A Personal Journey of Faith: Finding Peace Through Life's Challenges

Dawn Cox: Y'all are sweet. Thank you. Good morning. I'm going to be reading my talk to you today because if I don't, I will not get you out of here on time. So I apologize for that. It's not my choice of delivery, but it is what it is. So my name is Dawn Cox and I teach in the College of Education.
This is my second year at LCU and so I truly know what it does mean to be quote new here, but LCU is becoming more and more like home every single day.
So I've been married to my best friend, Brent, for almost 31 years in December.
And together we have two amazing children, Kirsten and Caleb.
Within the last six years, we have added an awesome son-in-law, Noah, and a beautiful daughter-in-law, Rachel.
But perhaps you all knew it was coming.
The most incredible gift came this last summer when we were blessed with our first grandchild, James Cole Sager.
I know, he's cute, right?
I have heard people say all of my life that becoming a grandparent is the most indescribable feeling.
And I can now say that I understand exactly what they were talking about and they were right.
I tell everyone they need to get a grandbaby.
When I was asked to speak today, earlier in the semester, I began praying about the importance of being a grandparent.
I was asked to share with you what I learned about what it was that the Lord wanted me to share with you.
What I kept hearing him tell me was to share just how personal he's been to me throughout the years
and how I have learned to put my faith in him.
And that faith has caused me to have peace through difficult situations.
My very favorite miracle is Jesus' first miracle, when he turned water into wine.
We read about this in John 2, verses 1-11.
The next day, there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee.
Jesus' mother.
Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration.
The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus' mother told him,
they have no more wine.
Dear woman, that's not our problem, Jesus replied.
My time has not yet come.
But his mother told the servants, do whatever he tells you.
Standing nearby, there were six stone water jars used for Jewish ceremonial washing.
Each could hold 20 to 30 gallons.
Jesus told the servants, fill the jars with water.
When the jars had been filled, they were filled with water.
When the jars had been filled, he said, now dip some out and take it to the master of ceremonies.
So the servants followed his instructions.
When the master of ceremonies tasted the water, that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from,
although, of course, the servants knew, he called the bridegroom over.
A host always serves the best wine first, he said.
Then when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine.
But you have kept the best until now.
This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee
was the first time Jesus revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him.
Now, while there are so many layers of meaning in this passage,
perhaps the one that captured my heart the most was the most superficial one of all.
This happened 20 years ago when I had read this passage over and over again.
But I was reading it and it just hit me.
Jesus is incredibly personal.
And because he cares about us, he cares about the things that matter to us.
In this time, weddings could last up to seven days.
And during the celebration, they ran out of wine, which was a significant social embarrassment
for the host families in that cultural context.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, informs him of the situation and Jesus responds by performing
his very first public miracle.
But Jesus doesn't turn this water into just any wine.
He goes above and beyond to meet a need that sent a message to those around him that needed it the most,
that he is God.
And he will always provide.
Hebrews 11:1 says, "Faith shows the reality of what we hope for, for it is the evidence of things that we cannot see."
God has built my faith throughout the years by showing me very personally that I can trust him and that he is God.
In July of 1986, I was about to be a sophomore at Monterey High School and I attended Camp Sunrise.
I did not grow up in a Christian home.
So I knew very little about the Bible or about the Lord.
But he had been pursuing me for several years and finally I was ready to give my life to Christ.
During a service one night, the speaker asked if anyone wanted to know Jesus as their Savior to stand up.
I was incredibly shy.
But something came over me and all of a sudden I found myself standing on my feet.
The speaker locked eyes with mine and although there were probably 200-300 other kids my age in the service, it was as if,
we were the only two people in the room. I still remember it as if it were yesterday.
I can see the room and I can still remember the situation and all of the details.
But what I remember most is after that, and he talked to me and he led me to pray,
to ask Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. That night, I remember having the feeling that I knew,
that I knew, that I knew that I was saved and that I was different. I felt different. I had
peace for the first time. I knew I was a child of the King of Kings and I knew that I would spend
eternity with him. God was very personal to me in that situation. In May of 1995,
I need to back up a few months. In February of that year, I was pregnant and I was so excited.
