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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/21/2008 4:47:58 PM
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nicole6598
Posts: 4369
Joined: 11/3/2006
From: Australia
Status: offline
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great idea, baby crying though, will come back later...
_____________________________
that is a dolphin at our beach
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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/21/2008 4:56:57 PM
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clag4christ
Posts: 3041
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: We just moved to the big state of Texas!
Status: offline
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Joel and I met when I was still in high school. I was a senior and he was a 22 year old just recently out of the Army. We met on Dec. 26th 1996 at the movie theater in the town next to my hometown! He was giving me eyes and I thought he was simply gorgeous so after my sister and I sat down and settled in for the movie I went over and asked him to sit next to us, and he said yes! I couldn't believe he would agree but he did! We went out after the movie and talked and I'm ashamed to say made out for a few hours after. We exchanged numbers and he called me three days after our initial meeting.
I did not have a good upbringing...in fact it's as far from how we're raising our girls as you could imagine. Both of my parents are unsaved and my dad struggled with alcohol for my entire childhood, though I wouldn't call him a typical alcoholic...he didn't 'need' the alcohol to function...he got drunk to avoid fights with my mom. My mom is a controlling, manipulative, emotionally and physically abusive person. My growing up was pretty hard, but not as bad as some, for sure. After I graduated high school I moved in with Joel and we attended college together.
Joel knew that living together was wrong and even wouldn't let me answer the phone early on after I moved in because of what his family would think! He got saved on Thanksgiving Day 1980 at the tender age of 6 but had back-slidden from his time in the Army.
We got engaged on New Year's Eve 1998 and in January of 1999 Joel's sister got saved. She'd been an atheist for most of her teen/adult years. She began sharing Christ with me and let me borrow her copy of Left Behind...though now that I know more I don't necessarily agree with the theology in those books, lol! But anyway...I had no idea that a person needed Christ to be saved and reconciled with God. Just before I was saved the Columbine tragedy happened. I read about Cassie Bernal's final moments and was really moved. Her short life impacted mine in a way she could never have foreseen. Christ saved me from my sins on April 25, 1999 at my sister-in-law's church. There was an invitation at the end of the service and I heard the Lord speaking in my mind, obviously not audibly, that I needed to stop running and turn to Him. And I did!
Joel and I were married on Sept. 2, 1999 and I got baptized about a month later. I was not naturally a kind and submissive wife. In fact I was a lot like my mother in the beginning...I used harsh words and picked fights sometimes for no reason at all. But the Lord brought many kind and wise married women into my life to be an example to me. The best piece of advice I ever got just after Joel and I got married was to always speak well and lovingly about my husband in front of other people. That is a fantastic habit, I've found! It especially helps me see and focus on the best in Joel instead of his shortcomings. I also started devouring the Word. I read and read and prayed and prayed and asked our pastor an insane amount of questions about theology and life. The Lord did so much work in me and really softened my heart and showed me how to be a good and virtuous wife for my sweet Joel.
When Joel and I first met I didn't want to have any children, ever. Because I had such a poor example in my own mother, I knew that I would end up just like her and I didn't want my kids to endure what I did growing up. After Joel and I had been dating a while I realized that I did indeed want to have children with him!! Originally, before the Lord convicted us to be quiver full, we wanted just three! LOL! Then after the Lord saved me and the changes started happening in my heart I knew that I would be able, through the Holy Spirit, to be a different and good mom to any children we had.
After we got married we started trying pretty much right away for our first baby. But the Lord had other plans and it took us 4 1/2 years to conceive our Hannah Grace. In that time He showed me much mercy in my attitude and whining about the 'why me's' of not being able to get pg. He moved us to NJ in June of 2002 after Joel's college graduation and in May of 2003 we met the Reproductive Endocrinologist who diagnosed me as having PCOS. He put me on the Metformin and a year and a half later on Thanksgiving morning 2004 we found out about our Hannah blessing! In that year and a half we met a fantastic family who showed us that it is possible to have well behaved children that love and obey their parents and who love and care for their siblings. Thinking about it now, they were like the last piece in a puzzle that the Lord was putting together in my/our lives for the preparatory foundation of our parenting philosophy.
