By Tracey Arnold
To share my thoughts on this topic, I must first share reflections of my childhood and my adolescent years. As a child I was sexually molested by a day- care attendant and also by one of my uncles. And the only times I saw my dad were when it was time to eat, when he was going to or from work, and at times on the weekend.
Starting at age 5, I had a health condition that caused me to lose my hair. During my teenage years I battled severe depression, and by the age of 23, I attempted suicide. Through all of that, my mother was the one to hold me and tell me everything was going to be okay.
Three days before my mother died of cancer, I received Christ into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior. I didn’t know much about Christ at that time. But one day I heard the Lord say to me, “Tracey, I’m going to bring you a man that you have never known. He will be completely different than any man you have ever met. If you just trust Me, Tracey, walk with and follow Me, I’m going to bring a man into your life who will love you as I love you.”
I didn’t know what that meant until I met my husband, Quint. I’m not going to sit here and say that my marriage has been roses, strawberries, and cream. What I will say is that the man the Lord gave me is in pursuit of a life with and for Christ. He is the very thing that God used to heal me and grow me into the woman I never thought I could or would be.
This man of God taught me about his love for and walk with Christ and helped to ignite within me a passion to know Him for myself. He is one who supports me and loves me unconditionally. A man of God who not only prays with me, but who will pray over and for me. A man who honors me with his words — who never raises his voice, his hands, or strikes me down with hurtful words. A man who is gentle with me, but who is strong for me. A man who is not threatened by my success but instead gleans from it and stands next to me to help me accomplish it. A man who loves me as a sister in Christ.
The value of this man of God has helped me see myself in the light that God sees me and experience a life I never knew I could have — a life that is a gift and a blessing.
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