Sing Hosanna – An Unexpected Journey

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No parent imagines their son or daughter will end up living behind bars and it is not an easy thing to share. Today I begin to share our story from the very early stages for you to understand where we were and how God uses all of the circumstances for good and for His glory.

Each of these posts will continue to build on one another and I suggest you subscribe to the posts so you do not miss any or go back and read each one in succession. Click here to go back and read previous posts.

Looking back I see God has used my first born son, Stephen, to change my life in the most unexpected ways. If you are a parent, you know that the arrival of a child in your life changes things. And Stephen changed my life — of course, for the better.

Nine months after Eldon Whitworth and I were married, we learned we were expecting our first child. Before receiving this news, I spent nights and weekends living it up. But as soon as I learned about the life I carried in my womb, all my smoking and drinking came to an abrupt halt. Stephen’s conception immediately terminated my wild ways. After being married for a short one and half years, we had our first son, Stephen.

Eldon and I set up high expectations of ourselves and resolved to be the best parents possible. We imagined our lives unfolding beautifully, raising up a vibrant, healthy young boy who would grow up to make his Mom and Dad proud. We never imagined our son becoming a convicted felon, living behind bars and razor wire being guarded 24/7.

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Eldon, Shonda, & Stephen

Everywhere Eldon and I went, Stephen went with us. He was our pride and joy and we enjoyed being mom and dad. Because he was our only child for seven and a half years before we had our second son, we doted on Stephen full-time.

As Stephen began to grow into his elementary years, we enrolled him in private Christian schools to be certain he received a doctrinally sound education based on our core belief system. We were both raised in Christian homes, but due to our work commitments, we did not attend church in this season of our lives. As a child, my parents and grandparents took me to church regularly where I heard the gospel message and met my True Love, Jesus Christ, at a girl’s church camp. But as I grew older, the cares of life distracted me and I turned away from the things God.

But on Wednesday evenings we took Stephen to an AWANA™ program where he brought home Scriptures to memorize every week. As I helped him with his Scripture memory verses, I also learned those verses. I began to yearn for what I knew was missing in my life—God.

Matthew wrote about Jesus being in the Temple healing the blind and the lame. The children there shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” The chief priest and scribes felt indignant and asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, ‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?” (Matthew 21:15-16 NIV)

Every week, Stephen called out the praise of God through Scriptures and the joy he spread in our lives after learning about the love of God at such a tender young age. It was also at this stage of Stephen’s life I realized I needed help being a mother. Oh there were plenty of parenting books available, but I needed more than just how to’s.

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Shonda and Stephen

I desired divine intervention. So I fell to my knees in prayer asking for divine direction to be the best mom possible for the little life that was entrusted to me. My heart yearned to raise him to so be much better than I ever was and to avoid all the mistakes I ever made. I was determined that if I raised him right, that he would not give me the trouble I gave to my parents.

So yes, God unexpectedly used Stephen to draw me back to my first love—Jesus Christ. I recommitted my life back to Christ and Eldon came to know Christ as his Savior, all because He used Stephen’s joy and love for Him via a children’s ministry to seek Him for direction.

God uses children to draw their parents to Him. For us, it was because we wanted our son to learn the ways of God, but we soon realized we had to also practice what we wanted our son to learn. Therefore, we started attending Sunday services at the same church where Stephen learned about the love of God.

Looking back through the years, I recognize how God used our unexpected journey with Stephen to grow me and Eldon in many ways. As we look back and thank God for these treasured memories, we also sing “Hosanna to the Highest!”

If you have a loved one serving time, know that you are not alone. Of course this is not the life we would choose, but I encourage you to take some time to look back at the positive influence that family member has been in your life and give thanks to God for those precious times.

Over the next several posts, I’ll share more of these unexpected adventures with Stephen, even his incarceration, that have turned into gems — valuable life lessons for our family and hopefully for you and yours as well.

If this post or any others on this site minister to you, please prayerfully consider making a financial donation to FGGAM by clicking the “Donate” button on the right. Thank you.

Additional reading on An Unexpected Journey:

An Unexpected Journey

From Control Freak to Jesus Freak

The Power of Prayer

How I Survive the Pain of Mother’s Day

Darkness before the Light

ShondaWhitworth.com

© 2014 Shonda Savage Whitworth

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