They are always talking in church about testimonies (how you came to Jesus, or how asking him into your life changed the way you were) Most of them are people who were involved w/the bad crowd, drugs, alcohol, etc & coming to Jesus got them out of the trouble they were in, but mine's not really like that. I was "saved" summer of 96' but quickly fell out of church cuz i was just a needle in a big field of hay (huge church) & went to church w/dh's family( i was the wallflower) We somehow found our way to sil's church about 7 years ago & we liked it...knew some of the people & all, but still didn't really go regularly. After we joined the church, i was invited to help teach VBS & LOVED it so much, it's the only thing I've done regularly in the 7 or so years we've been going. Even if I hadn't stepped in the doorway since the last day of VBS the year before, I was right back in there for the next summer. Well, my 11 yr old neice got to a point in her Awana book where she needed to bring a friend. (Awana is like kids bible study, 2 hrs long, sunday nites) SO neice took Katie, Katie fell in love & raved about it to her brother, & since they didn't know Nick well enough to just drop him off, I stayed too. We got involved & within 2 weeks, Katie came to Jesus. She heard a story in there one night about 2 boys who did everything together, except one accepted Jesus into his heart & the other didn't...& then they died. She started asking questions & asked Jesus into her heart. Then I started to see the changes church was having in her life & I was convicted. It was like I wanted what she was feeling & the changes He was making in her, so I joined a bible study. I became a true Christian soon after...we began going to church every Sunday night...it wasn't long before we led dh (who had grown up in the church but left due to the infighting) back into church again.

Now we are all very happy when we are at church. We attend Sunday school & worship EVERY sunday, during the school year we have Awana every sun nite & katie has Girls in Action every wed nite & dh has choir practice. Nick & I accompany them too so we can listen or play in the gym. SO we are at church every sunday morning & evening & wed nites.

I was just wondering if anyone had a good testimony. I thought my was crappy until I wrote it all out & saw it wasn't really that bad. All I need now is to end it w/that scripture that says "a child shall lead them into the gates of heaven"

Here's Melanie's:

I've shared it before, but its been awhile. Sorry, its gonna be long.

I had a horrible childhood. My mom and dad divorce when I was about 2 years old and it didnt take my mom very long to go from a caring mother to a neglectful and abusive mother. She started doing drugs when I was very little. She met my sister's dad when I was 4 years old. We moved to Whittier, CA and were living in an apartment complex. Occasionally, my mom would leave me to a teen sitter while she took care of business and one day (at the age of 4) I was raped by my sitter's brother. I also watched as the another brother raped my friend (also 4 years old) at the same time it was happening to me. A couple of months later I was shot in the leg by my sister's dad (I was still 4). I got older and my mom got more into drugs. eventually she was completely hooked on everything - including heroin and coke. She didnt work and was raising un on welfare so in order to get her fix she began selling drugs and prostituting herself in exchange for drugs. At the time (I was about 12) we lived in a studio apartment in the ghetto of Los Angeles. My mom would bring her "Johns" and have sex with my sister and I in the same room. When I would get up (I slept on the hard tile floor) to sleep in the bathroom (the ONLY room with a door) my mom would cuss my out really bad. My mom began leaving me to care solely for my sister when I was about 8 years old. I was my sister's mother. I did everything a mom does for their child and I was still a child myself. My mom would abandon us for days at a time without any word when she was coming home, where she was going...nothing. Most of the time we didnt have any food so it was up to ME to find ways to feed my sister and myself. Finally, we were homeless and living in a battered womens shelter (another long story) and my mom abandoned us at the shelter. It was one week before Christmas. Thankfully, I had an aunt and uncle that took my sister and I in.

Fast forward a few years. My mom got clean, won us back into her custody, and we tried all over again to be a family. The problem: I was very bitter and angry and confused about her actions. I didnt want anything to do with God because I couldnt understand how a "loving" God could actually allow so much to happen to a small child over the course of so many years. My friends were all saved...but I didnt want anything to do with it. I met my dh when I was 16. We began attending church just after my 19th birthday to appease his mother (who I lived with). We were going for about 2 months, and I finally gave my life to Christ because I could no longer resist the pull He had on my heart.

Now, I am saved, sanctified, filled with the Holy Ghost, bible believing Christian. I am walking in the calling that God has on my life too. God has used me to counsel, encourage, and pray for ladies that have been in abusive situations similar to mine. I know why God let me go through my childhood - it was because he wanted to use me to minister and encourage others that have been through the same type of thing.
God is awesome!

ps: I SHORTENED my testimony because of the length it already is. I have much more to share...perhaps another time.

Here's Melanie's answer to how her sister is doing:
She is doing very well. She's just got married in December to her boyfriend that she had been dating for nearly 10 years. She works full-time and goes to school full-time. She has only a couple more classes to complete before she gets her AA, and will be transferring to a university to finish school and get her higher degree. I think she's going into phorensics.

She's happy. She's looking for a church currently to attend soon too. She's been away from God for about 10 years now but is finally ready to go back and her dh (a cradle catholic) is seriously considering the option to convert to Christianity soo too.

As far as things with my mom...fortunately, for her...I got the majority of the crud growing up from my mother. My sister rebelled as a teen...got into drugs, gangs, and got pregnant by a gang member when she was 16. She got through it, cleaned her life up, and got serious about what she wanted to do with her life as has been doing it ever since. She doesnt like certain attributes my mother STILL has - like her addictive personality, her abusive tendencies and such...and chooses to have a distant relationship with her like I do. OTOH, my sister and I are very close.

Momof1Jax's post:

I'm not sure if this is the kind of story you're looking for but here it goes. Raised in church and am a believer since very young.

