Mary's Testimony: "I wanted to stop being a good little girl."

I recently wrapped up the Testimony Series I've been running for the past couple of months, but received a submission that I wanted to share.  Many thanks to Mary for sharing her story about how God met her where she was and transformed her life...

Everyone has a life story.

For me, my story only truly began when I came to know Jesus.

I grew up in a Christian family. My parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors loved the Lord with all their heart. I was taught that Jesus loved me in Sunday School. I sang in children’s choir. I went to Vacation Bible School every summer. My father was a deacon. My mother the church pianist. I basically grew up in church.

When I was 10 years old I listened intently as my Pastor preached on Hell and the reality of it one Sunday night at church. At 10 years old I knew I was a sinner and needed Jesus to forgive me of my sins and be the Lord of my life.

Fast forward to when I was 16 years old: I told Jesus I didn’t want to live His way anymore. I wanted to stop being a "good little girl." I started messing around with alcohol. How quickly that first sip spiraled into a full on disaster.

Many bad decisions were made.

After trying to turn my life around from the alcohol mess, I found myself in another mess, an eating disorder. During this time in my life I was very depressed and hated everything about myself.

Let’s look behind the scenes of this story…

Jesus was watching the whole story unfold. Not only was He watching, but He was holding my hand. He was gently calling me back to Himself. He was protecting me. He was being patient with me. He was loving me when I chose to stop loving Him.He was sending people into my life to provide wisdom and guidance for my young and confused heart.

Fast forward now to college: After many experiences I finally understood what MY faith was all about. It became my own. My faith was not taught to me in Sunday School. My faith was not handed down to me from my parents. My faith was now my faith.

It was mine because I had lived it and experienced it personally. I knew that Jesus had been behind the scenes the whole time. I knew that He loved me no matter what I did. That He had forgiven me for all the mistakes I had made. That had already been accomplished when He became my Lord and Savior at age 10. I decided to stop running from Him and to join Him in what He was doing in my life.

Fast forward to present day: I'm a 25-year-old wife and dietitian. I don’t even know who that former girl used to be. Not because years have now passed and people do grow up and change. It goes much deeper than that. I do not remember her because I am no longer her.

I cannot imagine how different my story would be today if I had not turned my whole life back over to Jesus. I would be a totally different person.

I chose to believe that Jesus is who He says He is, that the Bible is 100% His word and it is truth, that He says I am beautiful, worthy, and enough.

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
I am currently on my journey to Heaven, one day at a time. I have never been so in love.

This is a guest post by Mary, who blogs at Mary in Marriedland. She says, "I am a twenty something newlywed who lives in Tennessee with my awesome husband, James. I am a Registered Dietitian and currently work in a long term care facility. I am most passionate about Jesus, my Lord and Savior. He changed my life and continues to change me daily. His love is perfect. I desire for my readers to see Him for who He really is. I want to share His joy, peace, and truth through my own struggles and victories. I also have two other obsessions... photography and nutrition. You will see these alot on my blog. I am one blessed girl. I am just taking it one day at a time."

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My Testimony: Learning About God's Loyalty Firsthand

As the concluding post in the Testimony Series I've been running for the past couple of months, I wanted to share a story of my own. You might have seen this article before at ungrind or on The Joyeful Journey, where it's been shared as a guest post. But I wanted to take the chance to share it here, as well. So here's one, itsy bitsy story of God at work in my life...

When I rewind my life and remember all the milestones that have rooted me in my faith, there is one experience that stands out as a linchpin in my journey. It was during this experience that God brought to life for me, firsthand, one of the Bible's greatest lessons: that of his gentle and unwavering loyalty.

I had been chaperoning a youth group trip to Tennessee and the band had just taken the stage. The music was loud and I sang along wholeheartedly. Until the lyrics of the song, which I knew by heart, reached this point: "Where you lead me, I will follow.... Even if I walk alone, Lord, this I choose to do." Suddenly, I stopped tapping my foot to the beat as the weight of those words, "Even if I walk alone," hit me full force for the first time. They make for a great song, but when it comes to real life, those are hard words to swallow.

I started praying vehemently, God, I love you, but please don't make me go anywhere by myself. Please don't make me have to do it alone. Please don't...

Six months later, I found myself in the very spot I'd prayed against: Making a decision whether to move to a new city where I knew virtually no one and leave behind the city where I felt I had finally come into my own and had forged a rich fabric of kindred friendships. I stood at the cusp, cardboard boxes on one side, comfort and predictability on the other. Which would it be?

Retracing the circumstances that led up to this decision over that span of six months, there was no doubt that God was at work, opening doors in my life and future. But in spite of that awareness, questions still loomed: What if I don't like my job? Who will I hang out with? What if I don't make any friends? Where will I go to church? How is this all going to work? What if this is a mistake? Sure, God had opened a bunch of doors already, but what about the next string of doors?

The decision, then, of whether or not to move, rested on one simple notion: Could I trust God and where He was calling me? Did I truly believe in His loyalty?

