Post by sawdy on Sept 25, 2018 22:07:40 GMT -6
Hello all,
I think I have shared my testimony before, but now that we have a new section, well, someone has to be the first to post.
When I was young I never liked my testimony. It was too boring. I had gone to see a presentation of Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames and accepted Jesus as my savior on May 13/90. I was 8 years old.
I grew up going to church and my parents split when I was 7ish. I lived with my Dad and my two siblings. During that time, my mom stopped going to church. My Dad made up for that and we went more often that I liked. I didn't really get to go to a regular Sunday school as we went to some fringe Pentecostal churches that didn't actually have church buildings. Hotel church, industrial warehouse church, coffee shop church, and office space church became regular to me. All I wanted to do was go to a regular church, one that actually had a building, an actual Sunday school program, and didn't sing the same song more than once. By the time I was in Grade 9, I had managed to convince my Dad to let me join the youth group at my Grandma's church, which meant I got to stay with her occasionally all weekend and go to her church on Sunday. But most of the time, we would just head off to the city on Friday or Saturday (1.5hrs) and come home Sunday evening.
My sister had moved in with my Mom years before and had moved to another province. I went out to her Grad in May of my Grade 9 year and made the decision to go move in with my Mom. That summer, I moved. My Mom didn't attend church and as such, I didn't really plug into a youth group (she did send me on a camping trip with one- but I didn't click with anyone). I had a friend that attended a Salvation Army Church and I went with her when I slept over, but there was no youth at the church, and I didn't really get into going.
I got a job at a Burger King that winter and that became the King in my life. I became addicted to working. I started working a lot and worked my way into a weekend opening shift. 6am-2pm Saturday and Sunday doesn't allow for any spiritual pursuits. Slowly I began to spend my money on secular music rather than Christian music, and soon stopped listening to Christian music at all.
I turned my back to God and walked away. Occasionally, I would still be plugged in by occasionally going to a youth event or attending church when I was visiting my Grandma in the summer, but I was bitter. I didn't like the Churches I was forced to go to as a kid and that I couldn't participate in Halloween and that statutes of frogs or owls would cause cancer. I didn't like my Dad praying for me at night and putting oil on my forehead every night before bed. I hated devotions. (To this day, I struggle with devotions) So it wasn't hard to walk away. Soon I forgot all about going to church and filled my life with enough to keep me busy on a Sunday morning well into my early 30s.
I ended up back in my small town after a failed marriage, promiscuous lifestyle and a new baby as a single mom. I still refused to go to church. Eventually, I met a nice man and we started dating and moved in together. After a year and a half we married and I had a second child. My son was 4 when his sister was born. I wanted to exercise to lose baby weight, so my Grandma was watching my kids when I went to exercise at the pool in the morning. She had invited me back to church over the years but I kept declining the offer. Eventually, she asked if she could start taking my son to Sunday school. At first, I agreed to this arrangement, but then stated to feel guilty as what was I really doing that I couldn't sit through church for the hour and a half that he was at church with her. So I started to join them. We didn't get there very regularly until my daughter was about 2. I started to go quite regularly and eventually one week my husband decided to join us.
It took time to erase the bitterness. I didn't sing along at church for quite awhile as I was going. I also refused to partake in communion. And there was no way I was ever getting baptized!
I have never forced my husband to join us, but he has faithfully come along. Three and a half years ago my father-in-law passed away. They used to attend a United Church in the 80s but failed to continue to go when they moved to my small town. We had agreed to have my Pastor do the service. The following Sunday after the funeral, I was surprised to see my Mother-In-Law come to church. She has also been faithfully attending since that time.
I still wasn't convinced that Jesus was the only path. I had a friend who was doing Access Bars and I decided to give it a shot. I wasn't too sure what it was about but I was willing to try new things to seek out enlightenment at the time. The morning of my session, I heard a voice in my head tell me not to go. I said I booked it, I am going. Again, he said to not go. I ignored him. I had never heard God direct me before, so I didn't know it was him. So I went.
Throughout the session, I felt awful. While my eyes were closed and my friend was touching various points on my head, I felt like a fire was above my head and trying to get in while the white light inside was trying to keep the fire from entering. I was fighting against the fire and trying to just make it through the session. Eventually, I asked my friend to stop. I don't think I made it halfway through. I was physically sick for more than a day afterwards. After that, I knew what the true path was and stopped seeking. Jesus only Jesus from then on.
Two years ago, I plugged into a Ladies Bible Study at my church. During this time, I was asked by each of my children to help them become saved. My son has an interesting testimony, but that is for a separate post. With time, the bitterness towards baptism disappeared and in August of 2017, I decided to take the plunge.
God has worked on my humbleness and my humility. In April of 2017, I accepted a job for the secretary position at my church. I would've never thought I would be attending church, let alone working in one if you asked me 10 years ago!
When I had to give my testimony before my baptism, it was in front of my church, the church of my Grandma, with tears streaming down my face as I shared my thankfulness for the strong faith of my Oma who never stopped praying for me and never stopped encouraging me to return to my faith that I had renounced. She just turned 85 this month and still is trying to encourage others to come back to Jesus when she is able. Her health isn't fantastic and her hearing is shot, but she still continues to pray for her family members and her friends and their families that have turned away for God.
So my testimony that seemed so boring, ended up anything but. It would be great if I had never done or experienced a lot of the things that I ended up doing, but in that process I was able to turn to God. (Hearing him speak to me in my head several times helped, even if I didn't listen to what he said that one time.) I am so very thankful that he doesn't turn his back on us, even when we turn away from him.
