My Testimony

Please as you read this, ignore the lack of punctuation and any misspellings........

Several years ago, in 1981, some people from a Baptist Church came by our home to ask if our children could go to children's church every Sunday on the church bus. So we agreed, we at the time were not attending any church and my husband figured why not, this would be a good babysitter. Sounds terrible doesn't it? But...our lives were out of control, we didn't know Christ and weren't seeking Him either, we didn't even know we needed Him.

So time went on, and Father's Day was coming up that June. This church was encouraging the kids to get their Father to come to church so they would get a prize. So each week they would ask and each week he would say no. So finally I told them not to worry about it, that we would be there.

Father's Day rolls around and I get the kids ready, then went to our room and took my husband's suit out of the closet, placing it on the bed. I then told him it was time to get up because we were going to church. At the time we had been married only two years and we were about ready to get a divorce, so he laid there ignoring me. During this time in our life, I would go outside at night after everyone was asleep and pray and cry, I knew I was not right with God, I also knew He wasn't hearing my prayers, I felt as if they were bouncing off of heaven.

Anyway back to that Sunday morning in June. I again told my husband Chuck to get up and this time I let him know if he didn't get up our marriage was over. We were both miserable and I just told him that I couldn't live like we were living anymore and if we didn't do something to change, then there was no use trying anymore. So...he got up and got ready and said later that he was ready to go, but when he did it would be on his terms, not on mine.

So we all get in the car, the kids are excited, when their dad pulls into the first little Baptist church he sees. We all tell him, this is not the church, but he tells us we wanted to go to church and so this was where we were going. He said later it had about four or five cars and was small so he felt it was safe.

So we go inside and the kids still got a prize for coming and bringing their dad on Father's Day. We sat way back in the back and the church had maybe fifteen people in it and a third of them were the Pastors family. After the service, they had the invitation and I was under heavy conviction, but didn't go forward and neither did my husband. Then they passed the offering plate and I filled out a little card for visitors and on the back it asked if you would like a visit fromt the Pastor. I checked yes and put it in the plate.

So we left church that day and went home, put on cut off blue jeans and headed for the lake. We were all swimming and playing around, when I felt a light shining through the trees above us. I looked up and started to cry. My husband swam over and asked me what was wrong and I told him, if I died today, I knew I would split hell wide open. I said I have no doubt God would turn His face from me. So he said let's go home and we got in the car and left.

Upon arriving home, we were not there five minutes, still in our wet clothes when someone knocked on the door. I went to the door and opened it, and there stood the Pastor. I said to him, wait a minute and shut the door real fast.

In the past when someone came to our house to share Christ, my husband always ran them off. One particular night three guys came to the door and knocked. Chuck answered and they asked if they could come in and talk to us about Christ. He said to them...why? They said well can we ask you a question, He said...ask. So they said, If you died today, do you know if you would go to heaven or hell and he replied...no and neither do you, He continued to say...I have eternal life here on earth, God doesn't want me and the Devil doesn't want the competition. So needless to say, they had heard enough and left.

Anyway, back to the Pastor being at the door. I had to prepare my husband for who was at the door so he wouldn't run the Pastor off. I went to him and let him know I had checked the card and asked this Pastor to come by and He was at the door right then. So he told me to go ahead and let him come in. So back to the door I go and invited him inside. He asked if we could sit at the table so we did.

He began to share with us the gospel and tears began to stream down my husband's face, so I started crying too. He asked if we wanted to pray and we both said yes, and that day both he and I accepted Christ as our Savior. We cried for months after that, we studied our bibles and we attended church. We have grown tremendously since then, we have seen our daughter healed and God has continued to show himself to us in many ways. I am thankful for that day because we have never been the same.