A couple months ago, I was reading back through Genesis 1 and noted verse 29 with new eyes. As God introduced Adam to the Garden of Eden, "God said, 'Look, I have given you all the plants that have grain for seeds and all the trees whose fruits have seeds in them. They will be food for you" (Genesis 1:29). As I read that, I realized the significance of the fact that, even before He created the first man (and later, woman), God had already prepared a ripe environment for His beloved creations. They didn't have to ask for food or even know a world without provision—it was ready for them as soon as they stepped onto the scene. That was how God worked out of love then, and God was ever so ready to prove to me that that's how He continues to work today, in spite of my misgivings and dragging heels.

Through much wrestling, godly counsel, and prayer, I decided to move. I recognized that by not moving, I would be turning my back on where God was calling me to go, and I couldn't bear that. Even though I had no idea how this would all work out, I decided I had to take that chance and trust Him. With my car packed full of cardboard boxes, I made the 8-hour drive to my new home.

I remember those first days in that new town, when my boxes were only freshly unpacked and I was just learning my way around. I came across Ecclesiastes 11:4, "Those who wait for perfect weather will never plant seeds; those who look at every cloud will never harvest crops." In a moment of clarity, I saw that this had threatened to be me and my life. I had almost let imperfect circumstances and fears about the future keep me from acting, keep me from sowing, keep me from having to depend on God for the harvest when I couldn't see how this could possibly be fruitful. For those first few weeks, I clung to this verse, whispering to myself over and over again, "Keep sowing. Keep trusting. Persevere."

And as He did for those first humans, God did for me. As He went before them and so many others throughout the biblical narrative, He did for me. As with them, before I even knew what was happening or what to expect, He was at work, bringing the Word to life for me like never before.

He quickly began showing me the frivolity of most of my fears. I found an inspiring church to call home, outlets for volunteering and meeting new people, and things to do on the weekend. Before I knew it, friendships blossomed all around me—a lovely-hearted roommate, friends at work and weekly runs to Starbucks, inspiring girlfriends through church, and a vibrant Bible study. It was obvious that my greatest fears and arguments against going had been for nothing.

Even now, two years after I first wrestled though this decision, God continues to teach me the depths of His loyalty. I carry the reminders and the fruits of that experience with me today, for the times when those pesky questions persist: Can I really trust Him to deliver me this time? How is this going to work? In those inevitable moments, I look back on this milestone and remember to trust that God is at work, prepping the landscape of my future and waiting for me to step forward in faith and sow. I remember the unwavering loyalty He has shown me, firsthand.

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Update on Testimony Series

I hope that you've been enjoying reading the Testimony Series that I've been running as much as I have the past couple of months. Women from all over the country (and even a few from outside the States!) have shared their stories of fears, insecurities, heartbreaks, and everyday hardships—and how the Lord came and rescued them each and every time, drawing them closer to himself.

Some of the testimonies have moved me to tears. Some are ones I know all too well from my own experience. Some are ones that drop my jaw in awe. Some have even made me laugh at God's wonderful sense of humor and how he meets us in the most unexpected of places. And yet they all show us, again and again and again, how God is unceasingly working in all of our lives.

To read story after story of God reaching out to his children in miraculous and mundane ways has really opened my eyes more than I could have imagined when the inkling of an idea first came to mind.

Back then, I wasn't sure whether anyone would really be inspired to share their stories. But something encouraged me to at least try. Like I said from the beginning:

I believe in the power of testimony.

When we share our testimony—putting to words the things that God hath done—it increases our faith. Both for the one sharing, who is reminded of how God has moved in their life, and for those listening, who are encouraged from this story to trust that God indeed hears our prayers and is at work today. These stories help us all as we look to the great unknown of the future and trust that the God who was—who touched and mended and saved lives yesterday—is the same God who is today and who is to come tomorrow. We can trust him with all that is yet to be.

But even more than that, sharing our testimonies gives God the glory, glory. We praise him when we recall these stories of deliverance and provision and perfect timing. It says in Revelation 12:11 that Satan is overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Something spiritual happens when we share these stories with one another.

And here we are, three months later, with so many touching testimonies to look back on and encourage our own walks of faith.

I look back on this humble endeavor with awe. Even it is a testimony to God's goodness of taking something little and insignificant and multiplying it for his own glory. How neat is that?!

I say all this because tomorrow I'll be posting the last testimony in the series, a little vignette from my own experience. If you still have testimonies that you'd like to share, please do get in touch and I'd be happy to post them and keep the spirit of testimony-sharing going. But for now, I've posted all the submissions I received.

My thanks go out to everyone (Kate, Tamara, Joye, Rhianna, Jo-Ann, Lindsay and Amy) who has been so humble and gracious to share their testimonies in this series. If you missed any, you can browse them all here.

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Amy's Testimony: Beyond the Physical Healing

This is another guest post in a series where readers share their testimonies of how God has worked in their lives. I'm excited to share that today's guest post is from one of my favorite bloggers, Amy from The Ragamuffin Stuff! Many thanks to Amy for sharing her beautiful story!

