Unanswered

I had to share an awesome and incredible testimony with you all. God is always proving His faithfulness.

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You may or may not know the testimony of Tony and I gaining full custody of Kaidance. It's another story in itself but one that has a deep meaning to prayer.

Our custody battle began in 2011. Kaidance was three-years-old. To make a very long story short, we had DSS involved, the law involved, several psychologists and of course cabarrus county court system. It was a complete and utter mess. 

My ex-husband Brian and I couldn't even stand to be in the same room together. Our attempts at mediation were halted almost immediately within the first session. By our second mediation session I was legally advised to not say anything and to just...go to court. 

Our first pre-trial was so scary. I remember to this day being riddled in fear but at the same time having such a calming peace. God had given me a few specific instructions regarding this custody battle.

1. Pray - The first was to pray. Regardless of how I felt I was to be treated or what I felt I deserve I was to pray for "my enemy." I was to pray for Brian and his now fiance Jessica. I was to pray blessing over their lives, wisdom, guidance....salvation.

2. We leaned on the verse  Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves." 

We clearly heard God saying to be amongst many counselors. To be as WISE as a serpent but as harmless as doves. Most of the time custody battles are a big show of "how can I attack the other parent." God told me....NO. Would that edify my ex-husband? Would that bring him closer to Christ? Or would that push him further from the truth?

We did as God asked. Our prayer was never that Kaidance be separated from her dad but that God would bring stability, love, protection, guidance into her life. We prayed that God would heal and restore our blended family life into something slow cooked into perfection. That we would become an extremely blessed example of how God can take something so riddled with pain, unforgiveness, hostility, and anger and turn it into love, friendship, peace, and ultimately a healthy family life for Kaidance.

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Lets be real. No one ever really wants to be the product of divorce. No one ever really wants to be a divorced spouse. Divorce is awful. It always affects the children, negatively. We knew that we couldn't be a perfect family (not even biological families are perfect) but what we wanted was Kaidance to see that we cared enough about her and about Christ that we would push our past behind and move forward into His plan. 

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God's plan for the Walls and the Martino's would be this: To forgive and literally forget the past. To push into a new season and to show Kaidance that we loved her. We forgave Brian and Jessica and they forgave us. We settled OUTSIDE of a courtroom and then began a new level of blended family and co parenting relationship that I knew God would bless.

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Yesterday, February 17th (as I never, ever want to forget this day) Tony, Kaidance, Brian, Jessica and myself sat down at our favorite mexican restaurant and had an amazing mexican meal. We got to know one another; we got to laugh with one another, and to catch up on our families. It was overwhelming spiritually to literally be living and breathing in that moment; God's HEALING and ultimate power.

I never knew the love that my daughters stepmom had for her; until then. I never realized how much people enjoy my own husband's company, until then. I never realized how much God has changed my own personally thoughts towards my ex-husband and his fiance until then.

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I share this to encourage you. Two years prior to this many would have said, "This is a hopeless cause. Your daughters future is bleak." Your prayers seem unheart, unanswered, because you may not see change right away. You not feel that things are getting better or that things are moving forward.

Don't give up. Don't let go. DON'T STOP PRAYING.

God is working diligently on your behalf. He IS sending His angels to fight this spiritual war. He can soften the hearts of those who seemed so hardened you ever wonder if you can have a decent conversation. 

God can change you. 

Thank you Jesus. Thank you Lord for this new season. Thank you father for one of the best mexican dishes I've ever had because your presence was so heavy in the air.

We are now believing for even greater things....praying. Always.

Your healing is here. Your time is now. Keep speaking in faith. Keep believing. He's working.

We love you guys.