Palm Sunday Testimony 2007

This morning I was looking through our family scrapbooks with my daughter Elizabeth. I came accross this testimony that I am about to share from a Palm Sunday Service at our church in Grand Forks last year. I needed the reminder of the truth that God is going to complete the good work He started and that if "I can just hangeth thou in there baby" I am going to see God use ALL of the things in my life for good. This is a promise. Here is the testimony...

I am honored and humbled to share with you this morning how I met the Lord Jesus and how my life has been forever changed.

I came to know the Lord Jesus on May 8, 2002 after spending a few months immersed in God's Word. In the winter of 2002, I was invited to a bible study here at Faith. God spoke to my heart and opened my eyes to His truth. Through the reading of the bible, all the years of attending church, having a religion, knowing facts about God and His Son Jesus became REAL.

I began to know God, through His word, the blinders were lifted and I saw my need of Jesus. I saw the reality of my sin and my need to be saved from it. I understood that Jesus was the only one who could forgive my sin. And I knew that up to this point I did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. So on May 8, 2002 I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior.

My life before this was characterized by addiction, pain, lonliness, and a lifetime of bad choices. Even though I didn't realize what I was doing, I used any and everything I could to try and fill the pain and void in my life that only Jesus could. I drank, I suffered from bulimia, I gambled, I smoked, I shopped, as a teen I lived immorally. The thing about these addictions is that one led to another and another and it was never enough. There was also so much lying and hiding from the truth...even from myself.

But praise the Lord that at 18 years of age I was married. Even though all of my addictions followed me into the early years of my marriage, I was committed to my husband. And Praise the Lord that He knew that exactly 7 years from the day we were married we would be baptized together on our 7th wedding anniversary, identifying ourselves together as followers of Jesus Christ. This was the start of a new road for us, one that has been very pain filled at times...but we are seeing God turn something that was a broken mess into something beautiful. We are seeking to be unified and to grow in our relationships with Christ and with each other.

I know now that God began to soften and work in my heart long before I was ever in that bible study. He began to bring people who knew and loved Him into my life, often without my knowledge. He also gave me our first son, which softened and prepared my heart more than anything I think. I know now that God was preparing my heart, my broken heart, to meet my savior Jesus. Do you know my Jesus?

Since that time five years ago, my life has been far from free of pain, trials, suffering and challenges. But the thing that has changed is me. I know that I am no longer alone, I know that I am no longer without hope, and I know that even on the darkest of roads if "I can just Hangeth Thou in There BABY!" I am going to get to see God work good in everything. For He promises in Romans 8:28 that "All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose."

One of the most broken times in my life was the medical trials we went through with our oldest children. In a span of 4 months, both of our boys had neurosurgeries. Our oldest, Drew, had brain surgery at 19 months old (just 2 weeks after Sam was born) and then Sam had reconstructive skull surgery at 4 months old. God has use this time of brokenness in my life to help me know Him more and to make me more like Jesus...but I have seen also how I am better able to share the love of Jesus with others going through hard times, because I have a greater level of empathy than would have ever been possible without experiencing these things in my own life. The good in my suffering has been evident to me.

Indeed Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He gave His life that we might live. Knowing this truth has set me free! I am free from the addictions and temporary fixes that the world has to offer. I now have a compass to rule and guide every step of my life...the bible...the very word of God. I am still just beginning to learn the truth and replace a lifetime of lies. I have seen and felt how my enemy would love for me to fail and feel defeated. But I need to remember that he is the defeated foe. Yesterday I heard a woman say "Every time Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of his future." I intend to do just that...as with years of bad choices that I had before, the past is all that Satan has to use and as I have said it is very pain filled. And the truth is, it's the past, Jesus took care of all that. His blood washed my sins as white as snow and I am living proof that He can make all things new and all brokenness beautiful.

I don't always feel very beautiful or act very beatifully. But I take God at His Word and trust that He will complete the good work He started in my life. 1 Corinthians 2:9 tells us "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived, what God has in store for those who love Him." And I can't wait!!

I know my Redeemer Lives. Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! I hope that you all know Him too...if not why not today?

This testimony was what I needed to be reminded of again today. This past year has been a challenging one for our family...having a baby, moving 10 days later, Brent being without a job almost 5 months, another of our babies having major surgery, Huge medical bills and insurance premiums and then just the regular stuff of life with being in seminary, living in a small space with 4 young kids, being lonely...as building new friendships and relationships takes time...something we seem to be short on?:) I needed the reminder today "That if I can just Hangeth Thou in There Baby!" I am going to get to see God work all of this for good. And I already have in so many ways. Why did I REALLY need to be reminded? Because sometimes my emotions can get the best of me!! I am SO thankful that even though my emotions may change moment to moment I am in the care of my Heavenly Father who never changes and who never leaves me to fend for myself!

"For I the Lord do not change..." Malachi 3:6

"Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your prescence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there your hand will lead me, And Your right hand lay hold of me. If I say, 'Surely the darkness will overwhlem me, and the light around me will be like night,' even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You." Psalm 139:7-12

"...for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU." Hebrews 13:5

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." Phillipians 1:6

"O Taste and see that the Lord is good, how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!" Psalm 34:8