from our hearts to the magic of the postal service....

The applications for school are in the post.
It's in His hands. It's in His hands. It's in His hands.
That is my mantra and my petition to Him is,"Lord I want to leave this with you. Thy will be done."
As part of the application process, we had to submit our testimony individually. I am so lazy that before I sat down and prayed about it, I had planned on just printing my newest old one from when I was getting baptized. Can you believe I could not find the file anywhere? I actually got kind of indignant about it too. I am such a brat. I don't know why God puts up with me for one red minute. Anyway, as it always goes, ALWAYS, I was blessed by having to rewrite it for the application. I guess God still knows what He is doing. But I still think it was a little bit stinky to hide that file. JUST KIDDING folks!
Anyway, here it is. I literally felt compelled to blog it. I think it is not just my own need for seeing my words published. I sure hope not. Maybe someone will be blessed by the posting. All glory to Him.

I accepted Christ as my savior when I was seven, as a camper at Kanakomo Camp for Girls. I was so excited and my family was supportive and committed to shepherding my walk with the Lord as a child and a young adult. My father died when I was thirteen. In that loss at such a vulnerable age, coupled with teenage angst, I allowed for a wedge to be created between myself and God. I was in boarding school and that only eased my ability to look outside of the family fold for ‘guidance’ and comfort. While I fed my intellect, I starved my spirit. In my anger and resentment I distanced myself from God for many years.

When Jimmy and I became pregnant, my desire to know the Lord was undeniable and by His mercy, despite my best efforts, I had not snuffed out the light that had been given so freely to me twenty years before. After many hours on my knees, I recommitted my life to the Lord and when I opened that door, there He was, just as He promises in His word. I was truly born again. I do not believe that my salvation had been in jeopardy during those prodigal years of my life. I believe in the assurance of salvation as promised in the New Testament, especially in 2 Timothy 2:11-13:
“Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we also live with him;
If we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
if we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.”

In April of 2004 I was baptized. I was so excited to proclaim my belief and commitment in a public act of obedience to Him. While our family has faced many trials in the last two and a half years, we have been blessed by experiencing so many of the promises found in His word, particularly the comfort and joy written of in Romans 8:15-17:
“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 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.”

What a blessing to consider again what He has done for me and for my family!

"Many are the plans in a man's heart,
but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."
Proverbs 19:21