Today we try and parent with purpose and the convictions we feel strongly about. We believe that because we've passed on our sin nature to our girls it is our job to show them and point them towards the cross and towards their redemption. We pray that we will be faithful and successful in this task because, of course we love them, and want to see them on the other side!
**excerpted from my blog**
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Stop vegetable genocide! Have a burger!
<-----Sweet Jael
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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/21/2008 8:26:49 PM
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nicole6598
Posts: 4369
Joined: 11/3/2006
From: Australia
Status: offline
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I grew up with parents who divorced when I was 2.5 years after my Dad had an affair while mum was pregnant with my little sister. Neither parents were Christian, Mum was Jewish, Dad was nothing really.
Growing up with a single mum was hard, we didn’t get all the wonderful toys and clothes like our friends did and mum and dad liked to try and turn us against the other parent. We spent every second weekend with my Dad and his wife (the woman he had the affair with). Mum went through a number of boyfriends, she slept with all of them and I always remember I knew what they were doing in the lounge room or in her bedroom (I could hear them) and I knew it was wrong and that I NEVER wanted to be like my mum. She was pretty angry and had a scary temper. She pulled my ponytail out when I was about 3 and she even punched me in the mouth one day after my sister bunny-hopped the car through the roller door. She would fly off the handle at anything and beware or you would get things thrown at you, brushes and spoons broken on your backside or things like “you are the worst (swear words) child. I wish I never had you. You have ruined my life. I hate you sometimes” etc etc.
So my dad and his wife had two daughters and when the youngest was 1 they split up as Dad had had another affair. I think I was about 11 at this time. So Dad and the new woman moved in and we continued to go be with dad every fortnight. They have never married but have two kids together. My first stepmum has since taken the girls all over the state and they no longer speak to us or my Dad because of things he has done in the past (used to get young guys to break into houses, supermarkets etc)
I was working in a supermarket (when I was 15) and had become friends with a lovely girl who was a Christian too. So we became friends and would leave notes in each others lockers (she is 2 yrs older than me). She would tell me how much God loved me and things. So I began to ask her questions about God. Even Oprah (my fav person at the time) was talking about Jesus. So to me it seemed right, the two most important people to me at that time (Oprah and my best friend) loved Jesus so I should find out more. So over a year or so (once I began to ask about Jesus I think I was about 17 then) I began to realise He was real and I needed Him and I asked him into my life in Feb, 10 years ago!! (I only just realised I am 10 yrs old in Christ!!). That was in my 2nd year of Uni.
It was around this time though that Dad said he had to go into hiding, the cops were after him and he had to leave. So he told me and my stepmum and I that he was going to some monastery to live. He was gone for about 3 months, we had no contact from him, and then one day he came back. It was hard because I couldn’t tell anyone why he had gone, not even my younger sister. He then admitted that he had tried to hang himself but a monk walked in and stopped him….
It was also around this time that my mum hooked up with a guy she loved in High School. So he moved in (one of the many who had moved in, including an alcoholic who made a move on me when he was drunk). I heard them talking one night and he said “it’s the girls or me” and mum said “of course its you”. So the next day she told us we had to find somewhere else to live because her back was sore and she couldn’t afford to care for us anymore as she had to cut back work. I never told her I what she had said. So we moved in with my Dad and stepmum and brother and sister. It was about then that I began going to church (a Baptist one with a guy who was a dj on the radio that I became friends with). I then became close to my best friend (the one who told me about Jesus) sister. She went to the big AOG church in the city so I began going there and that’s where I really began to grow in God.
I then graduated from teaching and had to put down preferences of where I would like to teach. As you never got a job in the city I put two rural towns (one of which my best friend lived in and the other was 45 mins away). I was the first person in my year to get a job in the town 45 mins from my best friend and that’s where I moved to work for the govt in a pre school.
