By Christina Donohue-Williams
Hey everyone!! It’s Christina!! God is so good!! Wow!! I am Blessed beyond measure and I am so grateful to the Lord for giving me the desires of my heart!! We can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, especially in our busy everyday lives, but God prepares the way for each one of us! Amen!
As I mentioned in last month’s column, it is spring and it’s about time! My son, Cayden, played his piano solo at his school for the spring play and he was amazing once again! I truly give God all the glory that my Cayden wants to play the piano and be involved! What a Blessing! The spring play is the fourth through six grade students, so Cayden wasn’t in the play, but he had his piano solo part! The students did an awesome job singing and dancing away! We had a blast!
I am going to touch on a little bit about love and moving forward in our lives. As I prayed about what to write this month, the Lord allowed my own everyday life experiences to help pave the way for this writing. Have you ever looked back on your life and said ‘what if’?! I believe that so many of us have and I can certainly say that I have. Along with that thought we begin to think about ‘change’ in our lives, which can sure scare us immensely! Sometimes we look at the big picture of our everyday lives and think this is alright but at other times we think what in the world am I doing?! It’s like waking up from a night’s sleep, watching the sunrise and saying ‘I am ready for a change in my everyday life’! I can tell you from my own experience that this is part of being human. With all that said, I firmly believe on not dwelling on anything especially negative thoughts. I am a firm believer in spending time in prayer with the Lord until He reveals the answers to you. We can’t do anything on our own in this world; we have to put our trust in the Lord at all times and with everything that we do.
We get so busy in our ‘everyday life’ routines that we sometime lose focus of who we are. If you are like me, you spend much of your time caring for your children, which includes taking them to their piano lessons, concerts, doing homework and trying to guide them in the right direction in this crazy world which is something that is constant!  Along with that, I think most of us spend so much time trying to make everyone happy that we don’t stop to think about ourselves. We might not even know that we are spending all this time trying to make it all alright because it’s just part of who we are and that is so true for me.  Are we truly content with where we are in our spiritual walk with the Lord daily? Are we truly content with where we are in our everyday lives?  I love the word ‘joy’ and when we have joy in our hearts it lasts forever because God gives us that joy!!
At times, we get scared and don’t want to step out of our comfort zones. Our comfort zones can be with our work, school, home or anything that we get used to.  I can say ‘amen’ to that! As a woman, I know that certain words and actions stay in my mind for a very long time which is alright because the Lord made me that way! Yes, God teaches us to forgive and we have to, but there will also be a time when we will forget things that have happened with God’s help but in the end we are only human.
Love is so very important in our everyday lives! I believe that love helps to allow us to move forward through so many different obstacles in our lives. Love can also be a big part of change for some of us.  I know as I write this that I am writing it for someone out there as God put these few topics in my heart. Here is an example of change that is so awesome! My brother, Daniel has reconnected with his first love from almost 15 years ago. This woman has always truly loved and cared for my brother and had a place in her heart for him. After all these years that have passed along with the situations that have occurred in my brother’s life, it made him question so many things about love. Of course that was until little sister Christina here said her prayers to God and made the reconnection!! Sometimes we have to go through many transitions trials in our everyday lives to help make us stronger. We also go through all of these trials so that we are ready for where the Lord is taking us!
I will give you an example of what I am talking about.  Maybe a special person that you cared about and loved for the past 5 years or so crossed your path again.  Maybe a family member that you have truly missed and cared about has passed your way again and you have the chance to reconnect with them again.  Maybe you have not seen this person at all or spoken to them in all that time but your heart still belongs to them or you have a void in your heart since you haven’t heard from this family member. What would you do if God allowed you that second chance at that love again or that second chance to reconnect with them again? Would you take the chance or would you turn and walk away? Maybe you didn’t agree with all the decisions this person made and it took a toll on your relationship, but now the both of you understand each other.  I can speak from my own experiences and tell you that since I have had the opportunity to move forward regarding situations that I had been waiting on, it has made me a better person! I thank God everyday for the chance He has given me. It was all in God’s timing and everything that happens for His good always is! I can tell you that I am totally in awe of God and how He is always right on time!
