Healed and Treasured
06/21/2017 .Sandra is an exuberant person who has a light about her. She is calm and sensitive and listens to you with her whole body. She has a lovely home, a knack for decorating, and a blog that makes you want to stay a while. Her inner beauty is matched on the outside with laugh lines, reflecting the joy she has found in her life.
If you aren’t careful you might ask, “How does she seem to have it all? How could I be more like her?” But her life is proof that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him. Her roads haven’t been paved in perfection. In fact, many of the roads in her life were dark and winding. Many of the roads in her life we would have taken a u-turn.
Sandra lost her grown daughter, Tiffany, in a car accident. This was not the first time Sandra was subjected to the cruelties of this world, but losing Tiffany was the most devastating blow. Sandra is transparent when helping others heal. Although she loves talking about her experiences, she is more inclined to share about how she found joy after trials and purpose in pain.
Sandra offers the following tips to encourage women to stand firm in their trials:
Have deep anchors in your life so when bad times come (and they will), you will be prepared. Sandra presses her roots into the word of God through daily quiet time. She doesn’t just read, she studies and memorizes God’s Word. She explains, “There were days I felt like I was sinking in quicksand. I felt I had held on until I couldn’t hold on anymore. It was in my quiet time that I felt Him and knew He was there.” Sandra also makes sure to spend time with other believers who can encourage her and anchor her in God’s truth and love.
You have to trust God. “If I carried around the loss of my daughter I would be a hard person. God entrusted me to be Tiffany’s mom. He entrusted me to do the job I needed to do so that she would be sitting on His lap today.” You cannot fully trust God without letting go of past hurt. It was Psalm 121 that helped Sandra understand that God was her protector.
Be willing to let Him use your broken places. “God taught me that you don’t need to sit around and say, “Woe is me!” or “I can’t be used.” Years after Tiffany’s passing, God placed Sandra in the role of leading Treasured, Saddleback’s Bible study for mothers. Even though her daughter was now in heaven, God still wanted to honor Sandra’s motherhood. He wanted to use her mothering skills to care for other moms. It would have been easy for Sandra to shut herself off, but she bravely leaned in and allowed God to heal the hardened places of her heart. Sandra just celebrated 10 years of leading Treasured.
The loss of a child is not a pain that you ever get over. Isaiah 40 continues to be a comfort to Sandra as she mourns the loss of her daughter.
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31
As Sandra reflected on this passage, God revealed something to her. God designed the wings of eagles with feathers that lock into place once their wings are opened. He whispered to her through Scripture that if she would just open her wings and trust Him, He would not only support her in taking flight, He would provide the wind for her to sail on.
Sandra has a peace about her. The kind that assures you everything will be okay. When you ask yourself how you could be more like her. The answer is simple: seek God and allow Him to use you.