I began going to the local AOG church and the pastor was so lovely to me. He was telling me all about his boys, his older one in particular. The second eldest moved up a few months after me and the moment I saw him in church I said to a friend “if he is the pastor’s son I will marry him” (pastor was always trying to get girls to marry his boys). So we became friends and after a month I went back home for the holidays, and he called me one night and then asked me out. That was April 19 2002. We were engaged Dec 26th 2002 and married July 12 2003. Grace was born Dec 2004 and Nath born Sept 2007.
I have had a few more dramas since then, but God has held me through each one and I have come through the other side closer to Him and changed. I can say for sure that He has never let me go!!!
I am trying to raise my kids to be people who will love God and other people. I am also trying to be the kind of wife my husband needs. I want to have a marriage that my parents didn't and for my kids to grow up feeling safe and loved.
< Message edited by nicole6598 -- 2/21/2008 10:42:02 PM >
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that is a dolphin at our beach
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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/22/2008 1:43:10 AM
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Mrs.X
Posts: 2250
Joined: 7/7/2005
From: Newberg, OR
Status: online
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What a great idea for a thread. I was just hinking the other day, I wonder how all these ladies I "know" came to Christ and how they grew up. Please pardon the typos though, I'm using my computer and my monitor is 6 feet away from me. If you ever see me make a typo, it means I'm not on my hubby's computer, LOL!
I was born into a "Catholic" family. My mom wasn't religious, but called herself Catholic like the rest of the family. I was sent to catechism and got my First Holy Communion at age 8. My mom and dad were high school sweethearts who broke up after graduation and later had a one night stand when my mom was 25. She didn't tell him about me because he was a drunk, and she didn't want that around me. All her brothers and sisters were either alcoholic or drug addicted. She was a binge drinker. She would get drunk whenever I wasn't around, sleepovers at Grandma's or friends' houses. I never knew until I was a teenager. So, I grew up without a dad.
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ORIGINAL: nicole6598
Mum went through a number of boyfriends, she slept with all of them and I always remember I knew what they were doing in the lounge room or in her bedroom (I could hear them) and I knew it was wrong and that I NEVER wanted to be like my mum.
I think that was pretty damaging to the way I viewed sex for so long.
My dad ran into my aunt at the bar, where else? and she told him she was sure I was his and showed him a picture. I am a spittin' image, BTW. I think I was about 5 then. I remember him coming to our house smelling like booze, but I didn't know he was my dad. I can remember going to family birthday parties with my aunt and always seeing "family friend Jeff" there (my dad). She always secretly invited him so he could see me wihout my mom knowing. Anyway, me and mom moved a lot because we got evicted a lot. She was a waitress and didn't make much on the lunch shift. We moved 19 times in 18 years.
When I was 11 my dad managed to stay sober long enough to talk my mom into letting him see me. That's when our relationship began. When I first saw him, I realized he was the "family friend Jeff" that was at all the parties at my aunt's house. Fast forward to high school. I got into smoking cigarettes then pot, then snorting coke, then LSD & mushrooms. If anyone tells you smoking pot isn't the gateway drug, they are right, cigarettes are the gateway drug. I did all this during school hours on school campus or when my mom wasn't home. My mom knew something was up. I was cutting school, sneaking out at night. She became very depressed and withdrawn. I continued down that path, and she eventually had a nervous breakdown. She stopped going to work and we go evicted. I went to live with my dad, I was 15 then. He was definetely different than my mom and didn't let me get away with not doing well in school. So, I got an afterschool job to support my coke habit, and quit smoking pot altogether. It made me lazy enough to not want to go to school and not do my homework, so I thought cocaine was the best choice since it gave me energy to do those things. LOL, crazy thinking I know. My dad didn't know that was going on. He got sober a few years before and was active in AA. I began attending Alateen (for families of alcoholics). I straightened up and was reminded of God who I had forgotted about for sooo many years. I dropped the coke and became very active in Alateen. I became a public speaker for other teens at conferences. I prayed to (the) God, but not with Jesus in mind. My whole world came crashing down when my mom attempted suicide. She just walked into the Pacific ocean assuming she would get pulled by the undertow and drown. Just before she went under a man came out of nowhere, ran in and grabbed her. My mom told me his name was Jesus (Hay-soos like in Spanish). I don't how it all played out, but she was committed to an insitution and became well again. My dad and I butted heads a lot, I wanted boyfriends and he didn't want me having them, so I basically told him I was going back to live with my mom. She had just gotten a place. I still continued to see him on schedule and have a good relationship with him. I turned 18 and had a boyfriend at the time that wanted to move to Oregon. So, I went with him. We lived together almost 3 years. Our old friend from the Bay Area who was running from the cops came to Oregon and stayed with us. He brought that movie Left Behind. LOL! I think that movie changes lives. Even though I don't agree with it all now, it think it brings people to Christ that may have never believed in the first place. Anyway, our friend started talking about Lucent technologies and how it sounds like Lucifer and their logo looks like a 666 and they invented this chip that will get implanted in your hand, but we should never get it because it was the mark of the beast. This FREAKED ME OUT. He starts talking about the bad weather and how people are nowadays and how that ties in the Bible. That got my interest. I didn't get saved, but I got interested. Me and the guy broke up and moved into my own place when I was 20.
