My Personal Testimony
I
grew up in Detroit Michigan, in a Catholic home, my father and mother
separated when I was nine years old, it was considered a sin to
divorce so, we did not spend much time in church. We would go to
church for midnight mass, on Easter Sunday, or once in a while on a
Sunday, but we were not allowed to approach the altar because my
mother was divorced and I had never taken the catechism classes.
I knew of Jesus, that He was born of a virgin, died, and resurrected,
but I had no idea what all that meant to me. As far as I was
concerned I was going to hell because I did not do the work needed to
get to heaven.
In the summer of 1984, I was thirteen and
spent my time actually at the church across the street from my house,
which was not a Catholic church, working with a youth pastor's wife,
name Charlotte. She taught me things I had never known and I remember
going up to my mother and telling her what I learned and getting in
trouble because it was against what she had learned all her life.
Life quickly got away from me when I moved the next year and it not
only took control of me it also caused me to lose my communication
with God.
I did lead a pretty sheltered life and stayed to
myself for years, I was not a person to get mixed up in the world, I
never cared about the newest fashions, I did not want to hang out
with the crowds and do what they were doing. I knew something was
missing in my life, I worked in every field there was in customer
service as well as in factories, I went to trade schools and learned
how to run a business. I was good with people, had friends, and
always reached far in every job I had, but I was not happy and always
in search of something to get me going again.
In the summer
of 1994 I moved to Florida, I was twenty-three and stayed with my
father, his new wife, and three half brothers for about a year and a
half. That was the worst experience of my life, my brothers were a
mess, drugs, stealing, and everything in between. I worked and worked
to get out of the situation and in my own house. Things were going
well, I had everything I ever wanted, minus a husband, but I was not
really looking for own so I was happy.
In 1998, that is when
everything changed, a married man was attracted to me and I fell for
it, although it was not physical we flirted and that was just as bad,
it caused me to have strong feelings for him to the point that I was
lusting over him. I got myself into reading tarot cards and reciting
spells thinking this man would leave his wife for me. I realized I
needed to get out of there and out of the mess that I created for
myself so I straightened up and got a job working on the road, it was
a pretty good job and paid well so I was financially stable and happy
for a while. Until, I met a guy online and ended up letting him rent
a room from me. Of course, the landlord - tenant situation turned
into a full blown relationship. I was head over heels in love and
then I found out who he really was and things quickly went from the
man of my dreams to a nightmare. Talk about losing every moral I ever
had.
In 2004, things took a turn for the worse, I was engaged
to the man and he was was in prison while being married to another
woman, I had no more job, just had my house foreclosed on, lost
my car, and was now living at home with my mom. I was
gaining weight like crazy and the more I tried to take it off the
more I gained, I became severely depressed and unhealthy. This once
independent woman was losing everything she had including that
independence all in a matter of months. I hated who I was and tried
everything to make myself look and feel better only to make things
worse the more I tried.
Then in June of 2004, for the first
time in about 10 years, I walked into a church. I immediately felt
God's presence and it was the best I had felt in years. I started
attending church regularly, but I was still fighting with these
issues on my own and not trusting in God, although I had been saved,
I still had not idea what that meant and was not growing as a
Christian. Then on July 10, 2004, something happened to change my
life around and this time for the good. I overdosed on diet
supplements by taking two different kind, it was just enough to the
point that I was vomiting and in severe pain for hours and as I laid
in my bed hardly able to move and in so much pain God spoke to me and
said "Get up! I did not bring you here to die like this! Now get
yourself together!" Right then and there I asked God to forgive
me and said it was time to life for Him. Shortly after I was feeling
better and God introduced me to the book of Job, I read that entire
book that day and knew that everything was going to work out.
It
has not been always been easy following Christ, in fact things got
worse for a little while, but the more I got in God's Word, the more
I trusted in Him, the more my life turned around. A life truly does
change when we have Christ in it, we are no longer in search of what
the world has to offer because we know there are much better things
waiting for us. Without Him I am empty and void and so lost. Jesus
was who I needed, it was not material things, it was not money, and
it certainly was not a man or friends that I did not need. It was
Jesus, my Lord, my Savior, and my Redeemer. Thank You, Jesus for
saving me and continuing to use me to be a blessing and a guide to
those who are lost and have fell away from you. I know if You can
revive this soul that was lost, You can revive all lost souls.
The
following is just a small list of the amazing blessings and changes
God has made in my life:
I belong to a wonderful church,
Central Fellowship Baptist, and much of my time is spent there. I am
there every chance I can get and we even go into the community and go
soul winning (introducing people to Christ). I am a Sunday school
teacher and secretary there.
I run online support groups to
introduce people to the Lord who are dealing with health issues
and weight issues.
I am a serving God as a missionary through
this website.
I write a daily Bible study message to help me
learn and teach others about God's Word and submit it to support
groups and several blogs on a daily basis, reaching at least 500
people a day so far and spreading the Gospel along with it. I have
lead several of these people to the Lord with these messages.
I
have learned so many things, I now know that Jesus died for me to
save me from all my sins and that no matter what happens I will enjoy
eternal life with Him.
I know that it is much harder to sin,
because the Holy Spirit lives in me and I do not want the Holy Spirit
doing things I use to do.
I know that I receive so many
blessings from Him and that I want everyone to know what He can do
for them too.
I am a self employed website designer and even
though business is not as profitable as I would like I know that God
has plans for me and that everything he places before me is
prosperous as long as I keep my eyes on Him. He always provides me
with what I need when I need it.
Every morning I wake I Thank
the Lord for giving me another day, and getting me out of the mess I
was in, I say a prayer for those I have met along the way and
even those who I do not know before I even start my day. Not a day
goes by where I do not read the Bible and if I ever slip or are too
sick to read I can feel a distance between God and I.
The
first 30 minutes of my day is a time to praise and thank God for
everything that He has blessed me with, including the not so great
things for I know that with the bad comes the good.
I can now
go to bed at night and wake up each morning knowing that everything
is alright in my Father's house.
Praise God!
