Author: Lisa Bellamy

I'm a former print journalist whose day job is "financial health." That's corporate-speak for helping people understand and maximize their employee benefits. It is not a job for the faint-hearted. I've been married to the same awesome IT guy for 30+ years and am the insanely proud mom of three beautiful and brainy young adults – a poet, an Army man and a scholar/athlete. Insanely proud because medically I should not have children. Even after fertility surgery, I remained barren until some church ladies, who were in the habit of praying Mondays at noon, asked God to give us children. My children are my reminder that God still answers prayer and performs miracles. I'm a Christ follower who seeks to live where faith meets life. Join me on the journey.* * I began blogging more than a decade ago under the title "Walking Across Egypt," now re-branded as BringFaith2Life. My mission is to do everyday life in a way that reflects faith in Jesus Christ. Faith has to work in the real world of annoying neighbors, angry bosses, ungrateful children, overloaded schedules, stubborn wills and sudden bills and responsibilities that come out of nowhere. If faith doesn't work where I live, it's not worth exporting. "The just shall live by faith." Habakkuk 2:4b 

Back to the movies

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God will always do just what He says, but we don’t know exactly when. His timing is His own.

This is what God says about how He responds to the one who trusts in Him:

“He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.” (Psalm 91:15)

We went to a movie theater tonight to see the latest Marvel release: “Captain America – Brave New World.” What made the night special wasn’t so much the movie we saw but that we were there together to see any movie at all.

As my husband and I took our seats in the dark with our young adult son seated between us, I marveled at the miracle of it!

I bought Regal theater tickets in 2018 with a corporate discount and put them aside. Two years later, theaters would shut down amid COVID-19, and there would be no viewing movies on the big screen.

The tickets I purchased, which don’t expire, were forgotten. Just so, our son seemed to have forgotten us. Estranged from the family since 2017, he lived across the country and eventually moved to Europe.

We endured years of radio silence from the far country.

We shed tears. God sees our tears. (2 Kings 20:5)

We prayed. “Man ought always to pray, and not to faint.” (Luke 18:1)

We trusted in the “God of hope.” (Romans 25:13)

We waited for God, not always patiently, but we waited.

“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31)

In time, cracks of conversation opened: a text, a quick phone call, a card. Small gifts were exchanged.

Still, we struggled to understand, to accept, to forgive, to let go of hurt feelings, and to move forward.

We did what we could to make peace. “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18)

One day, about a year ago, he came home. For a season, for a reason, but home!

And here we were this night, enjoying a movie and a tub of buttered popcorn. Family again. As John 8:35 says: “a son is part of the family forever.” The theater was dark, but a great light beamed in my heart!

I don’t know what you are going through or how long you’ve been going through it. But I encourage you to keep the faith.

God sees. He knows. He hears the prayers of His people, and He has an appointed time to answer and to make your heart glad!

“For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.” (Psalm 92:4)