I was at a point in my life where my dierection was unclear. I had been hurt in a car accident and lost my favorite job ever b/c of the injuries. I had been struggling with purpose for some time but I went to see a friend and had quite the profound experience along the way.

It was raining pretty heavily and just let up as I was exiting the interstate. I saw a huge splash in a retention pond and thought man that was big egret. I thought about it and decided to check it out and found a truck sinking driver side first. I pulled over and jumped in the water to see a man almost submerged holding his child's carseat with the baby in it above the water. He managaed to get the window down and I told him it would be ok now and we'd get them out. We managed to get the baby and I turn around and 3 others had stopped to assist. A gentleman helped get him out as I took the baby to shore and the gentleman's wife called for help. The truck was lost but the lives were saved.

I stayed to give a report to the police and am glad I did b/c the first thing the officer said was "taking that corner too fast huh? and I said, " No , see that unlevel spot in the pavement, it holds water and it caused him to hydroplane out of control." I didn't think the man needed anymore grief. I held his baby while the police wrote the reports adn he asked several times if he and his wife could have me over for dinner and I respectfully declined. This day I gained so much from helping him how could I ask for anymore. To him I must have looked like an angel but for me it renewed my sense of purpose b/c at that moment in time I was someone's blessing.

Just as I was, I had purpose and meaning, that day I made a real difference. That day I knew there was more for me to accomplish and that God had used me in his plan.

Thanks ladies for sharing! I'd love to hear more!

Melanie--Glad to hear you & your sister came out of your horrible childhood w/the Lord standing firmly by your side! Hopefully your mom will find Him too before it's too late!

I just love listening too and reading peoples testimonys. keep them coming. you all give me such hope reading yours

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IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT CAN MATCH THE HEIGHTS OF A MOTHERS-LOVE...

IT'S THE DEPTHS OF A MOTHERS GUILT!!!

I just want to thank God for saving my soul, filling me with His sweet Holy Ghost and for my family and their health. He gives us so many blessings and we can't thank Him enough for all of them!
He healed me of crippling arthuritis(sp?), the dr's. told my mom that I would be in a wheelchair but the time I was 18 and by the time I was 15/16 it was looking like they were right..........until God healed me! I am now 34 yrs old and I can walk, run, jog.....just so thankful for his healing power.
They said I couldn't have kids.........I have 3 precious boys.
I could be here all day posting what God has done for my family. My oldest ds when he was around 5 he was climbing up on the back of my bil's truck and my youngest was heading there and my niece was getting ready to climb up there. When my mil hollered at them to get down two of them moved in time but my oldest son was just getting off the tail gate and had a hold of the bumper......the truck came out of gear and my son held on as long as he could. Needless to say he told his dad that the tire hit him. If he hadn't let go when he did he would have been stuck between the bumper and a bank. My mil grabbed him after the truck went over him and was carring him accross the yard and my hubby ran out and he said that when he grabbed him from his mom that his little head was swelling fast. They just went to praying and they called me. But before I could get home his head stopped swelling and was back to normal and he was sittin on hubbys lab. He was still scared but he was alive and ok. I know that it was God's healing power that saved and protected him.
When I was preg with my third son, they heard the heartbeat at one visit and the next one they didn't.....I know God interviened there also.
My hubby runs a dozer, cuts timber ect. for a living. They had just got the cages around the dozer and within a month my hubby was building roads thru the woods when he back up it up and the hill gave way........when he came to himself the dozer was above him and he was on the ground below it. He was unhurt........and the dozer rolled at least 3 to 4 times.
Hubby was cutting wood years ago and the saw came back at his face and he put his hand up to save his face and it hit his wedding ring (they are home made from sterling silver pipes) Needless to say it cut down his ring finger, hit the ring and tore the palm of his hand. He never went to the dr and he never lost his hand or finger. God is just so merciful. I know I can go on and on about things God has done in my life. I am just so thankful for his many wonderful blessing, healings everything that God does is wonderful! I am just so thankful that all those years ago he chose me and I answered to his call!

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When Jesus returns, will you be ready???

Ladies, I am SO encouraged by your testimonies! God is SO good and I can't help but praise Him for who He is and what He does every day.

Here is my testimony:
I grew up in a Christian home. My parents always took my sister and I to church. I invited Christ to be my Savior at the age of 5. Even though I was young, I tried to be a fervent witness, especially to my lost family members. As I grew to be a teenager, my dad became busy with his work. I requested time from him, but he was always busy. I quickly reached 16 years of age, in which I started dating a guy, whom I would later find out was totally wrong for me. This boyfriend gave me the time and attention that I craved. We started having sex when I was 16, up until I was 19 years old. We were still dating when I was a freshman at a Christian college. Over Christmas break, I realized that I hadn't had my period for almost 3 months. I couldn't bear to tell anyone and I didn't know what to do. I just knew that I was pregnant. At the college of which I attended, that was definitely grounds for dismissal. I finally got the nerve to tell a friend at college. By God's grace alone, I found out that I was not pregnant, but rather it was a UTI. I broke it off with the boyfriend and have not seen him since. (this was 8 years ago) I began praying specifically for a man that was chosen by God to be my future mate. Not even a year later, God gave me the man that would be my future mate and we have been married for 4 years now. God has used my past to be able to speak to young girls about the forgiveness and grace of God. I do not blame my dad for the choices that I personally made. God has used the bad in my life to be able to minister and help others. In fact, my husband is currently the General manager of a Chick-fil-a here in Jacksonville, Florida, and desires to own and operate one of his own. I currently work at Chick-fil-a 3 nights a week and I work with teenagers. It's just awesome to be able to be an example and a help to them. I've found that sometimes you have to lose everything that you have to find that Christ is all you really need!

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"When God is all you have, you'll find He is all you need."

*Stephanie*

Thanks for more inspiration ladies!