HER STORY: REBEKAH FINLEY
her |həː, hə| pronoun 1 used as the object of a verb or preposition to refer to a female person: Her heart and soul are beautiful.
Meet Rebekah Finley!
Rebekah Finley is a wife, mother, fitness enthusiast, and Vice President of Community Affairs and Volunteering for the Michael Finley Foundation.
Michael and Rebekah Finley started the Michael Finley Foundation with a mission to inspire, develop, and enhance the skills of young people and their families to instill the confidence needed to achieve personal and professional goals. They deliver on their mission through the G.I.F.T.4.S Academy which empowers children to perform better in school, to graduate, and to become active and engaged community members.
We loved our time with Rebekah and we know you will too. Read more of her story below or watch the Facebook Live video here!
Q&A with Rebekah Finley
1. How have you, as a family, remained so rooted despite the worldly success & accolades?
Very early in our relationship, I watched and learned how humble Michael was. I will never forget him telling me one day that something very small to you could change someone else’s life—this stuck with me, and I made it my business to model this behavior. When we had children, I also made sure that they were shown by us how to treat people and how kindness is always important for our family.
2. How has your marriage defied the odds over the years in comparison to many “public” figures & yet still manage to do date nights after so many years of marriage?
I make sure everyone in our family is aware of how God ordained our family to be structured. God, Michael, kids. Although it is sometimes hard to juggle and it’s very easy to let other things seem more important. "Life” happens and it’s hard sometimes. Especially with Covid. We couldn’t go for date nights or travel so we had to become creative and really figure out how to use our home to create our date nights. Marriage is work. It’s an everyday decision to put someone else’s needs first.
3. How you are instilling similar, positive values in your kids?
I like to “show” my children as opposed to “tell” them. It’s important for them to see me living a life that displays love, grace, and forgiveness. I want our marriage to not be perfect but to be a testimony that my children can apply to every aspect of life. We have to love people even when we don’t like them. Jesus gives us grace even when we don’t deserve our earn it so why wouldn’t we extend that to our spouse and family. No marriage or family is perfect because we are not perfect.
4. How do you teach your children humility, responsibility, and faith in affluence?
"To whom much is given, much is expected" is not just a common cliche but a very true sentiment that we live by as a family. We all have a responsibility to be humble and live our lives in a way that brings honor to our family and the hard work and sacrifices that Michael has made for us. But we also have a responsibility to show people Jesus without having to say one word. Our ministry should be how we navigate through our community and how people feel when we leave them.
5. How did you and your husband Michael met? Did both of you grow up in spiritual homes? How did that evolve after marriage?
Michael and I met while I was finishing my last year of college. We both were spiritual but not necessarily religious. But it’s funny, as I prepared to chat with Equipped by Faith, a memory popped into my head about how we attended a weekly Bible Study together every Wednesday at the very beginning of our relationship and it set the stage for us to grow together spiritually. My faith grew much stronger as we navigated our relationship and started having children. I developed my own personal relationship with God and it has sustained me through all of our ups and downs and times when we didn’t know what to do.
6. Share a little of your love story. How did you know he was “the one"?
Michael showed me how he would love me by the way I saw him love and honor his mother. He was quiet and humble, although he was in a profession that was very tolerant of arrogance. He doesn’t talk a lot but he silently taught me what unconditional love looked like with his actions. Even when he didn’t know what to say or do he was willing to allow me to help him help us.
7. Any challenges or struggles that have revealed Gods power & glory?
Everything about 2020 has revealed God’s glory to me and my need for His constant direction. Covid has proven to be not something I would have ever chosen but something my family and I so desperately needed. We are closer than we have ever been. We ate dinner together regularly during this season. Michael was home more than he has ever been before and we simply slowed down. The busyness of our life was calmed and we had a chance to just be still. The social unrest has been a constant reminder that we are not in control. The political division has reminded me that we are not in control.
8. How u stay encouraged & faith-filled despite circumstances?
I stay encouraged and faith-filled by leaning on God‘s promises that He has made to all of us. His hand is always on us—we just have to trust Him.
9. What books are you reading right now?
The Better Mom Devotional by Ruth Schwenk
Relationship Grit by Jon and Kathryn Gordon
10. What is your favorite scripture of the moment or ever?
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” Romans 12:9
Thank you, Rebekah! You are truly beautiful and absolutely inspiring!
We’ll see you all next month on December 2, 2020, for our next Equipped by Faith first-Wednesday gathering. Be sure to follow us on social media @equippedbyfaith and subscribe to our newsletter at info@equippedbyfaith.com to receive weekly Bible Reading Plan devotionals, Equip Group meet-ups, and other special updates!
XO-
Equipped by Faith