Wow, this turned out ot be longer than I expected. I met my hubby on craigslist when I was just 21, October of 2004. I got pregnant with Timmy 3 months later. He proposed to me in my bathroom standing next to a pregnancy test. LOL! Between the time I found out I was pregnant and the time we got married (we married when I was 5 months along with Timmy) I started listening to Christian talk radio on the graveyard shift at my job. I listened to Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee and got saved sitting at the security console at 3:45am on April 15, 2005. The first person I told was during an exterior patrol it was a homeless guy walking down my street in downtown Portland. I said, "I just got saved by Jesus Christ, do you want to ask Jesus into your heart too?" He said no and asked me if I had any change, so I gave him my lunch. LOL! I told my hubby-to-be and he said he was happy for me. A few nights before we left for San Francisco to get married, I listened to J. Vernon McGee like I did everynight at my job. He was talking about how he had advised a girl to not marry her boyfriend because he was not saved. He said she did it anyway, and they ended up divorcing. It kinda freaked me out a little. Hubby was a so-so wishy washy kinda "I believe in Jesus, but I dunno if I believe everything in the Bible" kind of guy. Well, we got married. It was rough. I slowly learned that my hubby was not the man I thought he was. In July 2005 I joined this site and got some very good advice about submission. It might have been Sarah..probably was. Maggie probably gave me some advice too. It helped. I prayed for Robert daily and for our marriage. Something happened though. i don't know what it was, but it was after Timmy was born. We split, and I looked into getting an annullment. According to California law (where we were married) I could have for a specific reason I won't get into. He came back asking for forgiveness. I have finally figured out now, that he goes through these grumpy phases and is distant and not helpful. These phases seem to get shorter and shorter as the years go by. I still pray for him daily and for our marriage. It's working. Jesus fills a void that could not be filled with drugs or lust or needing to have the kind of husaband I want. God really worked in our lives when Nicole posted about her hubby a while back. Her hubby is just like mine. I began to follow the advice she received in the thread, and our marriage has benefitted GREATLY from it. The longer we are married the more and more confident I feel in the promise I made to God and to Robert standing at the altar getting married. I promised "Till death do us part". And, that's the plan that seems to get more and more feesable everyday. I am confident God will begin working on Robert's heart someday.
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-=|Christina|=-
MySpace
From Sweet Grass to the Packin' House (blog)
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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/22/2008 7:46:41 AM
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LaurainAL
Posts: 1562
Joined: 8/13/2005
Status: offline
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This was a great idea Kim. I have really enjoyed reading the testimonies that have been posted. Isn't God good!!!
I need to put some thought into mine and will post later.