My two best friends were pregnant. My sister was pregnant due within about a month or two ahead of
me. We would have cousins that were so close growing up together. Everything was great until
it wasn't.
I went to my doctor only to find out that I was not carrying a viable child and that I would soon
miscarry. This was on Valentine's Day of that year. I was a second grade teacher and I had to
go back to school that day for a Valentine's Day party. I was devastated. And for months,
I was devastated. So later on in that year in May, I found myself working at a women's Christian
retreat in the DFW area. And I was so happy to be there,
but I was struggling.
To make matters worse, there was a lady there that was due the exact same weekend that I would have been.
And so I was able to look at her and see how big I would have been and hear how, you know, about all the pregnancy things.
So I went off a lot on my own and shedding tears and being really sad. But at the same time, I wanted to be there and serve these women wholeheartedly.
So on Saturday of that weekend, a woman that I had never met,
knew nothing about me, came up to me
and told me that God had laid it on her heart to tell me something.
She had tears in her eyes as she told me the message that God had given her just for me.
She said, God told her to tell me my daughter is hurting
and I want her to know that I see her and that I care about her pain.
Well, I was a puddle on the floor, as you can imagine.
But I cannot tell you the healing that that brought to me.
It was as if God reached down,
and seared my heart,
and brought healing that I needed.
I still struggled, yes, I was still sad.
But I had a peace after that that carried me through.
And I felt so very loved by God.
In fall of 1996, after many long months, I was finally pregnant again.
I was excited, but I was also completely paralyzed with fear that I would miscarry again.
This truly prevented me from enjoying the pregnancy.
Because I was so scared.
So one night, I had the strangest dream.
And the next morning at church, I mentioned it almost nonchalantly to a woman that was like a mom to me.
I told her, "Okay, now go with me."
I was a second grade teacher.
I had probably just shown magic school bus science video to my students.
But my dream was that Brent and I went down inside my body to visit the baby.
I know, it's crazy.
But it was a girl.
Which was significant because we had not had our first sonogram yet.
I was very early on in my pregnancy.
She was in a car seat, all buckled up.
She had on these adorable pink overalls with this white shirt with little delicate polka dots and flowers on it.
She had a full head of dark hair.
And she was just along for the ride.
When I described this dream to my mentor, she was like, "Dawn, that was a dream from the Lord."
And I looked at her like she was crazy.
I had never experienced that before.
She was like, "No, no, no. Think about it.
The Lord is telling you that she is safe.
She's in a car seat.
She's whole.
She's fully clothed.
And He even gave you the gift of knowing that you're going to have a little girl and she's going to have a full head of dark hair."
Well, I can honestly tell you that in that moment, that fear left me.
That paralyzing fear I never felt again.
I was able to enjoy the rest of my pregnancy.
And I literally did not want to.
I literally did not worry another minute.
But the best part, Kirsten had a full head of dark hair.
So, in summer of 2005, when I was approaching 35 years old, I started experiencing really strange symptoms physically.
I won't go into all the details.
But what I can tell you is that a friend of ours started having the same exact symptoms.
And he was diagnosed with a terminal illness.
So this, of course, sent me reeling with paralyzing fear.
I once again found myself almost not able to function.
I was so scared.
My husband is in the healthcare industry.
And even though, like, he tried to express daily, constantly, that my symptoms were not exactly what my friend was experiencing, I didn't believe him.
I was just convinced that my children were going to watch me become a vegetable.
So we went to our family doctor.
And even though he wasn't concerned, he still tried to convince me that I didn't have the disease that I thought that I did.
He sent me to a neurologist so I could have tests run.
So I went to the neurologist.
And he performed all the tests that they needed to to figure out why I was having the symptoms that I was having.
And a few days later, I was on a morning walk with my children when I received a phone call from my doctor.
And I thought, "Okay, this is not good.
He is calling me on my cell phone.
