Wendy Finding Faith Again, Part 1

Wendy fondly remembers the little ranch where she and her husband reared their twin daughters. Their close-knit family spent many days enjoying nature while caring for their horses, goats, and chickens. They also attended church together every Sunday.

“Life was very good,” Wendy recalls of those early years. But at the time, she had no idea her faith was about to be shattered into a million pieces.

Wendy started every day by setting aside thirty minutes to spend with God, reading her Bible and praying. Her practice was to read through the Bible, chapter by chapter—even the parts that didn’t always seem clear.

Death first touched their family when Wendy’s mom passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. Wendy grieved, but she had no idea of the wrenching trials she would face just in a short time.

Just a few years later, her husband went to bed one night as usual, set his alarm to get up for work the next day, and fell asleep. In the middle of the night, he began gasping for air. Wendy woke up and immediately called 9-1-1. The paramedics came, but just 30 minutes later, her husband of 26 years was pronounced dead. “My faith took a huge hit,” she recalls, “but this was only the beginning of my trials.”

Without her husband’s income, and with only a part-time job, Wendy lost her health insurance. A month later, she received notice that her home was in foreclosure.

Within two weeks, her mother-in-law passed away. And just two weeks after that, Wendy received a phone call that her dad had been taken to the hospital. He was placed in hospice care and passed away less than ten days later. Wendy was devastated.

“After each loss, I managed to maintain my faith—until Dad was lying on his death bed.” After so many losses, her faith was shattered. “I couldn’t see how there could be a God.” She began to think that a loving God was a lie. “My whole life had been a lie. My faith died.”

Standing by her father after he passed, Wendy began to cry. The hospice worker tried to comfort her with words of faith, but Wendy told her that her faith was gone.

Reflect: Have you ever suffered a devastating loss? Do you know what it feels like to have your world shatter into a million pieces? You can feel the pain of others … and have empathy like no one else.