An Addendum to Her Story

I recently shared about my sister and how God is slowly restoring her faith, I felt incredibly led to share a bit of background. This was not a miracle that she RE-committed her life to Christ. It was the answer to many years of prayer not just by me, but also her paternal family. (She is my half sister.) This young woman has been prayed for since before birth. Her paternal grandfather was a pastor and her saint-like grandmother passed away, although she fought to stay alive, just before my sister was born. If she hadn’t been a month late, this wouldn’t have been the case. (See, my sister was stubborn in utero. Ha!) Regardless, this child was well prayed for from conception. She has several praying aunts and uncles, plus another half-sister, also strong in her faith.

My sister accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior probably as a teenager but for a lot of the same reasons I turned away, she did as well. She was unfortunate to have a lot of trauma occur in her life, from a young age. (Sadly, generational iniquity trickled down to her as well.) None-the-less, she knew God and Jesus and never truly let go of them. She still believed and prayed but the sin in her life over shadowed any good work God could have done. This girl has some serious guardian angels and knows it.

God put my sister in jail in June of 2016 and when this happened, her families (her other sister and one aunt reached out to me) unified in prayer and decided how best to handle the situation: it was in her best interest to not to post bond. I recognized what God was doing and I prayed for days that he would reach her there. That somewhere in between detoxing, demons and anger, she would hear and heed to His voice. I never knew that prayer had produced fruit until Christmas day, when we talked during the car ride to church. She finally confessed, while in that tiny Kentucky jail, she participated in the prison ministry offered, every chance given!

I can’t tell you how grateful I am to know God indeed used that opportunity to get her at least thinking of Him and how she needs Jesus. He used that short time in jail to get her off the hard drugs but the more difficult task is in progress…and this was God answering prayers as well. She’s shopped the doctor’s in her area for all the Rx she could and is now cut off; a couple weeks ago she was so sick from withdrawal, she knew it was time to get clean from them as well. After an 11 year struggle she finally decided enough is enough. She has also stopped drinking a daily fountain of Mt. Dew and is slowly trying to quit smoking.

God has given my sister a new lease on life, a new sense of worth – one she seems to be taking seriously. Mind you, this will be a process as any road down sanctification is. For example on a recent Sunday afternoon I sent her links to some Christian music via text message. Immediately, that rebellious spirit barked at me. I told her to lighten up, yet reminded her of the promise she’d made to God. Her response was typical, “Yes, on MY terms!” My retort, “I’m sorry my dear, that’s not how it works. On God’s terms, not yours. Love you!”

She will go through trials so the Lord can refine her in the fire. During a phone conversation last week and after she explained how she is getting off the Rx, I expressed how God has a special purpose for her, for her pain and life experience. Most importantly, I shared how much He loves her right where she is, urging her not allow her shame to keep her from running into Jesus’ arms and never letting go.

I know, what I know, that I know….God has big, beautiful plans for her life. I am standing firm in complete restoration: mind, body and spirit, of my spitfire little sister. Praise Jesus! She has been redeemed! Amen. Please keep her in your prayers.