My Personal Testimony
I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was sixteen years old. My parents had been raised attending church, my mother in a white clapboard nondenominational congregation near Charleston, West Virginia, and my father in a Baptist church in Hamlet, NC, however, my father was a weekend alcoholic and we rarely went to church. After being transferred to a different school in 1976, I was invited to attend youth activities at Massey Hill Baptist Church. The friend who would introduce me to Christ would become my best friend and much later, my husband.
My first encounter with Jesus occurred when I was around ten years old in a dream. Our household atmosphere was at best unpredictable and sometimes even violent due to my father’s disease of alcoholism. I awoke one night and saw Jesus standing at my bedside. He was the Jesus from a child’s picture bible. He was wearing the white robe with the purple stole and He was by far the most beautiful, peaceful, gentle image I had ever seen. Years later, I would teach a class on the names of God. My favorite name of God is Jehovah Raah, the Lord is my Shepherd, because He first came to me as my protector. Before I met the Savior, I met the Shepherd, because Jesus always meets us where we need Him most.
Throughout my spiritual journey I have been active in churches, teaching Sunday School, bible studies, and Vacation Bible School, and singing in choirs. My personal growth has come from bible study, prayer, corporate worship, Sunday School, and through service. Since 1976 I have been active in church, but my life changed dramatically in 1994 when I married my best friend and the love of my life, Nick. Nick is the godliest man that I know and I am honored to serve beside him. Our life revolves around the church and the God that we serve and love. Our families are sometimes puzzled at the life we lead, but we are committed to following God’s plan for our life.
During 2005 and 2006, I was challenged with a very serious threat to my health. Throughout the surgeries, physical therapy, radiation treatments, and months of healing, I was given many quiet hours for reflection. I prayed often that God would just restore me to my previous “life before I broke my ankle…”, but I realized after much time, that God’s purpose for my struggles was to transform me. I know that my experiences have refined and purified my faith. We don’t really know what we are made of until we meet a crisis face to face. During my ordeal I made contact with hundreds of medical personnel and other patients, and through the Holy Spirit I was able to convey the love of Christ and demonstrate His healing power and the awesome effects of prayer. One of the nurses at Duke Hospital commented one day on my positive attitude and I replied, “Of course I’m doing well, I have thousands of people praying for me!” I could almost physically feel myself being lifted up to the Lord for healing. The pain of my surgeries has been at times almost unbearable, but our God is so awesome He takes pain and suffering and transforms it into praise.
If I had to describe my spiritual goal, I would have to say that like Paul, my desire is to be “crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 (KJV). And at the end of my life here on earth, I would like my legacy to be that I accepted the call of God and that I was found faithful.
I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was sixteen years old. My parents had been raised attending church, my mother in a white clapboard nondenominational congregation near Charleston, West Virginia, and my father in a Baptist church in Hamlet, NC, however, my father was a weekend alcoholic and we rarely went to church. After being transferred to a different school in 1976, I was invited to attend youth activities at Massey Hill Baptist Church. The friend who would introduce me to Christ would become my best friend and much later, my husband.
My first encounter with Jesus occurred when I was around ten years old in a dream. Our household atmosphere was at best unpredictable and sometimes even violent due to my father’s disease of alcoholism. I awoke one night and saw Jesus standing at my bedside. He was the Jesus from a child’s picture bible. He was wearing the white robe with the purple stole and He was by far the most beautiful, peaceful, gentle image I had ever seen. Years later, I would teach a class on the names of God. My favorite name of God is Jehovah Raah, the Lord is my Shepherd, because He first came to me as my protector. Before I met the Savior, I met the Shepherd, because Jesus always meets us where we need Him most.
Throughout my spiritual journey I have been active in churches, teaching Sunday School, bible studies, and Vacation Bible School, and singing in choirs. My personal growth has come from bible study, prayer, corporate worship, Sunday School, and through service. Since 1976 I have been active in church, but my life changed dramatically in 1994 when I married my best friend and the love of my life, Nick. Nick is the godliest man that I know and I am honored to serve beside him. Our life revolves around the church and the God that we serve and love. Our families are sometimes puzzled at the life we lead, but we are committed to following God’s plan for our life.
During 2005 and 2006, I was challenged with a very serious threat to my health. Throughout the surgeries, physical therapy, radiation treatments, and months of healing, I was given many quiet hours for reflection. I prayed often that God would just restore me to my previous “life before I broke my ankle…”, but I realized after much time, that God’s purpose for my struggles was to transform me. I know that my experiences have refined and purified my faith. We don’t really know what we are made of until we meet a crisis face to face. During my ordeal I made contact with hundreds of medical personnel and other patients, and through the Holy Spirit I was able to convey the love of Christ and demonstrate His healing power and the awesome effects of prayer. One of the nurses at Duke Hospital commented one day on my positive attitude and I replied, “Of course I’m doing well, I have thousands of people praying for me!” I could almost physically feel myself being lifted up to the Lord for healing. The pain of my surgeries has been at times almost unbearable, but our God is so awesome He takes pain and suffering and transforms it into praise.
If I had to describe my spiritual goal, I would have to say that like Paul, my desire is to be “crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 (KJV). And at the end of my life here on earth, I would like my legacy to be that I accepted the call of God and that I was found faithful.
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