This past Sunday, I attended church where the pastor's sermon was "What do you do, when you don't know what to do?" What do you do when you are in what appears to be an impossible situation- stuck between a rock and a hard place? The pastor referenced the Book of Exodus Chapter 14, Verses 10-14. We should stand still, hold our peace, and witness the salvation of God as the Creator works on our behalf. What a powerful message!
Many times we go to church or through spiritual services receiving words and lessons that we sometimes overlook. But what I have come to understand in my adulthood is that we get messages that are sometimes "an on-time message" or "waiting in the wings message." We all go through situations and circumstances sometimes that are so challenging that even some of our closest friends and family don't know. I recently wrote a blog about a month ago concerning the local Department of Social Services here in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I didn't provide any details concerning the situation. But, what I can say is that this last Sunday's message was "an on-time message." The following day, this past Monday, I got a call from my attorney who gave me the largest news for me this year- my legal case with the Child Protective Services of the Department of Social Services had been dropped and all allegations against me were dismissed- just weeks before my trial for allegations of abuse and neglect of my children was to begin. For almost three whole months, with my children in protective custody of the State of North Carolina, after fighting the battle myself with e-mails, petitions, etc. God delivered me and my children from the fiery furnace. I had waited on the salvation of the Creator for three months, with the fate of my children in someone else's hands. The allegations going to trial meant possible criminal charges and the permanent removal of my children from my custody. I hope that no parent has to go through what my family and I had to endure.
In early March, my son's father was taking me down my stairs in my house to get a bottle of food. His father accidentally tripped and fell down the last few stairs with the baby in tow on his chest. The pressure from him bracing the baby accidentally pulled my son's left leg, causing a fracture. With my son already being 2 1/2 months premature, he is more prone to injury anyway. After taking him to his pediatrician, the doctor examined him and said he was fine. However, I noticed my son's leg swelling over the next couple of days and he was very careful not to apply pressure to his leg if he was playing with me or his father. So, as a watchful mother, I took him to another doctor who examined him and stated that he was fine. Innately, something didn't feel right to me so I requested for her to do an x-ray on his leg. Well, she did an x-ray and found a fracture. Then, the drama began.
An investigative doctor was called from UNC-Chapel Hill's local child abuse program known as the Beacon Program. This doctor examined my son's x-ray and the reporting doctor's explanation my son's father and I gave during our doctor's visit. Well, according to this investigative doctor, the only possible way my son's leg could have been fractured was if his father and I tried to break it. If anyone knows me, they know what caliber of a mother that I am and how seriously I take God having entrusted me with the care and upbrining of my two children. She further examined my son (which I volunteered to) over the next few days and then found what she deemed other injuries to include head trauma and a right broken leg- which she summed up to be from "shaken baby syndrome." A few days later, Child Protective Services of Cumberland County got legal custody of my two children and physically removed them from my house.
Fast forwarding- after court hearings where the local judges seemed uncaring, Guardian ad Litem who never even visited my children during the investigation, and hours and hours of unimaginable things- the right hand of God intervened. Two doctors from the same hospital as the accusing doctor found no broken right leg, no head trauma, and the left leg fracture to indeed be from the pressure of the fall with my son's father. The evil one had put together a plan for my destruction and the demise of my family but God had another plan in store. "No weapon formed against me shall prosper" and indeed it did not. The local Child Protective Services didn't move to find another opinion, it was God who made the situation happen when my son had follow-up visits for his fractured leg- a doctor who cared enough to look deeper into the situation. And another doctor who cared enough to look deeper and provide a third opinion as well. Only God provided that and this I know for a fact. Now, my life is not the same, but it shouldn't be- I'm stronger, wiser, and more determined to continue in God's Word.
What do you do when you don't know what to do? In an seemingly impossible situation? Don't hang in there- that suggests dangling with little support. Stand still, hold your peace, and wait for the salvation of the Creator while God fights for you and covers you on all sides.
Peace, Love, and Light
Strengthening the African-American woman through Personal and Professional Development.
