God has been working mightily in our bible study! We have been seeing great moves of the Holy Spirit, and two of our ladies have been baptized in the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues, just as in the Book of Acts! It is an exciting time to be a Christian. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore!
The following is the testimony of one of these precious ladies who wanted to share her story with the world. What Jesus did in her life, He will do in yours, if you just ask. Ask and you shall receive!
Enjoy this testimony.
I look back on my life and know that I found Jesus when I was sixteen years old. Before the day that I found Jesus, He was someone who was so distant from me. He was in the church, down the street and far away. Jesus was in the bible stories that my daddy told me at the age of nine, far away and long ago. Jesus died on the cross and was gone, far away.
I am the first of three daughters. At six years old I was the person that my mom turned to in need of help. She and my father had a broken relationship, and I didn’t know what that meant at the time, but I felt her need and grew up wanting to help. We were a very private family and did not tell anyone that we had problems, as they would think badly of us. Others looking at our family thought that we were the perfect family. We had it all. We were very good at pretending.
I had so many friends and was happy to be around them, but I couldn’t “tell my secrets of my broken home and my brokenness.” WHERE DO I TURN? I poured myself into being the best that I could be in sports. I played field hockey and was very good. I ran the hardest for the longest and played with shin splints in both legs, having to tape them before every game. I remember getting injured and stayed in the game bleeding. I was determined to “finish.” I lettered my sophomore year and received an MVP award—a large trophy. This same determination was there when I went out for the high school tennis team—I also lettered in my sophomore year and the same for softball. But THAT WAS NOT ENOUGH. After practice I would come home and go for a run and bike. I needed more.
I took on a waitressing job at the local ice cream restaurant and began earning money on a weekly basis. I was earning “tips” and a lot of them. Customers thought that I was good. I wanted to save my money and “Get Out” of my home life situation. I knew that there had to be SOMETHING BETTER.
My life was out of control and I didn’t know it. I began to purge. I was alone and lonely I needed something—I needed someone. I wanted to die. I really wanted to die, but I WANTED MORE.
I was caught and confronted by my sister and my mom. I was scared and they told me that this would hurt me—purging would hurt me. It would tear up my throat and cause everlasting problems.
At that moment I knew what I needed: I needed someone to hold me and love me, to be my father and my mother. I needed to tell someone—I needed to tell someone everything. The only one that I could think of was God. He wouldn’t tell anyone. I cried out in BROKENNESS and in NEED OF HELP and got on my knees and poured out my heart and prayed. I told Him everything, and He loved me. At that moment, I found my Savior. Jesus in the big white church was with me, BESIDE ME. Jesus in the bible stories was there HOLDING ME. Jesus who died on the cross so long ago was alive and WALKING this out with me.
It took sixteen years for me to find Jesus, but I did, and He is the love of my life. Thank you, Jesus, for coming into my life. Thank you for being my Lord and Savior. You have changed my life—it is so much better than I had ever dreamed because I know you. Praise your Holy name forever!