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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/22/2008 11:49:04 AM
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MamaMilty
Posts: 1489
Joined: 10/18/2007
Status: offline
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I was raised in a cultural christian home. We went to church, I was confirmed, yet, noone in my family had a relationship with God and we certainly didn't understand that Jesus is the the way the truth and the life. That is not to say that the message was not being preached in our church, we just didn't have the spiritual ears to hear it, maybe. As I have grown, He has brought teachings to my mind that I did receive and missed opportunities to come to know Him. I feel it is important to share that because I cannot place any responsibility for my lost state on that church and the people of God that were in it.
So I blithely went through life thinking that I was a "good person" and I "believed" in God, so that is enough, right? I spent my twenties living fast and all for myself. As my thirties started to loom, a timeclock started ticking inside me and I decided that I must get married and have children, but it was still all about me.
So I'm married and we are trying for children and it is not happening as easily as I had expected. All those years avoiding getting pregnant, and now, when I want to, I can't??? So I plug along, turning getting pregnant into a mission that my self-esteem as a woman gets tied to. And finally, it happens, we are expecting. We are overjoyed, all of our friends and family are overjoyed for us, and I feel victorious. Then the unthinkable. I miscarry. My heart is broken. I am broken. I wear sunglasses all the time for a week because I can't face anyone. I don't want them to see me and my worthlessness as a woman.
In my pain, I remember God. In my soul, I don't believe He means me harm and pain. So I cry out to Him. I ask Him why I have to bare this pain and heartache? I tell him through my tears that I don't know if I can recover from this, I feel so broken and at that very moment, I am filled with comfort and peace. I hear Him in my heart of hearts saying, "I am here."
God is so good! I didn't know it, but He was gathering me in, calling me from that moment in ways that I could hear. My spiritual ears had been awakened! I had a hunger to know Him. I bought a bible and started reading it from Genesis. He brought Godly women into my life and I found a church home. I learned for the 1st time that God wanted a relationship with me, me! I learned that He loved me so much that He sent his only begotten Son to die on a cross to pay for my sins. That He raised him from the dead and he sits at the right hand of the Father watching over me. I repented and asked Jesus to come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior. I was baptised and my children(yes, my children, PTL) were dedicated to our Lord. God is so good!
Now I, and so many others are praying for my sweet husband's salvation and I see God working in him everyday.
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Jen
For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6
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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/22/2008 12:35:50 PM
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laughinggirl
Posts: 474
Joined: 8/2/2005
From: Dallas, TX
Status: offline
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I was born to loving parents in a Christian home, and I prayed to receive Christ at the age of 4. I still remember it distinctly. The minister prayed the prayer at the end of his sermon. I thought, “Hmm, I haven’t done that yet, and I probably should.” So I prayed along with him, and that was that. I prayed the prayer many times again over the next few years; I guess I thought that since I was so young, it didn’t “take” the first time. My dad finally prayed with me again, once and for all, at the age of 10, and I was baptized on Easter Sunday a few days later.
My dad was a teacher and my mom stayed home with me and my two younger brothers. We were poor. At one point when I was 7, I remember having to have some medical tests done and worrying about the cost because I knew we couldn’t afford it. Of course, my parents made a way, but it’s weird for me now to think I was already worried about money at such a young age. We had a huge garden and chickens in the backyard and sewed our own clothing; this was out of economic necessity, long before being “green” or organic was cool. In fact, it WASN’T cool then, and that was hard for me. I was always considered different by my peers, both because we were poor and because I was the goody-goody Christian girl. I was homeschooled, at my own request, during grades 6-8, which added to the feeling of being different when I returned to public school in grade 9.
I worked very hard as a child, both in our own home/garden, and elsewhere to earn extra money. I started babysitting, picking rocks out of our garden (a nickel a bucket), cleaning houses, mowing lawns, anything to earn a little extra. By the time I was in high school, I was pretty much responsible for purchasing most of my own clothing, shoes, etc. I was valedictorian of my high school class, and earned some scholarships that made it possible for me to attend college. My parents and I worked together to pay for it, and somehow I made it through. I earned stellar grades because with good grades generated more scholarship money. Earning A’s was like a job in itself, in addition to the other jobs I held during that time. I taught piano, babysat for my professors, had a campus job, and at one point was the secretary at my church. I graduated in 5 years with both my BBA & MBA in accounting. I was so glad when it was over; I’ve never worked harder in my life. However, it was a good experience and I made some great friends who I hold very close even to this day.