People cross our paths for reasons and we have to listen to the Lord when He allows this to happen. It’s alright to make changes in our everyday lives especially if it involves someone or something like a job that could possibly bring us down emotionally, physically or spiritually. Life is not going to be easy, there is always going to be another valley to leave behind and there are many mountains we will want to move. Love, as well as changes in our daily lives, is not always easy but we must always look to the Lord for guidance! I am a firm believer in that!
God loves us…each and every one of us…no matter who you are or where you have been.  As you all read this, I hope that what you take with you from my column this month is that love is a wonderful part of us and a wonderful part of our everyday lives. If you are allowed the chance by God to reconnect with that special someone in your life, please do and especially if you are like me and have been waiting years to have the opportunity!! God knows the desires of our hearts but everything is also in His time! We have to be patient, which I might add is not one of my better characteristics but God is working on me! God answers our prayers but not always in the time we want them answered and not always how we want them answered. We have to remember that God knows what we need and when we need it! Always seek God’s face in all decisions that you make in your life because He is the way, the truth and the light!!
Many Blessings~Christina
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When I was a little girl, I had a pink and white bedroom set that had bedposts and I would use the posts as my microphone and sing for my brother; he was my first audience! I took piano lessons for years (thank you mother!) and totally enjoyed it. I look back now and it is amazing to see that even then, the Lord was preparing me. Growing up in a Christian home, I was blessed to have a mother who prayed for me every day. We were in church every time the doors were open and would sing our hearts out. I know that somebody did some praying for me and it was my mother; my prayer warrior.
I have a very handsome, talented, smart and totally amazing son, Cayden. He is nine years old and my little man! He is a merit student at school (he has been throughout his entire school days)! Cayden takes piano lessons weekly, along with voice lessons. He is my little angel from heaven! Cayden is totally cool and is following in my musical footsteps not to mention he has the biggest heart and is such a little caretaker! I have an awesome mother, who is my angel here on earth and I love her so very much! I have one brother, Daniel, who lives in South Dakota with his two little girls that I miss so much! God has continued to bless me throughout my days here on earth and what a journey!
I spent a few years singing with my parents at different churches and it was an awesome experience. I started to learn so much more about what it truly meant to sing for the Lord! After that, I took my own paths (some of which should have been less traveled), but my mother never stopped praying for me! I always knew the Lord had a purpose for me; that my calling was with Him, but I had to be patient.
I sang with another group that still included my parents for a few years and we had the opportunity to record and have our own cd projects. I am very grateful for that experience.
Since then God has given me the opportunity to move forward with my own music ministry along with my writing ministry. My son Cayden is also singing with me, along with singing on his own and playing the piano! I am Blessed beyond measure to have the opportunity to sing with my son and to have him be such an amazing piano player. I am very grateful to the Lord for giving me the gifts and talents that I have so I can share them with others and spread tHis Gospel through my music and writing!
Interesting facts about Christina (that’s me!)
Favorite Colors: Black, Pink, Red (yes…3…I couldn’t pick just 1!)
Favorite Foods: Lobster, Pasta, Shrimp, Chicken
Favorite Bible Verse (s): Luke 23:33 and 23:33-43 (The Seven Last Sayings of Christ)
Favorite song(s): Still Holdin’ On and Through The Fire by Jason Crabb IF That Isn’t Love by Elvis and I’ve Got Confidence by Elvis (this is a very old song about Job)!
Hobbies: Playing piano, singing, writing, helping others, antiques, learning cool facts with my son about music composers, reading and playing piano with my nine year old son! He is so amazing on the piano! I also love to watch my son cook and bake…he is such a little chef! My Cayden and I are total fashion gurus! Oh and did I mention that I totally love to shop?!! Ok…like none of you knew that!!
