"If our devotion is to the cause of humanity, we will be quickly defeated and broken-hearted, since we will often be confronted with a great deal of ingratitude from other people. But if we are motivated by our love for God, no amount of ingratitude will be able to hinder us from serving one another."
~Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Redemption

This is too wonderful NOT to share.  Thank you, Renee' for sharing this story.
Enjoy!  To God be the glory.

The Face of Redemption - August 28th, 2012 

Loux Family News

This past Saturday my priceless and beautiful daughter Telma was married to her handsome and amazing groom, Isaac. The theme of my heart throughout the entire day was “Redemption.” I have watched this gorgeous daughter of mine transformed from a broken, hurting little girl, into a woman of God who is full of  life and hope.  I watched her standing beside her precious Isaac, who has embraced her with the most beautiful and powerful love, and my heart was full.
Telma and Isaac, taking their vows

If you are not already familiar with Telma’s testimony, I want to take a moment to share it with you so that you can fully understand the magnitude of the power of God in her life to rescue, redeem and restore.
In Telma’s own words:

“My biological father left, after getting my biological mother pregnant. I was born with severe scoliosis, having a 115 degree curvature of my spine. My mother couldn’t handle the stress of taking care of me. After being passed around to several different people who provided shelter, but were not able to care for a child, I ended up doing whatever it took to survive. Alone and unprotected, I learned how to fight on the streets.  Looking back, it’s hard to believe the situations I was in, as I defended myself and searched desperately for food.
The one room house I lived in was often used as a place for people to have sex. I would get paid a soda or a bag of chips to be a lookout while various sex acts were taking place right in front of me. One day I met twin girls who told me about this missionary guy with cool hair that was leading worship in my own language. I felt compelled to go and hear him. As I sat with his wife Renee’, and their family, I found out that they were planning on adopting the twins. To the majority of the Marshallese children, all Americans are rich movie stars and I wanted to be adopted too. Two days later, before the sun came up, I knocked on the door of the apartment that they were staying in and asked if I could play with the twins. Not only did I get to play, but Renee’ welcomed me into the apartment for the remaining week they were there. When they had to leave, I was devastated! Renee’ held my face and wiped my tears, promising to find me the help I needed. I didn’t really think it would happen, but Renee’ kept her promise. Six months later, I was part of Renee’ and Derek’s family. The missionary guy with cool hair and the beautiful mom were now my very own parents.
It took awhile for me to realize that I didn’t have to be in charge of me anymore; there was actually a family that wanted to take care of me. It took a little bit before I was free to be me, free to hope for my future, free to feel loved, secure and blessed. There are so many kids that live on the streets in the Marshall Islands, but God knew me and rescued me through two very loving and Christ-like people. When I was adopted by Derek and Renee’, I began to experience what it was to be loved, cherished and valued. In the past few years, God has given me a greater revelation about who He is, as my friend and my Father. God allowed me to experience His amazing love as a daughter and to experience the joy of  being loved.”

To continue reading the post in its entirety, please click here.

3 comments:

Momofboys said...

Absolutely a beautiful story of redemption!!

lisaqshay said...

i thought of you, claud, when i posted it. i knew you'd love this one!

Teri said...

My soul is nourished at His perfect plan for this sweet girl.