by Yasmin M. Villar
When I was about four years old, my father was called into the full-time ministry of a growing religious denomination in the 1980s.
My mother, a full-time homemaker, served alongside him. My younger sister and I were expected to behave well and participate in church activities.
Everything seemed ideal, and as a family, we experienced love and respect from our church community.
However, there came a time when our church denomination’s beliefs and ways of doing things were shaken to the core. It was then, as a young girl of 10, when I first heard that:
“…It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Unfortunately, many were unable to accept the real gospel and left our home church.
My father chose to embrace the truth of the gospel and our family continued serving in the ministry. Because of his job assignments, our family had to move to various parts of the country over the years.
God proved Himself faithful time and time again. Despite our many transfers, my sister and I were blessed to be constantly among the top students in different schools.
We enjoyed academic scholarships and were both eventually able to attend the country’s premiere State University. These are only some examples of God’s amazing provision.
His great protection over us was also very evident like when He allowed our parents to miraculously survive a terrible car accident during my formative years; when He prevented my innocence from being snatched away by a playmate; and when He kept me from being molested by a relative, on another instance. Surely, there are other instances of Divine Protection that I’m unaware of.
During my early years in university, God allowed me to struggle in my studies and experience feelings of inadequacy, failure, and loneliness.
It was during this low point that God made Himself more real to me.
He comforted me through His words in the Bible and also drew me closer through a group of joyful students who excelled in their studies. They were all part of our church’s campus ministry.
Not long after, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. I was baptized together with my friends in the campus ministry and others from our local church.
One of the Spiritual gifts that the Lord gave me when I became a believer was the gift of music (I previously was not inclined to sing).
He then allowed me to minister with my Campus ministry siblings in many parts of the country through songs of praise and worship and the sharing of God’s message of salvation.
God also gave me the opportunity to serve as the leader of our campus ministry for two consecutive terms and blessed me with the privilege to serve in our church’s music ministry since then.
It was also during this time when the Lord gave me the wisdom to change my college course.
Among my classmates in that course was a young man who eventually became a very close friend. He is also a follower of Christ.
A few weeks before we graduated from university, after a long time of seeking God’s confirmation, he became my first boyfriend, and I, his first girlfriend.
When we started working, I eventually attended the same church as him, and we became part of the same single discipleship group.
God eventually blessed us with the gift of marriage after seven years in our relationship.
He affirmed our call to get married with an overflow of blessings—material provisions and support from our loved ones and church family. God is certainly in the details of our lives, making all things beautiful in His time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
As husband and wife, we continued to serve our Great God.
However, our prayer for a child had yet to be answered. We continued to wait on the Lord and He kept us busy with our work responsibilities and various ministry opportunities (music and medical ministries, discipleship, and missions support).
He also allowed us to enjoy an extended honeymoon phase by giving us opportunities to travel together, here and abroad.
As we continued with our medical work-up sessions to conceive, I eventually experienced being heartbroken whenever I found out that I was still not pregnant.
However, in our 10th year of marriage, the Lord healed our inability and blessed us with a healthy baby boy. He is a bundle of joy and a great blessing to our family and many others.
Truly, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).
I believe that it is God who impressed in my heart to be a stay-at-home mom. My husband and I then decided to homeschool our child so that we could teach him to love God above all, develop a strong relationship with him, and allow him to enjoy childhood while experiencing a generous learning feast.
Of all the work that I have done, being a teacher mom is giving me the greatest fulfillment. I’m also reminded that homework is vital work, and as popularly said by David McKay, “There is no success that can compensate for failure in the family.”
As of the moment, my family and I are experiencing a number of challenges, setbacks, and disappointments due to various circumstances.
But I know that our God, who is Perfect in every way, will reveal His perfect wisdom and heart, in time.
And I truly believe that “He who has started a good work in us will be faithful to complete it” (Philippians 1:6).
And I declare (as Darlene Zchech’s song goes):
“You are forever in my life, You see Me through the seasons…And I sing to you Lord, a hymn of love for your faithfulness to me; I’m carried in everlasting arms, You’ll never let me go, through it all.”
YASMIN VILLAR is married to Samuel Anthony Villar, a fellow graduate of the University of the Philippines Diliman. She is now devoted to homeschooling their 5-year-old son using the Charlotte Mason method of education. The family attends and serves at Christ’s Commission Fellowship (CCF) in the Philippines.
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