Contessa Bass - 2008
My name is Contessa Bass and I was the 2008 Single Mother of the Year. About a year ago my son came home from school and explained that in their classroom they were talking about families, and since my son had no father in the house, the teacher told him he was from a broken home. I can honestly say there is nothing broken about my home. Further, God does not make anything broken, certainly not something as wonderful as a home or a family. Life can re-direct, re-route, re-wire, or re-vise, a family or a home, but He can also re-new one as well!
As a single mother I was told by a great man of God that there were seasons that all individuals go through. I have been divorced for over 6 years and I can say the season I have lived in has definitely been one of winter. However this great man of God said to “take heart your spring is coming when God wills it.” I can say, at first, my season of winter was difficult, there was absolutely no one to talk to at night about my problems, no one to comfort me, no one to help me pay bills, or so I thought. God took this time to humble me and increase my dependence on him completely. He took better care of me than any individual ever could, so much so that it came to pass that I never worried about spring coming and even meeting a possible companion. God raised the bar so high with His care, concern, and compassion and took such good care of me that it would truly be hard for a human to compare!
Finally this man of God told me the most important words regarding the time of seasons in our lives. Do not settle for a pearl, when God has a diamond planned for you! Ladies, wait for the diamond, the prince, the Lord has planned for you. He is preparing you and your heart for this gift.
I want to encourage you to get out into your communities. Stay in church, volunteer in the church and the community you live in. Take your children with you; let them see your acts of service. Pray with and for your children all the time! Truly miraculous things started to take place in my life when I stopped praying to God about what I needed or wanted or how I felt mistreated. I started praying for others, the homeless, the hungry, the angry, the elderly, you name it. God knew what I needed (might not have always been the way I wanted it or had it planned) and supplied it and the focus was off me and on to others. This simple act simplified my life and changed my thinking and my worship and slowly the old sorry self I had inside died and a new light shown from me.
I have had others come up to me and say how they feel for my struggle, and how could I possibly raise all those boys I have (5), and how tired I must be. I can say absolutely not! I love my life; I love my boys; I go to bed very tired but wholly satisfied with what I have done just in that day to further my Father’s kingdom! I am blessed and I would not change my life at all.