Through the Fire

by Judy Cottingham 

My husband and I never moved throughout our 48 years of marriage. We were planted in our church and careers, raised our children, and developed lifelong friendships.

November 8, 2018 turned our lives upside down.

The fire in Paradise, CA known as the “Camp Fire” destroyed our home and the entire town in just a few hours. We lost everything we owned. I gave my two weeks’ notice to the medical career I loved because we were forced to move.  We could not find a place to live in nearby towns due to the massive number of dislocated people.  Thus, we headed to our son’s home in Las Vegas, Nevada. We had no luggage or boxes, just the two cars we drove to escape the fire.

We arrived in Henderson, Nevada – a suburb of Las Vegas – and found an apartment. Through our insurance company we rented everything we needed and went shopping for basic necessities. What a process.

In addition, my husband had cancer so finding doctors for him was a priority.

I was introduced to someone who invited me to a little gathering of women going through the After the Boxes Are Unpacked study. I joined and signed up for Just Moved Ministry’s encouraging emails and materials. They were comforting to me, and I corresponded with Susan Miller. My telephone conversations with her were so uplifting.

Fast forward ten months.

On October 23, 2019, Richard, my husband of 48 years, went home to be with Jesus.

So here I was – living in a new state without any close relationships because my attention had been centered on setting up a home and caring for my husband. My apartment felt empty again as if we had just been given the keys.

Three months later Covid lock downs were implemented. I was feeling so alone. I was forced to spend days and months alone in my apartment, face to face with loss and grief.

That is when I developed an even deeper relationship with our Lord.

God and I spent every day and every night together. As I wept, He wiped my tears. As I sat, He sat next to me. As I spoke to Him, the Holy Spirit spoke to me, and I climbed a ladder – one rung at a time – of trust and peace with Jesus.

Throughout this period of time, I sent in prayer requests to the Just Moved Ministry team and received reply emails reassuring me they were praying for me.

It’s been almost 6 years now that I was transplanted where God brought me. I felt like Abraham leaving his home, entering a foreign land, and completely trusting God for each day. I look back and would not trade the depth of relationship and an even deeper trust in God than ever before. My faith was in the “gym” every day, you might say. 

Be encouraged my sisters. Where God leads is for a greater purpose than we could ever know. He is a God of mystery but there is no mystery about how much He loves you and always will. We are never alone.