THIS IS ME

THIS IS ME...

I am a quirky (read hilarious) woman of a certain age who has been transformed because of having Christ in my life. I am a true romantic, believing in every Disney princess fantasy and have actually lived my own fairytale (disaster and heartbreak included)! I married the love of my life at a young age, had 4 children that I got to stay home and raise:) My husband and I planted a church that went from very tiny to bigger than I would have ever dreamed. I have experience what feels like extremes in my life. Being apart of a large ministry (bigger platform), some recognition on social media (smaller platform) and lately, taking a year off of everything (no platform). I love being outdoors and walking (obsessed) and I can carry a tune. I am blessed to have a plethora of friends, but a handful of close ones that keep me sane. I have a large family full of pastors (#preachermafia) that can milk a story better than most.  I feel that perhaps I am the best passenger seat karaoke singer/dancer in all of history (true story and challenge excepted from anyone who wants to lay the gauntlet down) and also struggle with feeling like I have any true significance in life.

On December 6, 2015, at 8:05pm, my husband, Greg passed away. We had been given the diagnosis that he had a rare neurological disease called, Multi System Atrophy, in the spring of 2011 and told there was no cure for this terminal disease. He went from an active, healthy, athletic man to being wheelchair bound, not able to speak and requiring complete care for all his functional needs.  I won't go into details here (if you are interested, you can read our stories on social media @gregrohlinger and @lorirohlinger. You can also watch his testimony here. We tried to think of this disease as a gift from God and strove to be obedient to Him through it all. We were very open and public about our very private pain and hurt and tried to convey how good and  faithful God was through it all. Then after Greg passed, I tried to continue to tell my story as I transition into a completely new life of no husband, no ministry, no job, and being single mother. But that was just the beginning for me where God wanted to take me.

Last year around Christmas, I really felt like God was asking me to be silent for the next year. Little did I know what He had in store for me, but I know God's love language is obedience, so I strove to follow Him in that and as always, He knew better than I did what was in store for me. I heard a preacher say once that you shouldn't tell your story too soon. There are things that God needs to marinate in your life, steps of growth that need to happen before you can fully understand not necessarily the cause of what happened in your life, but perhaps the byproducts of your circumstance. If you allow God, your greatest pain can become your greatest platform and your greatest ability to help others in life. That is what I am hoping comes from writing this blog. As I learn more about God's goodness and faithfulness to us in our darkest places, my goal is to encourage and shine the light of hope that only comes from knowing Him.