This is not going to be good."
But he called me and said, went on to explain that the tests that the doctor had run showed that there was nothing wrong.
And I kept questioning him.
And he could tell I didn't get it.
He was like, "Dawn, there's no way you can have the disease that you think you have if you pass this one special test, this particular" -- I can't speak today, sorry -- "this one particular test."
And I specifically had them run this test because I knew that it would show you what you needed in order to believe me that nothing is going on with you.
What you are experiencing is a result of the really bad flu that you had a few months ago.
And we've seen this in several of our patients.
Once again, it was as if God took that fear and threw it as far as the east is from the west.
I was able to function again and my paralyzing fear was gone.
God was so personal to me in that moment.
And I felt so loved by God.
I'll never forget that moment.
How else has he built my faith?
He built my faith by being in his word.
This was the first time that I've ever read -- this is the first time that I've ever read the Bible chronologically.
And it's amazing.
But perhaps my favorite thing about this plan is that you are encouraged and challenged to look for God in every chapter rather than asking, "How does this apply to me?"
By reading the Bible this way, I've been able to see very clearly the theme that runs through the entire Bible.
That he is God and he wants a relationship with his children.
A real relationship.
Not just one where he's sitting up in a throne judging us and zinging us when we sin.
But he's a good, good father.
And he loves us unconditionally.
There's a song that I loved in the early 2000s that's called "He Is" by Aaron Jeffery.
This song basically summarizes each book of the Bible with a few words.
And I want to share this with you now.
I'm not going to sing it and I'm not going to play it.
I'm going to read the words to you.
So I pray that you will, as you look at the slides, that you will see this theme as I go through them.
In Genesis, he's the breath of life.
In Exodus, he's the Passover lamb.
In Leviticus, he's our high priest.
In Numbers, he's the fire by night.
In Deuteronomy, he's Moses' voice.
In Joshua, he's salvation's choice.
In Judges, he's the lawgiver.
In Ruth, he's the kinsman redeemer.
In 1 and 2 Samuel, he's our trusted prophet.
In Kings and Chronicles, he's sovereign.
In Ezra, he's a true and faithful scribe.
In Nehemiah, he's a rebuilder of broken walls and lives.
In Esther, he's Mordecai's courage.
In Job, he's the timeless redeemer.
In Psalms, he's our morning song.
In Proverbs, he's wisdom's cry.
In Ecclesiastes, he is the time and season.
In Song of Solomon, he's the lover's dream.
In Isaiah, he's the prince of peace.
In Jeremiah, he's the weeping prophet.
In Lamentations, he's the cry for Israel.
In Ezekiel, he's the call for peace.
In Ezekiel, he's the call from sin.
In Daniel, he's the stranger in the fire.
In Hosea, he is forever faithful.
In Joel, he's the spirit's power.
In Amos, he's the arms that carry us.
In Obadiah, he's the Lord and Savior.
In Jonah, he's the great missionary.
In Micah, he's the promise of peace.
In Nahum, he's our strength and our shield.
In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, he's pleading for revival.
In Haggai, he restores a lost heritage.
In Zechariah, he's our fountain.
In Malachi, he's the son of righteousness, rising with healing in his wings.
In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, he is God, man, Messiah.
In the book of Acts, he's the fire from heaven.
In Romans, he's the grace of God.
In Corinthians, he's the power of love.
In Galatians, he's the freedom from the curse of sin.
In Ephesians, he's our glorious treasure.
In Philippians, he's the servant's heart.
In Colossians, he's the Godhead trinity.
In Thessalonians, he's our coming king.
In Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, he's our mediator and our faithful pastor.
In Hebrews, he's the everlasting covenant.
In James, he's the one who heals the sick.
In 1 and 2 Peter, he is our shepherd.
In John and in Jude, he's the lover coming for his bride.
And in Revelation, he's the king of kings and the Lord of lords.
He's the Alpha and Omega, our God and Savior.
He is Jesus Christ the Lord.
And when time is no more, he is.
You're dismissed.