve been experiencing God’s hand in our lives more… but as well, we’ve been witnessing God’s hand in others’ lives.
This has strengthened our faith, and our joy.
So whenever you feel that God’s calling you… remember this:
Our part is trust, and His part is provision… And never forget in the journey… to always bring the matter to Jesus… first.
In Him,
Yilda
P.S. If you are wondering, “so what’s up the floor?” Well, the two dents are still there… as a reminder that even if we are struck by uncertainty and worry… Jesus’ sovereign hand is our guide…God never fails… And He won’t start now…
Do those two last phrases sound familiar? Here’s why:
Oceans song from Hillsong United
Footnote: 1 Name change on purpose.