Whitnee's journey with Christ

When Shanya was just a little infant Rico would hold her in his arms and stare down at her, looking in her big, beautiful eyes.

Before giving birth to 3 handsome little boys I always longed to have a little girl of my very won that I too could stare into her eyes. And then my mother in law gave me this picture:

I was blessed to be able to stare in that same precious, beautiful little face.

I tell you it always wasn’t peaches and roses with this little one. No, sir! At one point when she was little in a “child-like” way she blamed me for her parents not being together. She loved me and she loved her little brother (only Micah at the time) but she wanted her mom and Rico to raise Micah with Khamaurie and Tyriq. She was too young to understand certain things and it challenged he health of our relationship.

Let’s just say I thank God we grew on one another. I thank God she allowed me to love on her as I did Khamaurie and Tyriq.

I know I keep going on and on about the summer of 2017 but that was the year I finally saw a “mini me” in Shanya. Thanks to Kelly allowing her “try” a few days at the Koinonia summer camp, Rico and I were able to give Shanya a chance at a normal summer as a child. At the tender age of 12, this was the first time Shanya had ever attended a summer camp or anything close to being around anyone other than her brothers and cousins for the summer. Shanya said she finally “finally felt apart old.”

That was the start of something great, something UNBREAKABLE! Or so I thought! The love was always there, the desire to be more than just a “step mother” was always there but it was different. We sat and prayed together, we studied the Word, we spent endless hours talking about God, visiting the sick, having weekly girl circles over one summer with Cherise and her girls, we had our girl chats, Friday night movie times, and oh boy did we have our fair share of shopping sprees.

Again it felt like I had my very own little girl, she has always been there but that summer on I got a chance to help raise and by the grace of God mold this little lady. Summer of 2017 she learned she was a Beloved child of God. Rico and I had always taken her to church but only going to church when we got her, Tyriq, and Khamaurie which has not always been the most consistent (still isn’t, but God is able) she was able to develop a routine even in that.

I remembered I went to pick Shanya and them up from camp one evening and I told them the kids names so we could be on our way-that little lady has told them she had Rico’s last name verses her moms. Everything she wrote that summer, even in her journal writings at home had our last name. She thought because everyone else shared our last name in the house she wanted to feel apart of. Little did she know she didn’t have to have our last name to be apart of. I didn’t have to give birth to this angel to know she is my little girl.

Shanya always looked stunned to see Rico, the boys, the boys and I praying for her mom. Although she had caused me a world of pain over several years, she is still the reason I got to be the “mother that stepped up” for Shanya.

Two years in a row she was under our wing and it felt great. We wanted Khamaurie and Tyriq to be apart of this experience but they thought we traveled too much, had too many lectures on life and the future, and did too many family things to be come stay with us. Shanya had a desire to stay with us but then the enemy crept in. Something happened that we don’t talk about.

I feel Shanya has blocked that part out. Little does she know it is a part of her healing. In order to move forward, sometimes you have to take a trip down memory lane and come to terms with certain things.

Shanya if you are reading today’s message, I want the words from my study bible to bring encouragement to you this morning. It reads:

All kinds of people can “be against us,” causing us trouble and pain and sorrow. But nothing can ultimately triumph over us. God wins, and in Christ, we win with Him.

In other words the enemy can use anyone to include our mom, grandmother, uncle, siblings, cousin, or even our “so called friends” to cause pain- but in the end God always prevails!

They might have won the battle but God already won the war. Rico and I will continue to fight this battle on our knees, we will continue to hold on to God’s promises and cling to our Heavenly Father.

In God’s timing we will be together again. We may not be under the same roof, we may not get to see one another as often as we’d like (if it were up to Rico and I Shanya would still be with us full time and visit her mom on the weekends). We realize God allowed things to happen the way they did so personally we could better understand His will- although we didn’t understand His way.

To Shanya, I sing to you this morning and say, “Ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no valley low enough, to keep me away from you baby.”

We thank you Lord for giving us peace and understanding. We thank you dear God for working things out in Your way and in Your timing. So dear God if it is your Will, I pray I can gaze into those big, beautiful brown eyes on a daily basis.

Continuing to pray and this morning I ask those reading to pray along with Rico and I that the picture displayed below will come into fruition. Claiming God’s blessings in this season of waiting and seeking that again we will be a happy, healthy blended family.