KingsWay member Deana Martin shares about the way the Lord is using life in community at KingsWay to strengthen her in a difficult life season.

I am amazed at how good God is to me. Even though there are so many people in the world, He is concerned about me and desires to have a personal and deep relationship with me, as He wants with every person.

I was asked to share my testimony about how God is caring for me during this phase of my life and through this church. For those of you that may not know, I had to end a marriage of 36 years. And in this day, that doesn’t sound strange, but we met at church. We were supposed to be together forever and even though I realized we had problems; I still did not consider that it could not be fixed. But it was like putting a square peg in a round hole. Everything I tried just never worked.

When I found Sovereign Grace Church, Mercy Hill in Fredericksburg, and paster Ken Delage, I began to learn through the sermons that my situation was about surrendering myself, my mind, my heart, and my ideas to Jesus. And as I changed and tried not to force a fix for my marriage. I realized that my spouse did not want to fix any issues. Under Ken’s guidance, I was left with a difficult decision to end that relationship based on biblical principles.

My daughter and her family took me in here in Midlothian due to my divorce. When I let pastor Ken Delage know I was moving, he lovingly pushed me here to KingsWay.

Since then, I have been blessed through the pastoral team and friendships in my community group to grow deeper with God and depend more on His grace.

The friendships I am developing in community group have given me a sense of belonging. I don’t feel alone, and I know I have people that will pray for me and challenge my thinking. And every sermon digs deeper with the Word to make me more into God’s character by helping me apply it to my thinking and changing my actions that line up with the Word of God. And along with that is healing from all the emotions from divorce. It has been a hard journey, but I have felt God’s sweet spirit to walk me through this time as I learn that I am loved, and God has a purpose for me that I receive doing our conversations, prayer, and God’s word we discuss at community group.

(A sidenote here)- I want to thank all the pastors for how they sacrifice themselves and are obedient to the hard things to preach from this pulpit. May you be blessed for your obedience to the nudge of the Holy Spirit as God grows His people through your sermons).

As I had to face my part of my failed marriage and ask for forgiveness and give forgiveness, God is healing my spirit and setting the path for the next part of my life, and I am humbled and excited even though I do not know fully where that will lead as I enter retirement.

Psalm 23 has been special to me since age 16 when I began to learn of how it speaks of God’s sovereignty, and even now more so, as I approach age 60.

Just like He says in verse 1 of Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd. I have all that I need.”

He gives me rest, safety, and physical-mental health. He is leading me to the right things in His name. When I am at my worst times and I do not think I will get through, He gives me comfort and correction. He has blessed me through this church and in my community group like needed medicine for my life.

Lastly, wherever you are in your life, know that you will go through challenging times. Life has a way to throw you something that will shake your foundation. Having that intimate relationship with Jesus and the bond of connection with your church and community group is the only way you will grow in faith. I pray that you all find a deeper trust in God daily and an illumination of how great His comfort and mercy is to us.

Deana Martin