Wings Of Faith Inspiration By Gloria Palmer age 14
•Posted on April 01 2023
God has moved through Gloria to share this beautiful design.
Gloria's Testimony and the Inspiration for her design.
"Wings of Faith Cross" -what faith looks like, Designed and written by Gloria Palmer, age 14 - 2022
So what is this piece of jewelry about? Simple, it's about God's everlasting love. Though it may seem like God's not there during our hardships, He is. God is still there, walking with us and holding our hand as we walk through the storm
Earlier in 2022, my Mom asked me, "what does my faith look like?" She wanted me to express it through a design of a cross that would be made into a piece of jewelry. If I'm being honest, I struggled to come up with a design for this because even though I've accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I was struggling to see what my faith looked like. She asked me again in September of 2023
Things have been pretty rough for me since 2018, when we were going to adopt Hannah. Old memories of my childhood in China were returning, and questions began forming in my mind.
The awareness of being abandoned by my biological parents struck me hard, and I was terrified of returning to China. I was angry at God for making me the way I am. I prayed so hard to be "normal," to have two hands, full fingers, and all ten toes. I thought if he could make a blind man see and resurrect a dead man, then he could give me all my limbs back.
I also struggled as I watched family members separate and some get sick.
Two of our family members were going through a family crisis and were planning on getting a divorce, and while this should've been a thing I shouldn't have worried about so much—I did. The thought of losing a part of my family scared me, so I prayed that they wouldn't go through with it, but they did.
I felt like I had stopped believing in God. I still went to church and prayed, but it seemed like more of a routine and an act I had to put in front of my family and peers rather than an intimate thing.
In July 2022, my family and I went to a convention with people who were also missing limbs. I finally felt like I wasn't an alien. Seeing other people in my shoes and how God was working in their lives motivated me. It made me realize that I could and was already doing great things for the works of God and that I didn't need all my limbs.
I finally accepted Jesus into my heart in August of 2022. I don't know what exactly happened to me, but it was clear something had happened, and it wasn't from any counseling I'd received or through the achievements I'd completed—it was from God himself.
After accepting Jesus into my heart, I no longer felt anger or resentment towards my biological parents, but instead could move on and forgive them for what they did. Everything that would've normally caused fear in me- no longer does, and I know for certain it isn't by the works of men but rather by our Father's work.
It's easy to let one bad thing happen and declare that God is not real, but that's not true. We tend to put God on this pedestal of expectations, and when it isn't met, we'll say, "you're not real" or "God, why are you so cruel?" God isn't cruel, nor is He a fraud. He hasn't forsaken you or me and certainly didn't stop loving us. He allows bad things to happen through the will of humans. But all those bad things will turn into good if we allow it. So we need to be patient and trust in God.
When Jesus was on the cross, He cried, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" This means: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The truth is, even though Jesus may have believed God had left him in misery and agony, He was there with His angels, and that's the same for us. So while we can't see God or His angels, they most certainly are there.
This cross represents God's everlasting love. The heart is Jesus, pouring out His eternal love for us as He perished on the cross, and the wings represent the angels' presence during the crucifixion and here during our hardships. I added infinity knots throughout the cross to represent forever. To answer my Mom's question, this is what my faith looks like now!
Comments
3 Comments
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Posted by Donna | October 24, 2023
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Posted by Mary Crotts | October 24, 2023
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Posted by Nikki | April 01, 2023
Leave a CommentAs I read this testimony yet again, I am overwhelmed with the depth of insight from such a young girl! God has absolutely poured Himself out out on her and in her! Her understanding of Christ’s giving of Himself and what that means is something many will never wrestle with or understand in their entire lifetime. I am so blessed by this girl! Thank you, Heavenly Father, for showing Yourself to me just as You said in Your Word, “and a little child shall lead them.”
What a beautiful and blessed personal experience. Thank you so much for sharing!
So inspiring, Gloria! May God continue to bless you.