At this point, I assumed that the natural next step would automatically occur – I’d always wanted to be a wife and mom and now that I had finished college, it was time, right? Not so much. I spent the next decade or so working as an accountant, being active in my church, and crying out to God about my prolonged singleness. When I turned 30, things changed for the better. I had developed more confidence. I had a tight-knit group of wonderful Christian friends. I finally was making enough money to do some really fun things, like traveling all over the U.S. and Europe with my friends. I am now thankful that God gave me that time with them and allowed me to have those experiences. I wouldn’t trade them for the world, even though at the time I would have traded them in an instant for the chance to be married and have a family. God knew best.
Then, in His infinite love and wisdom, in 2005 God saw fit to bless me with the finest man I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing. We met on eHarmony, of all things. Brian is a kind, loving, good, godly man – and he is the best husband I could have ever dreamed of for myself. We met and married in just less than a year, on May 6, 2006, and we saved ourselves for our wedding night. That year was a whirlwind of romance and excitement, and after a year and a half of marriage, it just keeps getting better. Brian has a mild case of cerebral palsy which causes his right arm and leg to be smaller and weaker than his left side. Sometimes I think God saved him for me until we were older – I was 32 and he was 31 - so that I would be mature enough to realize what a true gem he really is and not dismiss him based on any perceived limitations. He really isn’t limited much at all, and most of the time it doesn’t even register to me that he’s “different” anymore, because I love him so much and all of his uniqueness. After waiting for SO LONG and nearly giving up on marriage altogether, the life I have now with him is a blessing beyond words.
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Bethany's Blog - now on Blogger
Bethany's MySpace Blog
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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/23/2008 12:52:08 PM
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lexie
Posts: 2614
Joined: 6/27/2005
From: Toronto
Status: offline
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I was born into a family that considered themselves Christian, mainly because they believed in Jesus Christ. We attended church off and on throughout the years. My mom was born into the Anglican Church and then raised Presbyterian, my dad was born into and raised in the Dutch Reformed Church. Growing up we attended Presbyterian. I don't think it was anything to do with doctrine, but more they just liked the church and the people in it.
My parents divorced when I was 16 and it was hard on me. My dad would go months without calling me and when he did he would say some very hurtful things to me. I took that hurt into all my friendships and relationships and figured that no one really loved me and if they did it would soon end.
When I went to university I did the partying and drinking thing. Not as much as a lot of people but I enjoyed going to bars and dancing and drinking. When I was in 2nd year I started attending a Pentecostal church. By my 3rd year I was starting to realize I couldn't continue the way I was and I asked God for help.
Three days after I told my roommate I wasn't dating for a full year I met my Dh. Neither of us were supposed to be there that night but we were and mutual friends introduced us. We took to each other right from the start and were inseparable. He had been saved years earlier, after his older brother who was a pastor died in a car accident. He began talking to me about God and reading the Bible with me. A year and a half later, I was saved.
We got engaged after dating for 2.5 years. Our road to it was very hard. People in his family hated the fact that he was marrying a white girl and made no secret of it. In front of me they would tell him not to bring home any mulatto grandchildren, and one day when we were together, his mom called him into the other room and loud enough for me to hear told him to stop dating me. In fact the first time I was introduced to his mother, she didn't say a word to me and when I went to shake her hand, she turned and walked away. She did not start talking to me until after we were married and we didn't become family until she was diagnosed with cancer. My SIL's though nice to my face, still go behind mine and Dh's backs and say horrible things about me to everyone else.
But as I always say "when I go to bed at night, the only person in that bed with me is my husband." It's not my MIL or my SIL's. So they can say what they want, it's not going to get between Dh and I.
Two months before our wedding I became pregnant with Akeelah. We didn't tell anyone until after we were married, and even then we didn't exactly tell them when I was due. We weren't ashamed of it, but we knew what we had done, we had repented and received our forgiveness from God and didn't want to bother going through it again with man, since it's not up to them to decide (and it would have been a big to do with his family.) By the time they figured everything out, it wasn't worth the effort for them to quarrel with us.