It was the same week that we brought home our baby girl, GG, child #2 for us, after a care-free pregnancy, easy-breezy delivery, and thanksgiving for a beautiful 9 lb. 2 oz.(!) healthy baby girl, that we began to notice her eye fluttering. First, it was only a couple times a week. I was dismissed by the pediatrician as an over-protective mother at her 1 mo. check up. At 2 mos. of age, she began having the eye flutters up to 5 times a day.

My beautiful baby girl was having seizures.

The next 2 months is a blur of frantic calls to anyone and everyone we thought may have advice or be able to help us, hospital stays for weeks at a time, CT scans, spinal taps (yes, on a 2 mo. old), never-ending blood tests, and gripping fear and sorrow and pain and loneliness that I never even knew existed.

However(!), God had mercy on GG's health and lead us, as her parents whom He had entrusted for her care, to the doctors that could help us. They turned out NOT to be the doctors here in our hometown, not the closest children's hospital, not even in this state.

On the week of her 5 mo. birthday (October 2008), GG had 2 brain surgeries. The first was on a Monday when the neurosurgeon attached electrodes to her brain (for real, y'all) to more accurately follow the brain activity, specifically during a seizure. She remained with a turban-like bandage around her head while attached to a portable transmitter that we were allowed to wear over our shoulder while we held her. Nurses had to rebandage her head several times and check for infection.

These days were spent in a room that couldn't have been any bigger than 10x10 consisting of a flat screen tv mounted on the wall where we watched her brain activity 24/7, a small fridge, a pull-out sleeper for Dad, a closet for our daily necessities, and the teeny-tiniest hospital-grade crib you never want to see. The lights were programmed to come on immediately flooding the entire room with florescent lighting and automatically call the nurse's station when GG had a seizure—which now was up to as many as 12 a day but had recently tapered off. (FYI...seizures must be controlled or stopped or else they deteriorate the brain.)

On Thursday of that week, October 2008, our baby girl went to the OR yet again to have her right temporal lobe removed. This is the area of the brain that the docs were able (through the grace of God) to pinpoint as the "epicenter" of the seizures. During that surgery, her doctors tell us, the seizure activity stopped immediately when the right temporal lobe was removed. She also had a stroke during the surgery but has shown NO effects from it—praise God.

Our daughter has not had a seizure since. She is developing fully and meeting (perhaps surpassing, if I may be so bold) all of her milestones. She is a joy every minute, even in the difficulties...testing us as toddlers will, how we are called to discipline her as the Word tells us to so that she may be "blameless and pure and boast on the day of Christ" (Philippians 2:14-16).

Do we rejoice only in her healing? I pray to God, not. Even if He had not healed her—God was revealing Himself to me (me! a sinner above all sinners!) during this entire time. In Romans 9:15, God says that He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy on and goes on to say that it is not based on anything that we do.

Did I pray for Him to heal her? Of course. Daily, hourly, several times an hour on some occasions! Desperately, begging Him, even bargaining with Him (I knew not what I was doing at the time. As if I can bargain with the King of kings!) to heal her.

That was irrelevant in her healing, and yet, was extremely relevant in the fact that I was earnestly seeking Him. Someone(s) many years ago and throughout my life had planted the seed in me about the Truth of our Creator. And when I called out to Him, He answered. Not by healing GG, He answered me in my heart. I was not alone. I began to open His Word and seek Him.

And, THAT, is the message of our story. The blessing—and, oh what a blessing it is!—of Him healing our child is just gravy on top of the beautiful, unexplainable fact that He summoned me, my family, to Him. To accept His free, blood-stained gift of forgiveness (Thank you, Jesus!). To stop living for ourselves and to live for Him (Thank you, Lord!). To be assured of our eternal home with Him who created us (Thank you, God). How lovely.

Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call [upon Him] as long as I live. (Psa 116:2)

This is a guest post by Amy Neeley, who blogs at The Ragamuffin Stuff. She says that she has been "rescued by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ to do His will and, simultaneously, I get to enjoy the refining process He is doing with my sinful nature. I have a loving and hard-working husband, David, and 2 (so far!) beautiful 'rewards of the womb' (Jonah, age 8, and Georgia Greer, age 2 & 1/2). I am busy working at home (Titus 2:5), training our children (Prov. 22:6), and helping my husband (Gen 2:8), but you can find me at my blog.

P.S. If you're interested in submitting a guest post testimony to be featured on Life Blessons, please visit the original post for details!

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Lindsay's Testimony: "A Sinner Saved By Grace"

This is another guest post in a series where readers share their testimonies of how God has worked in their lives. I'm excited to share that today's guest post is from one of my favorite bloggers, Lindsay from Passionate Homemaking! Many thanks to Lindsay for sharing her inspiring story!

Here is my story…I am a sinner saved by grace.

I was extremely blessed to grow up in a wonderful Christian homeschooling family. My mother and father loved the Lord with a passion and taught us the gospel from an early age through regular family devotions. Despite all this, I was a very rebellious child. I loved stealing my brother’s candy and hiding behind the couch to secretly partake. I went through the motions and asked Jesus into my life several times in my early childhood, but in my heart I still hated our family devotions. I disliked getting up at 6:00am to read together.

