Getting To Know Me

For my first post “Hearing Above the Noise,” I’ve decided to share my testimony to get to know me and set the stage for the stories I will be sharing in future posts of this blog.
Upon reflection of my life before and after I became a Christian, I can see how very different it is now. Like you, I still have struggles and doubts and need guidance. Instead, it’s the way I maneuver in my life. I no longer make decisions just trusting in myself alone to get from point A to point B. First and foremost, I have learned to seek God, the Father, Jesus my Lord and Savior, and the Holy Spirit, my Counselor and Helper.

First Things First

You may be wondering, what did my journey look like?
I believe God is always trying to communicate in many ways to develop a personal relationship with Him.
I’ll start from the first time I clearly remember encountering God’s presence. I was an eight-year-old child sitting in a Catholic Mass. when I felt an overwhelming sense of peace and love. It was like God was giving me a big hug. No one had to tell me I was having an encounter with God, deep down inside I just knew.
Later as a young adult, God was once again trying to get my attention, but I just wasn’t ready to accept He was knocking at the door of my heart and mind. It was my 24th birthday when my next-door neighbor bought and gave me this beautiful gift, my very first Bible. She had it embossed in gold lettering on the front cover with my name. Next, she invited me to her Bible Study group held at one of Houston’s Mega Churches. I went, but to be honest, this experience was just too overwhelming, so I decided not to return.

Then, a year later, our first child now aged 3, was invited by another neighbor to a summer vacation Bible study at their Baptist church. At this time, I had never heard of VBS. She explained what the activities were, and I thought this sounded fun for my daughter to attend. Later because our daughter went to VBS, it got me thinking about her religious education. So, I asked my husband, who also was a Catholic, if I should start taking her to church, for we were not married in the church or at the time practicing our Catholic faith. He agreed and I started the search for a church that we could attend but couldn’t find one that felt welcoming.

Moving On

It was about a year later when my husband and I made a major life decision to relocate our family of three from Houston to our 12-acre rural property in Northern Grimes County. My husband would commute to Houston for his job as a law enforcement officer where he would also live for the week and return home on the weekends. As a result, we tabled finding a church until after the move and we all were settled

Two weeks before Christmas 1989, our family moved into our mobile home. Yes, the timing did seem a little crazy even to us, but my husband’s job it made difficult to take days off so we were limited in our choices. On top of that, our rental home lease was expired.
Now living in a new place, not knowing a sole and experiencing a record-breaking cold winter resulted in our 4-1/2-year-old daughter and me being cooped up inside suffering cabin fever. Both of us felt homesick and lonely and desperately needed the company of others.

Stir Crazy

I only knew 2 people in our small town. One of them was a lady who worked as a secretary at our local cement plant and helped us with setting up our driveway installation, her name was Cheryl. She later became one of my dearest friends for almost 30 years before passing away.

Since my choices were limited, I dialed Cheryl’s home phone number, When she answered I asked what she was doing for the evening. Her reply was she was going to the Freewill Baptist Church’s Christmas Spaghetti Fellowship meal and program. I didn’t know what this gathering was all about, it didn’t matter when we were invited, I jumped on the opportunity and said yes. It was what I was searching for a way for my daughter and me to get out of the house.

Finding A New Family

When my daughter and I arrived, there was already a group of people sitting around a kitchen table participating in a Bible Study. The kitchen was so inviting with the smell of yummy homemade food and conversation. I was curious about what they were discussing, for I hadn’t a clue the meaning of what was being said. After the study group was dismissed, a few of the ladies introduced themselves and invited me to join them next time. I said I would after I found my Bible I was packed in a box somewhere. Shortly after the Bible study ended, we all enjoyed a meal in the fellowship hall, and the Christmas service began. As we stood singing I was mesmerized by the Christmas tree at the front of the church, it was beautifully decorated. Suddenly, I was hit with the same feelings I had as an 8-year-old child, immediately realizing it was God trying to get my attention. This spark ignited my desire to discover and learn about God. I was being drawn into His arms and wasn’t resisting this time. I now had this new church group that was there to guide me.

Declaration of Faith

Once again God was using our young daughter, now 5 years old. It was at the end of one of the services in our new church. She wanted to go up for the altar call, but I said let’s wait. I wasn’t too sure if she was ready for such a big commitment. As an adult, I still grappled with the message of Salvation and thought surely my child wasn’t fully understanding. At her insistence, we met with our Pastor. After several discussions, he and I together decided to proceed forward not only with her baptism and declaration of faith I too would now be rebaptized as an adult. We set the date for this ceremony to be on my 30th birthday and the anniversary of receiving my first Bible.

Fast forward 6 years. I was now active in another church, a Southern Missionary Baptist Church helping with VBS, GA’s, etc….. even though I felt like something was missing in my walk with Christ, I just didn’t know what. Then April 1997, during one Sunday morning service, our Pastor shared this message. He asked if we felt as if we were sitting in a car parked in the middle of the road and both doors being hit by oncoming traffic. It was as if a light bulb went off. Yes, that’s exactly how I was feeling. The understanding that I had been searching for was finally being revealed. That was the problem, I was trying to serve two masters. The world and God. Yes, I knew Christ as my Savior but had not completely surrendered and accepted Him as the Lord of my life. I then prayed, Lord, I want to surrender myself completely.
From that moment on my life again dramatically changed. I finally let God be God and allowed the Holy Spirit to give me guidance and understanding, It felt like another layer of a veil was being lifted. My spiritual keenness was greatly heightened. I finally saw and heard God more clearly than I ever had previously. The Scripture passages I read and studied also made more sense.

More Questions

This led to questions. I desired to hear directly from God through His Word learning to lean on God more than myself. It was on one such occasion, while on my knees praying for understanding, that I believed God honored my request. I asked the Holy Spirit to let the Bible open to the pages that would give me answers. When God moves, He does so in some amazing ways. He meets us where we are.
After praying the first time, the Bible opened to this passage. It read, Answer to question #1. Habbukuk 1:5, “Look among the nations! Observe! Be amazed! For I am accomplishing a work in your days- You would not believe it even if you were told! In this Book of Habbukuk, he was asking God about the deliverance of his people from the Babylonians.
Then I prayed once more and my Bible opened the Answer to question #2. Habbukuk 2:2-3, “For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hastens toward the end, and shall not lie; though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come,…” These two verses became significant as my personal life verses. Since that day, I’ve held onto them, especially during difficult times. What they meant to me signified every trial, tribulation, and victory I would experience had a purpose and in God’s perfect timing would serve to glorify Him.

Road Ahead

Little did I know what trials were lying up ahead. In only 6 months, I would be in a fight for my life. Surviving the first of many life-threatening health situations, ones that I am still dealing with to this day, but that’s a story for another episode.

Next Time

Do you struggle with the basics in your Christian walk? Be sure to read my next blog post, “Begin at the Beginning”. I will be sharing one of my most important lessons about hearing God.