Part 3... Connecting the Dots

Hey friends! Welcome back to part 3 of this amazing God-story. You have already seen how God has worked in my life and in the life of my friend, Angie...and the ways He has woven us and our stories together. BUT...there are so many little details that make our story absolutely incredible and we want to connect the dots for you so that you can get a glimpse of just how awesome our God is.  He went through great lengths to write this story. He left no detail out, no room for doubt. He made sure we both absolutely knew it was Him that orchestrated it all.  This is His story and we are so honored to be given the privilege to proclaim it.

One of the first things I want to make sure you caught is the fact that Angie and I were acquaintances at best. We had literally only met ONE time several years ago. We were connected on FB but that's it. We have some mutual friends. We both knew the other suffers from chronic pain... but that is about the extent of it.  So in my state of complete desperation, on the verge of ending my life and being okay with that decision, God used a stranger to reach out to me and bring me to a place where He could speak truth into my heart. He didn't use my friend/counselor, He didn't use my best friend, He didn't use my work friends, He didn't use my Bible study girls...all of those people knew something was wrong. They knew I was in a dark place, they were actively trying to help me and speak truth to me...but He used a stranger instead. And we are both so thankful!

Another really big detail that we don't want you to miss is the timeline... I had been sinking for a few weeks before the day Angie invited me to that prayer meeting. About a week and half to 2 weeks before that night I began literally begging God to take my life in my sleep... During that EXACT same time frame, the Lord began speaking to Angie and prompting her to pray. Specifically He told her that a spirit of suicide was coming into her home. After a few days of the Holy Spirit being persistent with that message she told her husband and a friend and they all began praying. So for 2 weeks I begged God to take my life and at the exact same time Angie was praying against the spirit of suicide. She was literally praying against my prayer!  And if that is not WOW enough...she still at that time had no idea who she was praying for.

I also learned several days after the prayer meeting that a former mom from A Step Above had also been praying for me during that exact time frame. She said she could feel the heaviness in my life and she began to pray. I probably had not seen or talked to her in at least 2 years!

God is good, y'all!

By the day of the prayer meeting, I had pretty much decided I was going to end my life. I had given in to the false sense of peace that enemy had convinced me was real...in my mind, it was a done deal. I posted a FB status that day that said...

"I don't know how much more I can endure..."

Some time that morning as Angie is scrolling FB on her phone she reads my status and her phone freezes. She can't scroll up or down. Her page is stuck on my status. Thinking her router had froze, she closed her phone to reset it, opened FB back up, and there I still was. The Holy Spirit began urging her to invite me to prayer meeting that night. She was reluctant...because again, we were almost total strangers. But she was obedient and sent me a message through FB. I waited about 3 hours before I tried to decline. Thankfully the Holy Spirit wouldn't let it go and she felt like she needed to almost insist. She told me she felt like the Holy Spirit was asking her to invite me and that she really wanted me to come. I reluctantly agreed.

From there the Lord continued to orchestrate the whole night...from literally blocking my car in as soon as I arrived, to the story Angie's husband shared, to the songs we sang, and even to the Holy Spirit prompting her to pray over me. Every single piece of the story was so perfectly written by His hand. I left her house that night knowing without a shadow of a doubt that He does love me, He does see me, He has not forgotten me, and that peace I felt over taking my life was a lie from the enemy.

The Lord has used our story already to touch so many lives...and we are committed to sharing it together to proclaim His goodness for as long as He wants us to. There are so many things He continues to show us through that night. Just when we think we can't be anymore amazed, He reveals something else that leaves us breathless with arms outstretched, giving Him ALL the praise. This is His story. It has forever changed us. Our friendship is forever marked by His hand...and we are grateful.

Thank you for allowing us to share His story with you!

Crystie & Angie