Yet, my parent’s faithfulness really paid off. They did not give up. They made our family a priority. We had weekly family nights that were sacred. We participated in events as a family. We attended church as a family and remained together throughout the whole service.

At the age of 12, God radically changed my heart. He made the truth clear to me. I knew that I couldn’t just piggy back on my parent’s religion. I needed to know and understand the truth of the gospel for myself. I am a sinner in desperate need of grace. I saw the beautiful difference that Jesus made in my parent’s lives as they worshiped him, loved on others through generous giving and hospitality, and knew I wanted to follow Jesus too.

Once I confessed my sins, and believed in Jesus as my Savior, I had a new and amazing passion for the Bible. I started rising early every morning at 6:00am to just read for myself and journal all that the Lord taught me. I was baptized shortly afterward, acknowledging that the old man was dead and I was covered in the blood of Christ.

Throughout my childhood, I dealt with a lot of insecurity. I had no friends. And the friends I pursued happened to be the popular bunch and did not care to reciprocate the friendship. I in turn struggled greatly throughout my teenage years with lack of friends beyond my family members. I turned to reading and writing as my means of communicating my thoughts and struggles.

At 14 years of age, I read a book about a missionary from the Philippines. She was 19 years old and loved the Lord. I wanted to be like her. I read numerous books through this period on various missionaries from ages past and present. I began to throw myself into various mission activities—serving on overseas trips to the Dominican Republic, coordinating a trip back, coordinating bringing shoe box Christmas gifts to the children there for a few years, and striving to stir up mission awareness in our church with a team of others. I absolutely loved serving and organizing (come to find out, these were my spiritual gifts!).

Looking back, I realized that I had a weakness in that I often was trying to find satisfaction and praise through displaying my gifting. I struggled with comparing myself to the giftings of my siblings. My sister was more up front and excelled at everything. I on the other hand, struggled to just complete my level 10 piano examination – the only thing I really pursued outside of my high school studies.

During my high school years I become extremely close to my older brother. We would go on dates together and loved conversing with each other. He was my closest friend. Shortly after he graduated, he began pursuing another friend in a serious relationship. My friendship with him was seriously stretched and torn during this time as I had to let go. It was as if God was tearing down my security once again. I was blessed with a prayer partner friend during this time, which I am so thankful for. We would pray together for the nations, each other, and whatever God laid on our hearts.

The summer after graduation, I went to Cambodia to serve for two months with a ministry called Warm Blankets. It was the most challenging period of my life. I went to a poverty stricken nation, by myself, and I had never met anyone there before. I desperately missed my family and often felt helpless and not needed. I spent many hours in my room just crying out to God asking him for purpose and direction for my life. I discovered that He ALONE can and must be my True Satisfaction. No one…nothing else…no other accomplishment…or value…or purpose…can be found apart from Him. I had to cling to the Lord during this intense season of pruning when it was only me and God.

I returned home to find a young man waiting for me. A young man who loved me. A young man that was devoted to me, despite my intense withdraws. He pursued me. Over the next two years, this young man (soon to be my dearly beloved husband) pursued me while I committed myself to serving the Lord. I passionately wanted to please my Lord and use my life as a blessing and gift to others. I had seen the poverty of the world and the needy hearts around me. I led a young ladies Bibles study for a whole year and we served amongst the needy in our community together. I took the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class with my dad and became and active member in promoting this class and how it changed my perspective on God’s plan for the nations.

I returned to Cambodia with a team of people from my church and my heart was again actively stirred with a love for orphans. I wanted to sponsor a home and see these children raised to change their nation. I still struggled with my appearance and comparing myself with my sisters, but my heart passionately wanted to make my life count for eternity. I attended college for a short season and strove again to prove my abilities, and once again I had to lay aside my pride in trying to prove myself. God closed the doors. And Aaron asked me to marry him. I never got my GED or degree. God has something far greater for me. The privilege of being a wife and mother. The world does not see that. I gave up a potential career in music to dedicate my life to my family.

Together as a married couple, we strove to encourage and motivate our church in missions. We served together on a team to Russia, and led a small missions group in our church. I began my blog shortly after the birth of our first child, a ministry that I never would have imagined. It began as simple as a blog to share about our family and what God was teaching me, and it grew to a huge ministry to ladies around the world. To God be the glory. And I praise Him because all the profits earned have been dedicated to sponsor a home in Cambodia—my heart’s dream is coming true.

After our second child is born, I went through a year of battling insomnia, another dark season in my soul, but God has surely used it to weed out other idols in my heart—idols of sleep, ingratitude, expectations in my marriage, blog, etc. God is continuing to prune, but He is also continuing to be faithful to me. In the last year, God has also completely delivered me from my sinful comparing myself. My sisters have become my closest friends. Christa is my accountability and prayer partner now and one of the sweetest gifts to me. I am a sinner saved by grace. I want to be a faithful follower of Christ. I want my life to count for eternity. I want others to see the joy and delight I have found in Christ and see them set free from the lost state of striving to please others, receive acknowledgment and success from what the world thinks of them. I can testify that God is a good God! He loves you so much!

