Life looked good for Punky Tolson. She was in movies, she was modelling and even co-starred with Julia Roberts. Yet there was a train-wreck inside. She was worn out.
One night, she was faced down in her bedroom and just said, "Lord, I gave up."
Those 3 words set her free and saved her. It began a beautiful dance with the Lord.
Punky often says that it is very crucial to have someone walking alongside the young lives and guide them through life by the ways of the bible. Even though she had people encouraging her along the way, there wasn't really one person who took her under the wing and show her how to walk out her faith in this day and age.
Everyone needs help to navigate through life and that help has a name - Jesus. And He put us here on earth to come alongside the young ones. We need to be spiritual moms and dads to walk them through.
Punky surrendered to the Lord early in her life. However, she took many many wrong roads along the way. Through everything, God never let her go. Neither did He answer the prayers that she begged Him for because He knew His plans for her. Finally, she said to the Lord, "I want what You want for me more than what I want for me" and surrendered to the Lord. It was 4 years after that prayer that she met her husband and got married at the age of 43.
And it was then that she realized (and grateful) that God loves her enough to say "No". Sometimes, His "No" is a big mercy because He has got a better "Yes" for us.
In 2009, Punky received the diagnosis of breast cancer. In the year that followed she underwent several surgeries, a double mastectomy, and chemotherapy.
It was a scary thing. She got scared. However, somewhere in her heart, she knew that God was in control and Punky just surrendered it.
"Lord, if we are going to do this, let's get it all done. If there is anything else in here that needs to be cleaned out or refined in me, then let's do it. I don't want to miss one single lesson of what You have for me." That was her prayer to the Lord. Punky was determined that she will not be the same girl coming out of this ordeal.
A year later, she can truly testify of the Lord's sweetness - a sweetness that she would not have known or experienced had she not gone through this season.
We have to realise that sometimes God's most beautiful and life-changing gift to us, comes in a horrible looking package. We need to look past that package and know that a long time ago, God had already seen this situation in your life and He allowed it to happen. He allowed it to touch your life because it is for your own good, for the good of all who are watching it unfold and for His great glory.
Remember, "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Rom 8:28) God never waste any moment of your life. Punky Tolson is an exemplary model for this. Every season that she has been through had shaped her and brought her to where she is today - a spiritual life coach, a speaker and most importantly, a lover of Jesus Christ
