Jessica

My formative years were sprinkled with trips to church with my grandmother, and I attended church with friends in high school, but for me, it never really stuck. I was taught that everyone needed God in their lives, and it seemed vaguely important, but I just told myself over and over again that I had plenty of time to figure it all out, and “get right with God.”

As I got older, I knew there was an emptiness inside, and somewhere in the back of my head, I thought maybe God could fill it, but I was too selfish to give up control of my life to someone I didn’t understand and couldn’t even see. I had become one of those people who didn’t even want to TALK about God, let alone follow Him. But there was always something about being close with Him that pulled at me. I just chose to ignore it.

Then my marriage started to fall apart. I gave my husband a choice, counseling or divorce. Thankfully, he chose counseling. Around that time, our neighbor (who has since become a dearest friend) invited us to her church, and suggested that we seek help from one of the pastors. I didn’t think anything could help at that point, but we gave it a shot. We started meeting with Pastor Jan in October of 2008, but it was some time before we actually talked about our marital problems. Pastor Jan told us up front that nothing would change in our marriage if we didn’t first let God in to change our hearts. My husband and I accepted Christ as our Savior together on December 4, 2008, and our lives have changed more than I could have imagined. I now see that God used my troubled marriage to finally get my attention.

Through God’s unending love and forgiveness for me, I have learned how to love and forgive my husband. I still struggle with my faith sometimes, but on those days, I remind myself to “trust in the Lord with all my heart, and lean not on my own understanding.” If I acknowledge Him in all my ways, He WILL direct my path. Today, I am here to make it known that I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, that He died so I could be forgiven for my sins and saved from an eternity without God, and I will be forever thankful.

Jessica
March 29, 2009