I think I have shared my testimony before, but now that we have a new section, well, someone has to be the first to post.
When I was young I never liked my testimony. It was too boring. I had gone to see a presentation of Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames and accepted Jesus as my savior on May 13/90. I was 8 years old.
I grew up going to church and my parents split when I was 7ish. I lived with my Dad and my two siblings. During that time, my mom stopped going to church. My Dad made up for that and we went more often that I liked. I didn't really get to go to a regular Sunday school as we went to some fringe Pentecostal churches that didn't actually have church buildings. Hotel church, industrial warehouse church, coffee shop church, and office space church became regular to me. All I wanted to do was go to a regular church, one that actually had a building, an actual Sunday school program, and didn't sing the same song more than once. By the time I was in Grade 9, I had managed to convince my Dad to let me join the youth group at my Grandma's church, which meant I got to stay with her occasionally all weekend and go to her church on Sunday. But most of the time, we would just head off to the city on Friday or Saturday (1.5hrs) and come home Sunday evening.
My sister had moved in with my Mom years before and had moved to another province. I went out to her Grad in May of my Grade 9 year and made the decision to go move in with my Mom. That summer, I moved. My Mom didn't attend church and as such, I didn't really plug into a youth group (she did send me on a camping trip with one- but I didn't click with anyone). I had a friend that attended a Salvation Army Church and I went with her when I slept over, but there was no youth at the church, and I didn't really get into going.
I got a job at a Burger King that winter and that became the King in my life. I became addicted to working. I started working a lot and worked my way into a weekend opening shift. 6am-2pm Saturday and Sunday doesn't allow for any spiritual pursuits. Slowly I began to spend my money on secular music rather than Christian music, and soon stopped listening to Christian music at all.
I turned my back to God and walked away. Occasionally, I would still be plugged in by occasionally going to a youth event or attending church when I was visiting my Grandma in the summer, but I was bitter. I didn't like the Churches I was forced to go to as a kid and that I couldn't participate in Halloween and that statutes of frogs or owls would cause cancer. I didn't like my Dad praying for me at night and putting oil on my forehead every night before bed. I hated devotions. (To this day, I struggle with devotions) So it wasn't hard to walk away. Soon I forgot all about going to church and filled my life with enough to keep me busy on a Sunday morning well into my early 30s.
I ended up back in my small town after a failed marriage, promiscuous lifestyle and a new baby as a single mom. I still refused to go to church. Eventually, I met a nice man and we started dating and moved in together. After a year and a half we married and I had a second child. My son was 4 when his sister was born. I wanted to exercise to lose baby weight, so my Grandma was watching my kids when I went to exercise at the pool in the morning. She had invited me back to church over the years but I kept declining the offer. Eventually, she asked if she could start taking my son to Sunday school. At first, I agreed to this arrangement, but then stated to feel guilty as what was I really doing that I couldn't sit through church for the hour and a half that he was at church with her. So I started to join them. We didn't get there very regularly until my daughter was about 2. I started to go quite regularly and eventually one week my husband decided to join us.
It took time to erase the bitterness. I didn't sing along at church for quite awhile as I was going. I also refused to partake in communion. And there was no way I was ever getting baptized!
I have never forced my husband to join us, but he has faithfully come along. Three and a half years ago my father-in-law passed away. They used to attend a United Church in the 80s but failed to continue to go when they moved to my small town. We had agreed to have my Pastor do the service. The following Sunday after the funeral, I was surprised to see my Mother-In-Law come to church. She has also been faithfully attending since that time.
I still wasn't convinced that Jesus was the only path. I had a friend who was doing Access Bars and I decided to give it a shot. I wasn't too sure what it was about but I was willing to try new things to seek out enlightenment at the time. The morning of my session, I heard a voice in my head tell me not to go. I said I booked it, I am going. Again, he said to not go. I ignored him. I had never heard God direct me before, so I didn't know it was him. So I went.
Throughout the session, I felt awful. While my eyes were closed and my friend was touching various points on my head, I felt like a fire was above my head and trying to get in while the white light inside was trying to keep the fire from entering. I was fighting against the fire and trying to just make it through the session. Eventually, I asked my friend to stop. I don't think I made it halfway through. I was physically sick for more than a day afterwards. After that, I knew what the true path was and stopped seeking. Jesus only Jesus from then on.
Two years ago, I plugged into a Ladies Bible Study at my church. During this time, I was asked by each of my children to help them become saved. My son has an interesting testimony, but that is for a separate post. With time, the bitterness towards baptism disappeared and in August of 2017, I decided to take the plunge.
God has worked on my humbleness and my humility. In April of 2017, I accepted a job for the secretary position at my church. I would've never thought I would be attending church, let alone working in one if you asked me 10 years ago!
When I had to give my testimony before my baptism, it was in front of my church, the church of my Grandma, with tears streaming down my face as I shared my thankfulness for the strong faith of my Oma who never stopped praying for me and never stopped encouraging me to return to my faith that I had renounced. She just turned 85 this month and still is trying to encourage others to come back to Jesus when she is able. Her health isn't fantastic and her hearing is shot, but she still continues to pray for her family members and her friends and their families that have turned away for God.
So my testimony that seemed so boring, ended up anything but. It would be great if I had never done or experienced a lot of the things that I ended up doing, but in that process I was able to turn to God. (Hearing him speak to me in my head several times helped, even if I didn't listen to what he said that one time.) I am so very thankful that he doesn't turn his back on us, even when we turn away from him.