Outside of church, I don't have many Christian friends. I live in a Muslim neighbourhood, so those are the women I make friends with. My friends from school (with the exception of 2) don't want to think about Jesus right now. My mom and her husband are Christian but often our views don't line up so I don't get much support there.
But I know that the decision I made to accept Jesus into my life is more important than any of that. I see Him working in my life everyday.
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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/23/2008 5:12:10 PM
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Mrs.Wifey
Posts: 5070
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: The Gorgeous plains of Colorado
Status: offline
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I was raised in a Christian home, and accepted Jesus at about age 6 and was spirit filled at 12. I pretty much was your "model" Christian child and pastors kid until high school. During my sophmore year I dated a boy for 3 months and during the last month he date raped me and forced me to perform several other "acts" that constitue sexual abuse. I broke up with him shortly after that started and was a very wounded, battered girl. My Junior year in high school I started hanging out with the wrong crowd and did a good amount of drinking and "pre-sex" activities although I was not having intercourse. I also met Micah that year and we became very close friends, he was the one person who while I knew he was attracted to me, I could always trust him not to try and "get in my pants". My high school "guidance" counselor became a very large part of my life, most of the time guidance counselors just deal with school related things and help you prepare for college. My counselor was an incredible, Godly woman who helped for two years to work through the effects of sexual abuse.
Between her and Micah my life changed a bit, I got involved heavily in my youth group and by the end of my senior year of high school was back on the "straight and narrow", and was dating a boy from church, "Vinny". We dated through the entire summer after I graduated and around our first anniversary(Jan) we started being sexually active. We discovered that being sexually active is not good for a relationship so we broke up shortly after his Senior prom(he is a year younger then me) in March. At the end of March I found out that I was pregnant and Vinny told me he wanted nothing to do with me and that I should just give the baby up for adoption and he would gladly sign over his parental rights. Shortly after Vinny and I had that conversation Micah offered to marry me and raise the baby together, I was unsure of that happening but it proved to me what a wonderful man Micah was(and is).
Needless to say, I miscarried the pregnancy. While the whole ordeal was going on Micah and I realized(after TONS of prayer) that we were going to move things up the "exclusively dating" level. At that point I was in Maryland and he was in California getting ready to deploy to Iraq. The week before he deployed we got engaged and I moved "home" to Connecticut to live with my parents for the 7 month duration of his deployment.
His homecoming was the first time we had seen each in person in just over 12 months and we got married later the same day. Our first kiss was shared at his homecoming and I can honestly say I didn't kiss my husband until our wedding day and that our first time "together" was when we consummated our marriage 
We have faced some struggles since we got married including a battle with pornography and my own struggle to become a submissive wife(which is not my human nature at all). But God has been good, and with much prayer, a little fasting, and lots of humility I can honestly say that we have a solid marriage, that I am married to the man God intended for me.
The Lord has been faithful in blessing me with a wonderful husband and a gorgeous daughter. It is amazing the difference that serving an Awesome God, instead of my own flesh can make.
< Message edited by Mrs.Wifey -- 2/23/2008 5:20:25 PM >
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Ryanne Gabriella Alexis born 8-22-07!
The opinions stated in the above post are solely mine and in no way should they be
construed as offensive due to your own insecurity.
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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/23/2008 5:34:36 PM
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Mrs.X
Posts: 2250
Joined: 7/7/2005
From: Newberg, OR
Status: online
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Mrs.Wifey
It is amazing the difference that serving an Awesome God, instead of my own flesh can make.
Ryanne, you are so right. It just seems like when we do what God wants us to do things just go so much better for us. That's something that's so hard for me. It seems like I have to get K.O'd by God to really understand what He means sometimes. LOL!
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-=|Christina|=-
MySpace
From Sweet Grass to the Packin' House (blog)
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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/23/2008 9:02:24 PM
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RepentanceIsRequired
Posts: 930
Joined: 9/14/2005
From: Home is where the heart is.