This is a guest post from Lindsay Edmonds, who is first a lover of Jesus, wife, mother of two, homemaker, doula, and writer. She is the editor of Passionate Homemaking since its beginning over three years ago. She loves inspiring women around the world toward simple, natural, and intentional living for the glory of God.

P.S. If you're interested in submitting a guest post testimony to be featured on Life Blessons, please visit the original post for details!

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Jo-Ann's Testimony: Finding Healing from Fears

The next guest post in my series of testimonies about God at work in everyday lives,
comes courtesy of fellow blogger Jo-Ann of simplification. Thanks for sharing, Jo-Ann!

“Before I could find my voice as a writer, I fought for my voice, period.
A voice is not a given; words don’t come easy. Both are worth fighting for.”

- Scott Hartman

Words are beautiful. I love words. They string together the little pieces of our lives and connect us with the hearts and minds of others we encounter upon our road of life. But there was a time when words didn't come easily for me. My voice was trapped inside a dark pit of gloomy despair and fear. I fought for my voice, period.

I was born into a wonderful Christian family. I don't think I could have had a more wonderful childhood. When I was two, we were joined by my only sibling, a brother. I loved being a big sister. A year later my mother went back into full-time work. My brother and I were cared for by a nanny during the day until my mother got home from work.

Shortly after my mother's return to work, I stopped talking. Not at home, there I was still a chatty toddler with an excellent vocabulary and expressive outbursts of joy and laughter. But in situations outside of home, I became extremely reserved and shy. I hated going out. I hated interacting with people. Social situations began to scare me. I developed an irrational fear of being left on my own and I became like velco to either one of my parents.

Over the following years, I was pretty much mute. I didn't speak to almost anyone outside of my immediate family. There were a few exceptions but not many. As traumatic an experience this was for me, my parents struggled deeply with my affliction. They urged me to talk, even just to say hello. I agonized with this, wanting to please my parents and wanting to be able to talk to people. But when the time came to open my mouth, fear would wrap its little tendrils around my heart and no words could come out. I feared even the possibility of someone hearing me when I could not speak to them in person and rarely uttered a sound in public.

In spite of this, I was a very happy child. I had friends, some that I spoke with and others that I didn't. When I was thirteen, we had friends who went overseas for two weeks and their children stayed with us. It was too long and too hard to be able not to talk at all and one day I just blurted something out and began to talk. They were shocked. From that moment, it became easier. There were lots of things that made it easier after a while but that was the breakthrough moment for me.

Since then, I found out that the medical explanation for this is called selective mutism. It's recognized as an anxiety disorder which occurs predominantly in the early childhood years. It's quite rare and there is no proven method of treatment.

I had always just assumed that I was the only one who had experienced this. But about a year ago, I saw a television documentary about selective mutism and as I watched it, I cried. I saw myself. The scared child who wanted so much to be able to speak freely but trapped in a hole that was too hard to dig themselves out of.

From the moment since my breakthrough, Jesus had already begun to heal me. But as those tears came, God bound up the wounds that still lay hidden in the deepest corners of my heart. The insecurities, the uncertainties, the fears, the hurts. It was like the last of the dirt was washed away from everything I had carried through the ordeal.

His healing brought purpose to my experiences. They did not define me, they were not meant to break me or be a dark shadow in my past. They were meant for good. For out of my once mute mouth, I speak of what God has done for me. It was worth the fight.

This is a guest post by Jo-Ann, who blogs at simplification. Jo-Ann is a newly graduated teacher who loves the big things in life and the small things even more. She enjoys walking her dog, finding a good book to bury her nose into, playing the ukulele and drinking tea out of lovely cups. She calls New Zealand home.

P.S. If you're interested in submitting a guest post testimony to be featured on Life Blessons, please visit the original post for details!

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Rhianna's Testimony: "Jesus wants to bless you today"

The next guest post in my series of testimonies about God at work in everyday lives, comes courtesy of fellow blogger Rhianna of Romeo: love, laugh, craft. Thanks for sharing, Rhianna!

One of the things I regret about my blog, is not discussing my faith, enough.  I always thought that someone’s faith/religion was a private matter, but I no longer believe that. I think that is one of the  problems with the world today, too many people for too long have kept their faith private.  I was very fortunate to grow up in a Christian home, with very loving, morally conscience parents, and where our faith was exercised daily. As an adult, I still live by everything that they taught  and raised me to believe, I just sometimes forget.
 

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.
Acts 16:31

A few weekends ago, on a Saturday evening I pulled up at a restaurant to pick up food that I ordered. When I was ready to leave, my car would not start.  It seemed that my battery was dead. I had to call for roadside assistance to jump my battery.

Later that night, when I got home,  I found that my laptop battery was dead.  My car battery and my laptop battery both died on the same day?! I thought to myself that maybe God is trying to teach me something or maybe this is just a coincidence? To some, these things may not seem like a big deal.  I try not to make things like this stress me or anything, but I really didn’t have the extra money at the time to pay for extra repairs or replacements.

