My friend Cindy and I pray together every Wednesday morning. It is a delightful thing in life to have a prayer partner!! Cindy's son is a Pastor..the Pastor of Outreach Ministries at Independent Bible Church in West Virginia. Cindy shared with me a message her son Brad preached this past week. Within the message Brad issued a challenge to write your testimony...your story of how you came to know Jesus Christ... in 100 words. You can listen to that thought provoking message and the reasons for his challenge here....The Power of Story...Pastor Brad Heacock
What a challenge this was for me! I didnt come to know Christ til I was 26 years old, and my story is long and detailed! Or so I thot! It took me 2 days to whittle this down, and now I truly understand the reasons he asked me to do so! And isnt it soooo cool how God tied in so many things I was thinking about this week....John 3:16 and being overwhelmed about what He has done for me, and that He used this quote from a book I was reading to make me start thinking on all of this!! ..."Every life tells a story, through words and actions and choices...and I dont know if there's anything better in the world than when we lay ourselves wide open and let HIS story become OUR story!"
So in light of all that, here is my story in 101 words!!! I would LOVE to hear your story! And if Jesus is not yet part of your story, I would LOVE to tell you more about how He changed my life!
I grew up in a Christian home but I never really understood what it meant to have a personal relationship with Jesus. I wanted to be loved and accepted, so in my teens I did everything my friends were doing - drinking, smoking pot, having sex. When I was 22 I moved in with my boyfriend Mike. After 4 years I was miserable with our lifestyle and broke our relationship. Then Mike became a Christian. His life totally changed, and I wanted what he found. In 1988 I made the best decision of my life and trusted Jesus to be my personal Savior!
1 John 3:1...See what love the Father has lavished on me that I should be called a child of God...and that is what I am!!!!
Nice job! I can totally understand how challenging it can be to say as much as possible in as few words as possible. For the most part that is how I like to write - it's why I enjoy blogging - but wrapping words that tightly around your thoughts can definitely be challenging.
ReplyDeleteSo I'm curious to know more of the story....specifically -- Did you marry Mike?? I don't know your husband's first name - If I did I suppose I'd know that answer to that question :)
Yes I did marry Mike! After I broke our relationship Mike was devastated. He went and spent some time with his sister and her husband...her husband is a Pastor. Their family life was remarkably different than ours, and during that time their church was holding a missions conference. Mike went with them thruout the week and on one evening an Italian missionary was speaking. His testimony was eye-opening to Mike and that night Mike trusted Christ as his Savior. Mikes life changed immediately....in so many ways, particularly the partying life-style was gone. At first I really thot it was a ploy to win me back!!
ReplyDeleteJust before I broke our relationship...for whatever reason I had gone into a Bible bookstore and had purchased an NIV Bible and started reading it. So I already had been searching to figure out what to do about my miserable state! Not long after I saw the change in Mikes life I asked him to take me to his sisters home, and it is sooo funny looking back...but as soon as we got there I interrupted whatever they were talking about and said..."Whatever you told Mike while he was here with you I need you to tell me too. I want what he has...." So in July of 1988 I knelt in that room and prayed and asked the Lord to forgive my sin and trusted Him as my Savior. We came home from that trip..I moved back in with my parents and on August 27, 1988 we were married!
Looking back now, I know at that time I didnt fully understand what Jesus did by dying on the cross for me...it has been a process of learning and trusting for me....I guess it is for all of us! God has used the ups and downs and difficulties of life to keep pulling me closer to Him.
Wow - that is awesome! Thanks much for sharing! I can so relate to the last paragraph.
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