Status: offline
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Great thread and thank you ladies for sharing your stories. I'll try to take the time to type mine up to share.
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--Nicole--
"Icons, incense, chant...smells and bells...served up with tested sound theology, proven faith and a generous portion of beauty...that's home cooking to a hungry soul." -- unworthyseraphim
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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/25/2008 7:01:54 AM
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DenimDiva
Posts: 5617
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Wonderful testimonies.
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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/25/2008 12:52:34 PM
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sunshine4God
Posts: 5288
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: Sterling Ct.
Status: offline
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Great Testimonies everyone.One of these days I will have to share mine with you all.
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Matthew 5:16.
"Let your light so shine before men that they will see
your good deeds and glorify your Lord".
<Its me having fun at the beach!
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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/25/2008 3:30:08 PM
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RepentanceIsRequired
Posts: 930
Joined: 9/14/2005
From: Home is where the heart is.
Status: offline
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I've never really sat down to write my story out. hmm..
_____________________________
--Nicole--
"Icons, incense, chant...smells and bells...served up with tested sound theology, proven faith and a generous portion of beauty...that's home cooking to a hungry soul." -- unworthyseraphim
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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/25/2008 4:04:01 PM
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crimsonfollower
Posts: 811
Joined: 12/29/2006
From: the middle of nowhere
Status: offline
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You can do it Nicole, and this might be a good time for you to stop and reflect once again on what all God has brought you through.
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Beth
"Do not be conformed to this world, but continually be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God's will is-what is proper, pleasing, and perfect." Romans 12:2 ISV
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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/25/2008 4:13:08 PM
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crimsonfollower
Posts: 811
Joined: 12/29/2006
From: the middle of nowhere
Status: offline
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Well, my testimony will probably be short because I don't have a husband to add to the picture yet :)
I have grown up in a Christian home - church every Sunday, Wednesday, special activities and a life at home that reflects Christian actions, not just words. I accepted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior at the age of 5 according to my mom, though I remember praying around age 6 or 7. I knew that I was a sinner and that I needed Christ in my life. I was baptized at the age of 12. I never have really figured out why I waited that long. I think it was mostly because the pastor during my earlier years didn't normally baptize children. At age 13, I accepted the Holy Spirit and his work in my life. Having the Holy Spirit active in my life was probably the thing that kept me out of trouble. I was trying to be the good Christian role model at school which was hard since most of my school said they were Christians, but were out partying all the time. Plus I wasn't part of the in-crowd- but I didn't go looking for acceptance in other places because I already had Christ. I went to a private, Christian college and between being poor, good grades and working, I paid for college with very little debt. I figure that I would find a guy and get married in college (I walked in planning on never graduating  ). I found myself in my last year with no guy on the horizon and left wondering what to do. I received a call to missions when I was 16, but always expected that it would be fulfilled when I was married and older. God had other plans and I have been teaching the past 2 years at an international Christian school.
So my testimony is not all that big and dramatic, but is more about how God is faithful through the everyday people. I have had major things happen between a church asking my family to leave to dealing with depression over the past couple of years, but God has still been faithful. He has never left me- even when it has felt like the rest of the world has. God is still working in my life- despite the mistakes that I make all the time.
I enjoy reading everybody else's testimonies though because it just continues to amaze me how God works in the lives of people and the many things that he has brought all of us through.
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Beth
"Do not be conformed to this world, but continually be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God's will is-what is proper, pleasing, and perfect." Romans 12:2 ISV
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RE: Our Testimonies - 2/25/2008 5:09:04 PM
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nicole6598
Posts: 4369
Joined: 11/3/2006
From: Australia
Status: offline
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Beth- my old pastor used to say about his testimony that it wasn't dramatic and had him in rehab or caught up with the cops or anything, but was a testimony to how his parents raised him right and how with God he wasn't tempted to go and do the things his friends and family were doing. So not everyone's testimony needs to be full of drama's. I think yours is a wonderful story!
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that is a dolphin at our beach
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