The following day, my mother and I took my car to a mechanic shop. I was expecting to have to buy another car battery or something that would be a major expense.  The problem was that some wire got loose. That’s all.  The mechanic didn’t even charge me to look at my car.

I was not too worried about my computer battery, but I was not sure how much that would cost.  And this was not something that could wait. I depend on my laptop for my business. So I went and bought one. Buying this didn’t make me totally broke, but it was just an added expense that I certainly don’t need at the time. 

When I got home that night, I checked my mail. In my mail, was a card that said, “Jesus wants to bless you today,” and inside of it was a check for an amount that would cover my laptop battery. It was from one of my aunts. This was very much unexpected; people in my family don’t just casually write checks to one another. I called up my aunt to thank her, and she said, “Don’t thank me, thank God. He is the One who laid it my heart to do this.”

I was felt so relieved. Then I felt a little foolish for doubting that everything would be okay. I often hear that people usually picture God with the same characteristics as their parents (subconsciously). At that moment, I felt like God was saying to me, “Silly girl.”  That is often what my parents would say to me when I worry about something I don’t need to worry about. I felt as if God was saying that to me, “Silly girl, why do you worry? Don’t you know I have everything under control? I will take care of you and your needs.”

For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
Matthew 6:8

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Matthew 6:26

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Matthew 6:31-33

This is a guest post by Rhianna, who writes a personal little blog called Romeo: love, laugh, craft. In her spare time, she enjoys paintng, decorating, making jewelry, and reading magazines. Rhianna comes from a large Cajun family and resides in the colorful city of New Orleans.  

P.S. If you're interested in submitting a guest post testimony to be featured on Life Blessons, please visit the original post for details!

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Joye's Testimony: "Let Me Love You"

This is another guest post in the series of reader testimonies about how God has worked in their lives and lavished them with his love. Today's post is from Joye of The Joyeful Journey and speaks to one of our greatest struggles as women: insecurities.

"You are beautiful." Three little words every woman longs to hear and most struggle painfully to believe. I know my own heart has been at odds with this elusive phrase.

I've felt woefully insecure much more often than I've ever felt truly beautiful.  I tried to tell myself that maybe I really didn't need to be beautiful after all, maybe beauty wasn't really that important.  But I never could completely convince my heart of this.  And in all my conversations with my glorious Heavenly Father, I realized that beauty was important to Him as well.

Hovering as an artist over his easel, God composed a world of breathtaking and wondrous loveliness. And the crowning glory of his creation?  Man and woman. Men he spun from the clay of the earth; strong, virile, and dominant. Women he fashioned from the rib of man; relational, life-giving, and beautiful. Both are formed in His image, both reflect different aspects of the nature of God. But the world since those perfect days of creation has attempted to re-write the beauty that God designed.  Somewhere along the way, the definition became exclusive. And I didn't feel like I quite fit the bill.

I vividly remember a heart wrenching time in my life when I was bound by insecurities and I was desperate for God to help me see myself the way He saw me. I'll never forget what He whispered to my soul. His gentle plea was simply, "Let me love you."

I dared in that moment to ask him how. How was I to let him love me?  I thought I was already. His patient smile hinted that I had much to learn. There was more, so much more to His love than I could even begin to imagine. And He began to show me. In glimpses,  in little gifts, in time-stopping moments when I felt bathed in a love too sweet for words. Slowly, tenderly, steadily, He revealed to me my inability to love myself had been keeping me from receiving my husband's love as well as the love of my Heavenly Father.

God has done some major heart re-construction since that illuminating moment. All my ugliness was laid out before him and He didn't flinch. He didn't run away. He didn't leave me in the hopeless mess of shattered pieces that I believed myself to be in.

No, He simply changed my looking glass. 

I had been peering into the wrong mirror.  A dirty old cracked mirror the world had hung up in my room years and years ago.  A mirror riddled with lies that I had too easily accepted. He replaced it with His own—the mirror of His Word.

And this mirror says I'm beautiful. In a million different ways, God is reminding me that I captivate His heart.

"The king is enthralled by your beauty. Honor him for he is your lord."  ~ Psalm 45: 11

God is not a man that he should lie.  He's crazy about us.  He delights in us. The Bible tells us that "as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you." (Isaiah 62: 5) Wow. The God of the universe is head over heels in love with us!

Now, when I catch my reflection in His mirror, I find a woman washed in the love of a Savior, purchased by His very own life, accepted as His daughter, rejoiced over as His bride. 

I'm learning to let Him love me. To let Him write me love letters, send me flowers, bathe me in acceptance, sing songs of love over me. And everyday His love is surprising me.

This guest post is by Joye Dicharry, who writes the blog The Joyeful Journey. Joye is a woman who loves Jesus and is learning to let Him love her, too. She is passionate about making a home for her family while also making her heart God's home. She has about sixty children (her and her husband are youth pastors). She blogs at night when her five year old, twin two year olds, and eight month old baby are mostly sleeping. And sometimes she falls asleep and drools on her keyboard.

P.S. If you're interested in submitting a guest post testimony to be featured on Life Blessons, please visit the original post for details!

