The Perfect Christmas – A Mother’s Perspective

For those of you who have known Ben and me from the beginning know that things have not been easy for us. We have struggled beyond comprehension with our personal walks with Christ, our married walks with Christ and trying to raise our children according to God’s teachings. One thing we always knew is that no matter what, we would not give up on each other.
Around January of 2006 Ben and I went through the most difficult time of our marriage and felt so alone. We felt the support of a few people but for the most part felt like we were battling against something unbeatable. In the midst of our separation, counseling and trying to keep our family together Ben was interviewing for a position that would move us somewhere that only God knew.
We moved to Georgia in the summer of 2006. Still VERY shaky in our marriage, we just held on to each other and to God’s promise for our marriage. We both knew that we needed to find a church and find one ASAP. God soon led us to North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. We knew we were home when our children asked us if we could go back the following Sunday. We found exactly what we needed to save our marriage and save our personal souls. We found a teacher who told the bible like it is and didn’t sugar coat anything for fear of losing his congregation. This very church would be the catalyst for our family to live the life God has always intended us to live.
Through this church we have met some amazing people. We may not speak with all of them on a regular basis but I can tell you that each person we have met through church, or through friends of church have impacted our lives in ways that they may never know. We were so blessed to meet another couple that has gone through what we went through and also survived. God is good if you let him be. He is the healer of all things. Some friends showed us who we want to be, who we are and who we never want to go back to being.
So this Christmas when Ben’s parents flew in for a few weeks we were very excited to show them the church we have been attending and the girls were equally excited to show off their small groups. Seeing the joy in my children’s eyes when they step inside of church is amazing.
During their visit we were blessed beyond measure. Ben has been trying to get out of his current job for the past two years. He was working 6 sometimes 7 days a week and missing a lot of his children’s activities which was breaking his heart. During his interviewing process for the past two years with several companies, he was always hopeful that “something” would work out. He wanted out at any cost no matter what the job was. For two years God tested his patience, his strength and his ability to fight for what he wanted. Little did he know that during our first mission trip, the leader of the team would begin to tell him of this amazing company he worked for during the summer. Ben thought the company sounded great but thought nothing more of it. Until this past Fall when Ben applied for a job with this company. I have never seem him want something so bad before. He came home beaming with excitement as he told me how amazing this company was and how badly he wanted to be a part of it even if it meant working his way from the ground up. A few weeks later, Ben was VERY excited when he got “the call” offering him the job. A huge weight had been lifted from his chest and he finally understood why God tested him for so many years. He had his “ah-ha” moment and knew that this was God’s plan all along and knew that everything he went through was worth it.
Another blessing brought upon us this Christmas was the birth of our son, Jackson Kamuela Nunes. Ben and I always knew that we wanted a large family, but we also knew that we had to love the children we had the way we needed to before we brought another one into the world. Jackson to me symbolizes God’s grace, forgiveness and compassion. He was born into a loving family and we were very lucky to have the in-laws here to help out with the girls and around the house. I’m not sure how we could have done it without them.
This Holiday Season was one of the best ever.