My Beauty and My Battlefield: Rosemary Sherrod
My Beauty and My Battlefield…
Hello, my name is Rosemary Sherrod (aka Rose). I was born and raised in Chicago, IL. I’m a true city girl at heart, but it gave me deep appreciation for ‘southern living.’ As a resident of the Madison County area for the past sixteen years, I’ve greatly enjoyed the serene quietness, politeness and heartfelt smiles of the South! I’m a proud and overjoyed mother of three beautiful children. My two sons and daughter are truly the pride and joys of my life! They have caused me to embrace motherhood with a sincere heart as I have leaned on the leading and guiding of God’s Spirit. This may be a surprise to some of you, but I haven’t been saved and in love with Jesus my whole life (hahaha)! I surrendered my life to Him at the age of nineteen, and ever since then I have been proud to say that I’m a believer of Jesus Christ! I love God with everything that I am and have to give. He is my life!
My Identity: I’m a Single Mom…
If I asked myself, who am I? It’s amazing that one of the first descriptions I would give myself is a ‘single mom.’ Yes, I am more than just a mom, but I consider it one of my biggest and most important responsibilities and blessed opportunities God has or will ever give me!
Motherhood didn’t start off on a perfect path for me. I became a mom at an early age. I was fourteen years old when I had my first son. During this time being a pregnant fourteen year old girl on the Westside of Chicago wasn’t a very promising situation at all. It did not shed very much light of hope for my future nor my child’s. We were already very poor. My mother was a single mom as well, and raising my brother and I alone was very hard for her. I saw her struggle to survive and provide for us. ‘Making it through to the next day’ was a constant theme for our home.“Why don’t you have an abortion?” I was asked. After being approached with people giving me a reality check of my situation and reminding me of how hard it would be, I was determined to give birth to my child and to still fight and pursue my dreams. I was a freshman in high school, A and B student with scholarships awaiting me for my talent in the arts of painting and drawing.
The Journey was Hard…
Yes! After having my son, it was a very hard journey! One thing I can say is that allowing Jesus into my heart at an early age was the best thing I could have done for myself and my children. Realizing that the odds were against me according society’s standards, I sought God constantly for His wisdom and His guidance to help me be the best mom I could regardless of my age, inexperience, or lack thereof, and guess what? He was with me!
Not having a consistent father figure in their lives caused us much pain but proved to be a time that God was making all of us stronger and wiser! I learned to look to God’s Word for His guidance and promises that my children and I could confess and hold to throughout the journey!
These are a few scriptures that gave me peace and comfort…
In the midst of a father’s physical absence, God would be my children’s Father!
“I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” ~2
Corn. 6:18; A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. ~ Ps. 68:5
No matter my struggle, God was going to lift us up!
He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap… Ps. 113:7
That God Himself was encouraging me and reassuring me that He was always with me! Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”~ Deut. 31:6
One of my Battlefield’s…
One night my oldest son was crying out in pain. He said that his back was hurting. I rushed him to the emergency room and to everyone’s surprise they found a tumor the size of a small baseball in his lung. My son was diagnosed with childhood cancer when he was 7 years old. I was beyond heartbroken! I was in awe of such news and not prepared for such circumstances. But, as I stared at his little body on the hospital bed, my friend said to me let’s pray! We began to pray fervently and reminding God of His Word and His promises.
This journey was a test of my faith. We endured approximately eight long years of hospital visits, surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation, etc. Not to mention as he was recovering from various treatments, we were stationed below what they called the ‘death floor’ (not the actual name, but the nickname was given due to the purpose of the floor). It was like a hospice area for the children whom they had stop treating and it was just a matter of time before they transitioned from this life to the next. That was my constant reminder of how close I was to losing my son to this disease.
In front of my son I made sure I maintained a demeanor of faith and strength, as I comforted him during this time, but behind closed doors I cried, I prayed, I cried some more, and I fought any unbelief or doubt that tried to creep in. I knew God would only move by my faith. In the midst of having faith, the pain of it all was overbearing at times, and I had to call on God to help me and He did!
Many times I had to let my confession of faith proceed me in conversing with doctors when I received negative reports. I would politely express my faith and what I knew and believed would happen for my son. I conditioned myself to only believe the report of the Lord that my son was healed by Jesus stripes! (…by his wounds we are healed.~ Is. 53:5)
Today my son is almost twenty years old and is at University of South Alabama majoring in the medical field!!! God is good and faithful to His promises!!!! Motherhood has been a beautiful journey along with battlefields that I’ve had to fight through and endure, but eventually produced a more victorious end and testimony!
Being a godly mother you will find yourself on the battlefield many times for many different reasons involving raising your child/children. Guess what? It’s ok! When God is with you, who can be against you? Whatever trials or oppositions you face or will ever face, God has already made provision for you and your family!
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
~1 Corn. 13:7
2 Comments
Awesome testimony, Rose. Will help sooo many to trust Him!!
Thanks Connie! To God be the Glory <3