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Tamara's Testimony: "Taste and See"

This is another guest post in my series where readers share their own testimonies of how God has worked in their lives. Many thanks to Tamara from a.toodle.lee.do for sharing her story!

I grew up like any other good Pastor's daughter. My sunday school attendance was superb. Actually, at times I refer to my childhood as one long church service. I saw my parents' heartfelt devotion. I knew God existed, and I believed the Bible to be true. I never fully grasped the gospel and what it meant to me personally. There was to heart connection.

From the time I was nine till I turned thirteen, my life looked like your average preteen. I was a follower and I followed my older friends right at the heels. If they did it, I did it. I became very numb to my surroundings and even more so God. I wasn't even 13, and I did stuff I didn't understand with my teenage boyfriend, although, never fully engaging in intercourse. (Crazy... tell me about it.) I was dying on the inside as I struggled to keep it together on the outside.

If you ever want to know how to flip a preteen or teenager's life upside down: Move. Yes, moving will do just that. My parents ended up taking a position that allowed us to move. The move was very hard for me. Leaving my too-old-for-me boyfriend and bad influence, pot-smoking friends left me depressed, angry, and disgruntled.

My parents were on staff at a church as pastors and had met the youth pastor's wife. My mom and her hit it off. Soon after, my mom was forcing me to not only go to youth group but to the youth pastor's Bible study. Dragging my feet and arms folded across my chest, I went to Bible study. It just so happened that no one else decided to show up. It was me and the youth pastor's wife. She didn't know me. She knew my parents. She assumed that I was a wonderful Christian and would love nothing more than to have a prayer/worship time for two hours.

The first hour went creeping by as I thought of every possible excuse for her to bring me home. I felt so uncomfortable. I had my head in my lap and tried to sleep. All of a sudden, I was EXTREMELY awake. I kept trying to tune her out. I oddly couldn't. After awhile, I really started to listen as she prayed. She didn't know but she was praying things I'd been asking God about all my life, about things that have happened to me, so on and so on. She kept repeating this scripture, "Taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8), throughout the night.

Afterward, she drove me back home. The scripture kept playing over and over in my head. I went into my bedroom totally aware of God in my life and convicted of my sin, I prayed for forgiveness and asked God to come into my life. I never before understood the goodness of God. I had seen it though. But, never tasted it. That night I made a decision deep within my heart to pursue God. I knew I needed to apply that scripture to my life.

After that night, there was a major inward change. The outward change was progressive. But, I know that night changed my life for eternity.

This guest post is from Tamara who keeps up the lovely blog, a.toodle.lee.do. Tamara is freshly married to her husband Ted. They live in Philadelphia where Ted serves in the US Coast Guard. Tamara enjoys all things domestic, blogging, and sharing Christ to the random homeless person.

P.S. If you're interested in submitting a guest post testimony to be featured on Life Blessons, please visit the original post for details!

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Kate's Testimony: "Woman, you are forgiven."

  

This is the first guest post in a series I hope to continue where readers share their own testimonies of how God has worked in their lives. Many thanks to Kate from The Ingredient Detective for sharing her touching story!

I was brought up by faithful parents. I was taught to show reverence to God, to fear Him, and honour Him. 

When I was 16 I left my country home, and went to the city. Drunk on freedom and surrounded by new friends, I began to slip away from my parent’s world. I continued to go to church for a couple more years, but my heart was far, far from God.

During my late teens and early twenties, a series of dark and bitter experiences made me question everything I believed in. I found and lost love, ran away, had my heart broken, battled with depression, betrayal by a "friend", and at the tender age of 20, I buried my precious baby son.

In my grief, and utter despair, I wondered if God had ever existed? If He did, did He even care? I pictured Him, throwing His hands up in disgust, and leaving all of us sinful souls to our own devices. I gave up on God.

But He did not give up on me...

For a year after my baby, Isaac died, I struggled with my sorrow, my anger, and the never-ending questions, about why this had happened. (When I realised I was pregnant, I had promised to God that I would get my life together, and be a good mother, if He would only keep this child safe. But my baby was taken away from me anyway, so what was the use in trying to be good, I wondered? ) After a year of struggling through this, during (yet another!) dark and bitter experience, I suddenly understood that God had taken him away BECAUSE HE LOVED ME. And BECAUSE HE LOVED MY SON.

God took him away because He knew what my future held, knew what I was going to have to face.

And because He had a different plan for me.

When I saw all this clearly, despite my personal life being in utter chaos and confusion at the time, I knew that God surely did exist, and that He LOVED me, despite all of my mistakes, and all of my disbelieving.

And this was the very first step, in a long, long journey, back to God.

After a while, life seemed to settle down a bit. I was with a nice guy, I was working two jobs, and saving up for a deposit on a home. My boyfriend (now husband), was from Tonga, and he took me home to Tonga to visit his family for a couple of weeks.

I had never been outside Australia before, and I was not prepared for the poverty and the generosity of spirit that I found in Tonga.
 

I took a lot of presents and with me, thinking what a kind, generous person I was.

While we were there, we went to visit hubby’s uncle and his family. This family was dirt-poor. They lived in a tiny tin shack with no electricity, and no running water. The two youngest boys, were wearing their older sister's clothes, and they were torn and tattered.

