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Shine Stories: One Step at a Time

Shine Stories | Real life. Real faith. Real shine. A weekly series of personal reflections from people in our community who’ve walked through Boldly Shine. This week, Jeri shares how a difficult season left her feeling trapped in a long tunnel — and how God began rebuilding hope in her life one faithful step at a time.


woman exiting tunnel

I first heard Barb speak at a Night of Encouragement, and something about her story stayed with me. I remember being drawn in by the honesty of it. It felt real, and in that season of my life, real mattered.


So when I later heard about the Boldly Shine class at Vineyard, I decided to take a chance and say yes. Looking back, that simple yes became a turning point for me.


At the time, my life felt full of tunnels. I was in a marriage of more than forty years, and my husband had become an alcoholic. We were facing financial difficulties. My arthritis was creating physical challenges of its own.


Between the debt, the drinking, and the strain of trying to hold things together, I felt trapped. I did not have much hope left.


So when Barb used the analogy of being stuck in a tunnel, it struck something deep in me. That was exactly how my life felt.


But almost from the beginning of the class, something started shifting. As I began to take in the idea that God was with me in that tunnel, I started feeling hopeful from the very first week.


What helped me most was that the class did not offer shallow answers. It did not hand out pat advice and leave me there.


Instead, it gave me practical, manageable ways to move forward. I was eager to do the homework and see what came next. I appreciated how the workbook was laid out, with room to reflect, Scripture woven throughout, and concepts broken down in a way that felt understandable and usable in real life.


It was not just about hearing truth. It was about learning how to walk it out.


That mattered because I was in a season where I needed more than comfort. I needed direction. My vision for my marriage had been crushed, and I was carrying grief I did not fully know how to name. Somewhere along the way, I had begun to feel trapped between staying overwhelmed and giving up on the hope that things could change.


But through the class, I began to see something different. I had always known in my head that God was not against me, but I began to understand it in my heart. God loved me right in the middle of the mess I was in.


And maybe even more surprising than that, there were steps I could take, one step at a time, to begin moving forward again. I did not need to solve my whole life at once. I just needed the courage to take the next step with God.


Early in the workbook, I wrote that I wanted to grow so strong in the Lord that I would be able to withstand my challenges. At the time, I think that was more hope than confidence. But even so, it was real.


Around our table, the women in the group were having one “ah-ha” moment after another, and there was something powerful about that kind of shared honesty. Hearing others be vulnerable helped me become vulnerable too.


The women I sat with did not just fill chairs beside me. They became wise voices in my life. They helped me see that growth is often nurtured in safe community, where truth can be spoken and received with grace.


The class also deepened my connection with God in a way I still carry with me. I came to understand more fully that I am completely known and still deeply loved. The Lord knows all my fears, all my weakness, all the places where I struggle, and still He has not turned away from me.


Instead, He met me there. He began to give me peace in the middle of the storm, not after it was over.


And in the months that followed, I felt like I was hearing from Him in deeper ways too. That changed me. I was not just trying to get through hard things anymore. I was learning to walk with God through them.


One of the biggest changes in me was in the area of bravery. For most of my life, I had not thought of myself as brave. I had believed I could not really stand up for myself. I had depended too much on other people to be what only God could be for me.


But little by little, that began to change. I started learning to trust God in a deeper way. I began to see that with His help, I could face things I once avoided. I could deal with what was in front of me instead of shrinking back from it.


And over time, that quiet inner shift became visible in real-life decisions.


Even with arthritis, deep challenges in my marriage, and my husband’s continued spending, I began to realize I wasn’t powerless. There were still steps I could take, and I started facing things more honestly.


And when my husband eventually asked me to leave, I did not feel the terror I might once have expected. Instead, I sensed that God was releasing me. There was a real peace in me in the middle of what should have felt unbearable.


God also provided for me in very practical ways, including through a friend who let me stay with her rent-free for five months while I got back on my feet. Looking back, I can see the kindness of God all through that season.


Another gift the class gave me was a new understanding of intentionality and consistency. I realized I had been walking the same worn road for a very long time.


The class helped me see that lasting change usually does not happen through one dramatic moment. It happens through smaller choices made over and over with God. As I started breaking things down into manageable steps, I no longer felt as defeated by the size of my challenges.


I began to walk with God more deliberately rather than remaining passive in my own life. And as I did, I watched my life begin to change for the better.


What still amazes me is where that path has led. Today, I am discipling other women. I am becoming a wise advisor to others, the very kind of person I once needed so badly myself.


I have committed to walking in women’s community, and the more I grow spiritually and spend time with God, the more I want to keep growing. I feel less weighed down by what people think of me. I am bolder in my faith. I am more grounded.


And when I look at my life now, I can see signs of God’s work in me that were not there before. I can see more love, more peace, more patience, more self-control. I can see contentment. Not because life became easy, but because God has been faithful.


I still revisit this study, and it still helps me move forward differently. That may be one of the things I am most grateful for. It was not just helpful for one season and then forgotten. It became part of the way God helped me rebuild.


God is still writing the chapters of my life, and I know now that being broken does not mean being finished. Through this class, I began to believe that God really can use what’s broken to help us boldly shine.


FOR FURTHER THOUGHT

Maybe your life does not look exactly like Jeri’s, but most of us know what it feels like to be stuck in some kind of tunnel. It may be a relationship that feels heavy, a fear that keeps resurfacing, a grief you cannot quite shake, or a circumstance that seems too big to change. When life feels that way, it can be tempting to believe nothing will ever be different. But hope often begins with one small shift: believing God is not standing far away from you in the tunnel, but is right there with you in it.


One of the most powerful truths in Jeri’s story is that she did not have to fix her whole life at once. She simply began taking the next faithful step. That may be the invitation for you too. What is one honest step you can take with God today? It might be naming what you have been carrying, reaching out to someone safe, returning to Scripture, asking for prayer, setting a needed boundary, or choosing one practical action instead of staying overwhelmed by the whole picture.


And if you are not in a tunnel right now, this is still a good time to prepare your heart. Store up truth before you need it. Build rhythms of prayer, Scripture, and honest community now, so when hard seasons come, you are not reaching for hope from an empty place. God’s faithfulness is not only for the crisis moment. It is also for the steady, ordinary days when strength is being built quietly, one step at a time.


Walking with you toward faith-filled hope,

Barb Lownsbury

Founder, The Dented Fender Ministry


PRAYER

Lord, how good and faithful You are. How mighty is Your strength when I am weary. How rich Your joy when I'm walking in step with You. Praise Your holy name. You know my weaknesses, my strengths, and everything inbetween. You perceive when I sit and when I rise. You search my heart and choose to come sit beside me, whether I'm standing in the sunlight or sitting in the ashes. Jesus, I'm grateful for the freedom only You can give. Help the eyes of my heart to be open fully so I can clearly see Your abundant, caring love for me. Give me the strength to continue to walk wise in Your ways, even if the road isn't clear and others don't understand. In Jesus' name, Amen.


ABOUT JERI SLIVER

Jeri Silver

Jeri Silver is a retired nurse, devoted mom to two grown daughters, and proud grandmother of four. Since 2011, she has been part of Women’s Community Bible Studies at VCC, including the Boldly Shine class, where her love for Scripture has continued to grow and overflow into encouraging others. She currently disciples two women with the hope of helping them become disciple makers themselves. Whether she is serving on the Widows Core Team, helping with the 55+ group, listening to Christian music, walking through parks, or capturing photos of God’s creation, Jeri’s heart is to point others to Jesus and help them see God’s goodness in everyday life.


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