Overwhelming Grace

by Shannon Geurin

Her story gripped me from the moment I set eyes on it. I pray it’ll touch you in a similar way. Sit back, pour a little tea, and enjoy today’s guest post from Shannon Geurin. Oh, and when you’re finished? Consider heading over to her place to read her complete testimony. You won’t be sorry. 

 

There are times when grace violently overwhelms me just like waves crashing on the seashore. The tears begin to fall and refuse to stop. This leads to the heaving of my chest and the ugly cry comes in full force.

You get the picture.

It happens in the most random places. Once in a church sanctuary of over 200 ladies. I was sitting on the front row listening to a story of how a Momma was reunited with her children and husband that she almost lost due to drug addiction. I identified with her fear of loss and her joy of restoration.

It happened one time as I was driving down the road and a certain song about redemption and grace started playing. (This one happens a lot, actually).

One time I was vacationing with my family on a tropical beach watching my husband and two daughters play in the ocean.

It happens sometimes.

 

I can’t stop it, and I don’t want to. It is a beautiful reminder of the grace and mercy God has had on my life. Nothing like beautiful reminders of grace/mercy that come from a place of brokenness. Click To Tweet

 

I’m a church girl. I was practically raised in the pew. I remember listening to my dad singing “Beulah Land” and seeing tears fall from most in the audience. I remember adoringly watching his hands wave to and fro as he directed the choir and lead worship on Sunday. They’re all fond childhood memories of growing up in church. In high school, I was known as the good, church girl.

 

So how on earth did I fall for Satan’s disastrous tactics years later?

 

It’s the question that I’ve gone over and over in my mind, producing a Crayola box full of colored answers.

After over 33 years of being a “church girl” and over 15 years of marriage I opened the door of my heart to a man who was not my husband. It started out as an emotional affair that quickly led to a physical affair and it almost caused me to lose everything that I have ever loved and valued. My sweet babies. My adoring husband. Almost gone.

When my husband found out, I just knew it would be over. I knew he would kick me out and it would be the end of everything I ever loved.

Oh friends. I was wrong. I was so very wrong..

He didn’t kick me out.

He welcomed me back home.

Sound familiar?

Though we sin, Jesus welcomes us back home.

He is so rich in grace! He bought our freedom w/the blood of his Son & forgave sins! Eph1:7 Click To Tweet

 

Was he angry? Broken-hearted? You better believe he was!

How could I do such a thing?

How could I be the cause of breaking my husband’s heart into a million tiny, little pieces?

What was I thinking?

Those are the questions that swirled over and over in my mind like a bad song stuck on repeat.

Messed up. The only words I can find to describe the condition of my mind and my heart. I was just messed up and my brain was warped. That what sin does. It twists you and turns you into something that you are not.

 

If you will allow it, sin will utterly destroy you. #YourStory @Kristi_Woods Click To Tweet

 

There were many layers of deceit and it took several years for our marriage to be fully restored. We sought counseling and we depended on God and the support of family and friends.

I can’t tell you my husband’s story because it is his, but as for me, I was so very broken. There was no hope for me. As far as ministry was concerned, I was done. Not only that, being the good wife and mother that my family needed was pretty much destroyed after what I had done. My identity was literally devastated and annihilated. I didn’t know how to read my bible. I would pick it up and not even understand the words because I felt they didn’t apply to me.

Sin is a thief and a liar.

 

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

 

I had repented of my sin but there was more that I needed to do in order to achieve full healing and restoration. I had no choice but to offer every single part of myself up to my Savior. I had to show him my heart. This was extremely painful because it meant being vulnerable. It meant that I would have to face the truth of what I had done.

Facing the truth is painful and just hard. But when I did this, true restoration began to take place and I genuinely found my savior.

 

When you face the truth and pain, restoration begins. #YourStory @Kristi_Woods Click To Tweet

 

With a lot of prayers and a lot of support from family and friends I came to believe the grace of Jesus. I came to believe that I was not the only one that the cross didn’t apply to. That maybe my sin did not actually force God to add a “Can Not Forgive” column in His iPad.

I learned the true forgiveness of a Savior. I had my one-way ticket to hell, but Jesus took my ticket and gave me life instead. Sin that should have been waved in front of my face was instead written on the palm of Jesus’ hand. A nail was driven straight through that hand and my sin was erased by His blood.

Whoa.

That was good. Our sins were written on His palm, and a nail was driven straight through that palm and His blood erased our sins forever. THEY ARE GONE. Do you get that?

My husband forgave me the way Christ forgave me. The way Christ forgives you. Through John’s love for me, I learned the true love my Savior had for me. Isn’t that beautiful? Isn’t that the most beautiful thing you’ve ever heard?

 

True, Christ-like love in marriage is beautiful. #YourStory @Kristi_Woods Click To Tweet

 

Today our family is healthy and authentically happy. We have tasted death and know that we are a living, breathing miracle. We cling to each other. We love big and live as if we do not have tomorrow…because we almost lost it.

Me? I’m good, girls. I can’t even begin to explain what Jesus has done for me throughout this journey. I am rising up. He has called me and I am rising. I’m grateful for the journey and telling His story is an absolute honor.

Every day.

God restores, He heals, and He never runs out of grace! To read more of my story in-depth please visit my website.

 

About Shannon ~

 

Shannon is fun-loving and authentic. She loves big and she loves fierce. At the top of that love list is Jesus, her husband John and her two daughters, Alex and Averee. She’s a woman who has been rescued and restored. She believes every woman has a calling and Shannon has a passion to see women everywhere rise up into who God has designed them to be. Although a book is in her future, you can currently read her blog at www.shannongeurin.com.

I’m grateful to be a guest on Kristi’s blog today. I love community and love to connect with other people. I’d love for you to check out my blog! I’d also love to connect with you over at:

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INSTAGRAM

 

Linking here: Intentional Tuesday, Purposeful Faith, Testimony Tuesday, Thought-Provoking Thursday