my story ...in a nutshell

I have recently come to a better understanding of this great salvation in Christ. This is truly where Christ can receive the glory. For many years, I believed I was a follower of Christ because I repeated a prayer after the prompting of my youth pastor the fall of 1993. I followed up with believer’s baptism where I attended a small Charismatic church in South Carolina. I was the daughter of a single mother. I had no ties or even an introduction to my father. I muddled through many years striving in my own flesh to grow and thrive in my relationship with Christ. I worshipped the “god” of my own making, my own- fashioned god who was distant and waiting for me to “just get it right.’ I had little understanding of the True God and His love for me. This continued even until college in 1997, where the Lord began to grip my heart. I attended the Baptist Student Union, and began regularly visiting a large independent Baptist church. It was there that the Lord marked a difference in my spirit. I began to seek Him and strive to love Him. Still, though, I had much-needed healing to take place in the wounds from my past. Four years later, I graduated and met my husband, Brad, in 2001. The last decade of sanctification has been life-changing. He has grown my understanding of my true need for a Savior. Jesus began the work of showing me my desperately wicked heart, and my desperate need of His redeeming grace. He has healed my heart. He continues to redeem my sin, and perfect the work of causing me to love Him and others. Sometimes, I wish for a perfectly-packaged testimony. I never walked an aisle following a riveting sermon, but I know that by grace I’m saved. It is a gift, and not of myself, that I may not boast. He’s currently teaching me how to walk in the fullness of his Spirit, and to truly live by faith, without which it is impossible to please Him. I ask that He grants me faith, repentance and love daily.