Elizabeth: I know that you receive many stories from around the world of what your music and ministry has meant to so many. I pray that you do not mind one more. My name is Elizabeth and I have been blessed by your music for many years. The first song that had a big impact on my life was “Save a Place for Me.” I lost my mom to Alzheimer’s disease when I was 33 and lost my dad to a stroke four years later. To lose both of your parents by the age of 37 is so hard, but to know they are together and in the arms of Jesus and knowing we will be reunited one day brings so much comfort.
I never knew how much your song “Broken Things” would mean to me. In May of 2013, my husband and I underwent IVF treatment. Not only did I feel broken prior to undergoing treatment, but what happened afterwards made the feeling so much more real. After our IVF treatment, we ended up losing all three of our babies. I went through feelings of sadness thinking what is wrong with me? Did I do something wrong? I had feelings of anger and jealousy like, why can that person have a baby that is unwanted? Those feelings quickly faded, and it is only through prayer that I overcame such feelings which were certainly not from God. Your song “Broken Things” really hit home to me. Although I saw myself as broken, I was the only one who saw myself that way. I was made exactly as He intended and even though we went through IVF treatment, that is not what He had planned for our lives. We all anticipate growing up, getting married, and raising a family. However, that may look different for many.
We have been very blessed and fortunate to have the nieces and nephews that we have in our lives. In addition to the blessing they are to us, our friends’ kids have become our adopted nieces and nephews. We are so blessed that we get to be a part of their lives. We have learned over this journey that you do not need to be a biological parent in order to have an impact on someone’s life. Even though at the time we may have felt broken, God had much bigger plans. I think if we did have a family of our own, we would not have been able to have these other blessings in our life that God really wanted us to have. I can’t tell you the times that our brothers and sisters have loved the fact that we want to take the kids for an evening or weekend. I’m not sure who loved it more, our nieces and nephews or their parents!! We will always treasure the roles of being the fun aunt and uncle. It was over time that I realized I was not and never will be broken. I was made in HIS image, and this is the life HE had planned for me. We will continue to bless others because as you have so eloquently written, “He uses broken things.”
To close, I want to tell you how much your music and ministry means to our family. The Lord has blessed you with many gifts and you are certainly using those to His glory.
