My Testimony

I was raised going to church every Sunday, which included Sunday school and a very brief, watered down worship service. At age 11, during Vacation Bible School, I decide that I wanted to go to heaven, so I went to my pastor and prayed a prayer with him and I was "saved". On my way home that evening I felt like I was floating in the clouds, although I really don't think anything changed in my heart.

At age 14, I liked a boy who was in my church youth group and I didn't want him to think that I wasn't a member of the church, so I ignorantly got baptized so I could be a member of the church.

Each year, I grew slightly in the knowledge of the Lord. I attended a co-ed church camp every summer for a week and I learned a little there, but I was mostly interested in meeting boys. I never really read the Bible much as a "Christian", but it was never demonstrated in the home. I didn't know you were supposed to be "ever fervent in prayer" and reading the Bible daily.

Then I went to college. For the first 2 years, I called myself a "Christian" but always found myself with the wrong boyfriends and in the wrong situations.

However, my life was changing. I attended a Christian college where you had to take a New Testament class, an Old Testament class, and another Bible class of your choice. That is when God began to speak to me in volumes. I had to read the Scriptures for class & write my thoughts in a journal. These times I hold precious in my heart, time spent wisely with God. However, I never doubted that I was saved.

My junior year, I wrote an I-Search paper where you pick a topic and explore all the aspects of it. My topic was "Finding a Mate for Life". It was then that I decided I was sick of dating, and that I would write a paper that described the man that I would marry and trust that God would place that person in my life.

My senior year I met my husband (I am going to cry, I love him dearly). One day I sat down next to him at dinner, I was only acquainted with him, but I began to discuss a Biblical issue with him that I dealt with earlier that day. He was able to answer my questions and a friendship blossomed from there. Little did I know that 2 days earlier he had prayed for a "companion".

We began to meet every evening for devotions & prayer in the Chapel below the cafeteria. We were both against "dating" at that time, and we did not allow ourselves any physical contact. My relationship with God continued to grow, I read my Bible every day at 5 a.m. Also, my husband met all the criteria of my I-Search paper (Yeah!).

Soon it was time for me to graduate and leave college. My husband continued the next year in college, and we both struggled greatly apart, he also proposed to me that year (I said "yes").

We married in '96, (1 year after my graduation), and had our first baby in '97. My second son came along in '99, then a devastating miscarriage. God carried me through, I knew at that time I was saved, I'm not sure at what point in my life I was converted, I just knew I was saved. Another baby, then another miscarriage, again God picked me up and drew nigh unto Him, my faith once again strengthened. During my 6th pregnancy (4th child), I was rebaptized because I wasn't convinced that my first baptism was legitimate due to my foolishness as a 14-year-old. My 7th pregnancy was a true miracle to me, I had some bleeding about 12-15 weeks into the pregnancy, I was sure miscarriage was inevitable. But in the ER the dr found a heartbeat and discovered I had partial placenta previa. Once again, God drew me into His arms and renewed my faith. He gave me my baby girl, whose middle name is Grace because of the grace God showed me by giving her to me!

God blessed us again with another baby and then a little over a year later a TEST. This test was an ectopic pregancy. Once again, God was there holding us up, making us realize how much we love Him and our family. He brought us through and strengthened our faith. He showed my husband and I that, "Nothing happens outside of the will of God. God is faithful. He has complete control and He guides every little detail of our lives. Blessed be the name of the LORD!"

As life goes on, my testimony grows.

And as the title description on my blog says, "Though I am far from being a perfect mother and wife, I find that each day I count on Him just a little more. God is truly faithful, even in the small stuff."