They were cooking a dog over the hangi. I think the uncle's wife could tell I was feeling squeamish about eating dog, and before I had a chance to argue, she came out from the little shack with some coins, and sent one of the kids running to the corner shop to buy a tin of corned beef for me to eat.

I felt so ashamed and small, and I cried all the way home, thinking about that mother, who could have easily justified keeping the money to feed her own hungry children.

Tonga changed me. I’ve never been able to see the world the same, since. I came home, knowing that I was, indeed, blessed. Battle-scarred and world-weary, but still.....so very blessed.

We came back home to Australia, and decided to make a fresh start. We moved to a new town, where I knew no-one and had no job to go to, but it felt right. And it was right. Everything fell into place. We both got jobs. We bought a home, and we both went back to church. And then discovered that we had a baby on the way.

I often felt lonely during my pregnancy, with no family or friends nearby, and while sitting through church, Sunday after Sunday, I began to feel a yearning to have God in my life.

I had never felt this way before. In my youth, I considered myself a Christian, because it was the right thing to do, and I was scared that if I died, I would end up in hell. But now, I longed to feel God near me, and to know that He was with me, and with this precious life growing inside me.

I wondered how I could have Him in my life, after pushing Him away and ignoring Him for so long. I thought that maybe I could reach Him if I prayed, but it had been so long since I prayed, I didn't even know how to.

One night I was laying in my bed, and in desperation, I decided to try and reach out to God. I told Him all the things I was thankful for, every little thing I could think of, even the dark and dreadful experiences I had been through, because even though they broke my heart, they helped to mold me into the person I am now.

I did this every night, and after four or five nights, I started to feel something change. My heart, that was hard and bitter, started to become thankful and loving. I started to feel the presence of God come close to me. I cannot explain this, except to say, I just knew.

I had spent years wrestling with God, over who should control my life. I wanted to run my own life!!! And it had only brought me misery and pain.

In the end, I handed the reigns over to Him, gladly. I gave my life to God, but in the back of my mind, I was plagued with doubts, over whether I was really forgiven. Could he REALLY forgive a person like me?

I had made so many foolish mistakes, even though I had been brought up to know better. And not only that, but I had made the same mistakes over and over, and hurt people along the way.

One day, I was at home watching tv, and I just happened to flick over to the Australian Christian Channel. I started to listen to the preacher, and just before he finished, he said, "Somewhere out there, is a woman who's made some bad decisions, and she's wondering if she can be forgiven...Woman, you are forgiven."

I fell down on the floor, sobbing, because I knew it was for me.

It sounds crazy, but even before the man said it, I knew that he was about to say something for me. I just knew that God was about to tell me something.

That day, the weight of my past was lifted off me. I wanted to dance for joy, and sing it from the rooftops.

That God—awesome, almighty, all-knowing God—had forgiven me....

Yes, even me.

This guest post is from Kate of The Ingredient Detective. She says, "I'm a married mum of two small boys, living in Australia. Earlier this year, I began to feel that God had a calling on my life to raise awareness of health issues and fight for change, and after some reluctance on my part (because the task just seemed so enormous and overwhelming), I accepted the call and have since dedicated myself to teaching others about what is being put into our food and water supplies, beauty products, etc, and campaigning for change. I've been busy setting up a website (www.the-ingredient-detective.com), and studying to become a kinesiologist."

P.S. If you're interested in submitting a guest post testimony to be featured on Life Blessons, please visit the original post for details!

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Call for Guest Bloggers: Share Your Testimonies

I believe in the power of testimony.

When we share our testimony—putting to words the things that God hath done—it increases our faith. Both for the one sharing, who is reminded of how God has moved in their life, and for those listening, who are encouraged from this story to trust that God indeed hears our prayers and is at work today. These stories help us all as we look to the great unknown of the future and trust that the God who was—who touched and mended and saved lives yesterday—is the same God who is today and who is to come tomorrow. We can trust him with all that is yet to be.

But even more than that, sharing our testimonies gives God the glory, glory. We praise him when we recall these stories of deliverance and provision and perfect timing. It says in Revelation 12:11 that Satan is overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Something spiritual happens when we share these stories with one another.

Which is why I'd love to open this little spot up to you and invite you to share your stories, as a guest blogger for Life Blessons.  It doesn't have to be the typical "testimony" about how you became a Christian, but just specific times in your life that God has really made his presence known to you or how you've learned more about him through a specific experience. Stories about how God has encouraged you that you can then pass on to encourage us. (Want some personal examples from my life? Here's my story about God guiding to my move to Grand Rapids and some of our answered prayers.)

If you're interested in submitting a testimony or two from your own walk with Christ, please email me at lifeblessons [at] gmail.com. Include your story as well as a little bit about what you learned through this experience. Feel free to pull from old blog posts or journal entries. (Try to keep it between 400 and 700 words, please). Also, if you have a blog, I'm happy to link back, so make sure you also include that information, too.

I'm looking forward to reading your testimonies and making this blog a place where we can all grow from one another's experiences!

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