My testimony in 3 minutes or less....

Recently I had the pleasure of listening to our youth give their personal testimony in 3 minutes or less.  They said that this testimony impacted their peers on a level that was beyond belief, especially themselves. Seeing the works that the Lord had done was inspiring. So, I thought this would be a great thing to share with my fellow readers....my testimony/ life before salvation, after salvation, and presently. 

As we all know I was raised in church, by a village of church goers. My family is HUGE. I was saved and baptized when I was young, but I strayed from the Lord just as all teenagers do. I was self-centered and angry. I married at a young age and pride ruled my heart. I still attended church and had a half relationship with the Lord. It wasn't until my son's biological father sued me for custody when he was 16 years old. At the same time, I learned that my daughter was suffering with severe depression and self harm. I was BROKEN, but Jesus knew what I needed. Numbers 23: 19.  This was my rock bottom. I was devastated, but the Lord promised me great things for my children.  I rededicated my life and made time each day to spend with the Lord.  The custody case went in our favor, and our daughter slowly got better. Eventually, her story had a rocky beginning but it is getting sweeter by the minute. Presently, I still live with my many autoimmune diseases that are a huge struggle, but I have a great small family to call my own.   We are not prefect, but we have each other. I've learned to set aside time for the Lord, and time to listen to my body. 

Sharing the GOOD and the BAD

My nest is only halfway empty. My daughter, has long since been gone, but not REALLY gone. She shows up for the impromptu visits, or we get together regularly for our bonding time. My son, well he says "why leave? Free food and free housing!" But, for a while now we have been battling with his illness, moodiness, all together, just not himself.  No matter how much I sympathized, I was still not the person he needed. So, in the midst of all of this, my health kept suffering. Yeah, stress. Stress that once it enters the mind will eat at your innards, and eventually start to deteriorate you from the inside out. So I dove deep into my faith.  Deep into what I knew to be safe and secure. I clung to the Bible's promises for my life and that of the lives of my family (but mostly mine, just to be honest).  As mothers, we are not allowed to get sick, show weakness, or be vulnerable. WE are the rock that our household stands upon...well maybe more like the cement mixture they put on the rock when they are building the house.  Lol. Because in all fairness, Jesus should be the foundation, if we let him. So upon this journey, I was pointed to this passage in Romans 8......

Romans 8:17-18

"Now if we are children, then we are heirs- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.  I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

When I ran across this passage I was shocked. I stopped in my tracks. Jesus suffered. He suffered 10 times over that of what we could possibly imagine. Therefore, if we take the bad in this world and give thanks for it, we might be able to appreciate the good that much more. Whatever we are going through will never compare to Christ's suffering. As the passage says, share in the suffering in order to share in his glory. The good and the bad!