I am so blessed, especially when it comes to those I call family. I love my family so much. They are the ones I spent the first 18 years of my life…..well perhaps it was more like 20 years. (they just couldn’t get rid of me.) God placed me specificity in this family for His purpose. It was a safe place where His daughter was cultivated into the women He has planned for all along. My parents are the exact parents it takes to raise a Paige Kristine Jaquish. Most importantly it was in the place I felt loved. So first off I want to thank you Mom and Dad. I know thank you is not enough to express how much I appreciate all you did for me. No words can even come close to explain how much I love you. I am so blessed. On behalf of your Father in heaven, I want to write what he might have to say.
To my son and my daughter,
I love you so much. I have loved you since the very beginning. You are special and prized possession in my eyes. I know life has not always been easy for you, but I have been with you through it all. I gave you 3 beautiful gifts. Samantha, Paige and Eric. I thank you for taking the best care of my gifts. You cared for my children like they were your own. You loved them. You provided for them. You played with them. You taught them. You gave for them. You raised them to love me, and when I asked, You gave them back into my hands. I just want to say thank you dear children. Well done. Now I want you to see what I will do with them. Sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Have peace knowing you did well and I am so pleased and proud of you.
This isn’t it. My plan for you does not end here. I have much more planned for you. So much more glorious things are yet to come. Please remember that I love you and I will always love you. Also trust in me. I will not forget you or leave you. I am always near.
Love,
Your Father
I am so blessed. I had such a beautiful place place to grow up. As I grew older, I began to see my family as that place of strength. It was the ground that I began placing my feet on. It was the place I put a lot of trust and hope in. I mean who wouldn’t? It was the only place in the world I knew I was truly loved and cared for.
The older I got the more I began seeing that the world is not a perfect place. My parents got a divorce in October. I knew before I left to go on my race that my parents were going to split. The months leading up to this separation were not the easiest. They were pretty messy. It was especially hard for me. I had a hard time letting go of control. Everything I knew was shaken. Sometimes I felt like it was not really happening. I tired and strived to fix things. This was one thing I was not meant to fix. My heart did not become harden towards Mom or Dad or God. My heart was broken. And that place I put my hope and trust was also shaken and crumbling before my eyes.
I didn’t know what to do. In the words of Shelley Sparing, I was a “hot mess.” So the first few months of the race I carried this baggage with me. Let me tell you, it was a lot of work carrying the extra weight. I was on the mission field but I wasn’t fully able to be all that I was created to be because of this uncertainty and weight.
But God is good. He is so good. He brought healing to my broken heart month one. And he brought freedom month 2. Even though it hurt, he used my parents divorce to show me that it is Him that he wants me to put my trust. He wants to be that rock, that firm foundation that I stand on. I had put that in my family before. I think there was a time and place where that was healthy but now that I am grown He called me to Himself. He wants to be my anchor.
With that I know that no matter what happens to me in life, no matter what the circumstance, I can put my hope in him. He is immoveable. He is constant, unshakable. I am still asking Him what it looks like. I know it comes with a peace. An unrelenting peace that everything will be ok no matter what.
So I guess my message to you is that we serve a good God. He loves us so much. He is the place where we can boldly and confidently place our feet on and know that we will be unshakeable.
Christ is our Anchor.
I got this tattoo month 3. It is a reminder to myself. It is also a testament to who God is. When people ask what it means to me I get to share my testimony of His love for me. “
