Jenn F.: My Story (the Past, the Present, and the Future)

Jenn F. grew up in the same faith-healing church that I attended.  In her own words, here is her Salvation story.  It is beautiful and powerful.
 
The summer I was 15 years, my older sister, who worked for my dad, came home from work and told my dad she didn't think she would be able to go back to work the next day, as she wasn't feeling well.  Within a few days of her saying that, I was in the bedroom we shared and she was laying on the bed in a coma. I didn't know that she was in a coma, but I knew that every time I squeezed her hand hard, she wouldn't even flinch. I remember that I kept squeezing her hand hard (the type that would make you jump back and pull your hand away if someone did it to you), but it was like she couldn't feel it. I kept squeezing it, because I wanted her to move. I wanted to see her move, because I knew that would raise my spirit. I was hoping she would at least pull her hand away in pain, so that I knew she was ok. I remember that it was me, my mom and my sister in the room. All of the sudden, my sister who had just been laying there, sat up. I remember my mom saying, "Jenny, go get your dad." But I couldn't. It was like time stood still for me for the moment. Next thing I remember, she crawled down to the end of the bed and sat there for a moment, not saying anything. Then her head jerked to the right, as her eyes went to the corner of the room. Suddenly, after being motionless, she stood up, still looking in the corner, and in one motion, she threw both her arms into the air as her face took on a glow that I've never seen before or since, and then she collapsed back onto the bed.  At that point, I knew I had seen her spirit leave her body. And my older sister no longer lived.

My testimony is that, the summer following my sister's death, I was sitting in the bedroom that we had shared together. And I got to thinking about my sister. I wasn't mad that she was dead. It wasn't anything like that. I just got to thinking about her. I think I might have been looking at a music sheet that she had bought. I got to thinking about her life, and what I had seen in the last few seconds of her life. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she saw Jesus in the corner of the room and that she was ready to meet Him, and in fact, welcomed Him. Suddenly, there was a voice within me that said, "If that had been you last year, would you have gone to heaven?" I remember thinking about that question within me, and knowing the answer. No. I knew that if it had been me, I would not have gone to heaven. I had been baptized just a few years prior, but that day reality hit me that I hadn't actually made the choice to sincerely ask Jesus to forgive me of my sins. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I got down on my knees in my bedroom in front of the desk that I had been sitting at, and I poured out myself before the mercy of the Lord.

Since that day, I haven't always walked with God, but I do know that I made the decision on that day. That, despite my thinking that if I did enough good things to outweigh the bad things that I would still get to heaven, God has since showed me that it is only HE who can save us. It's nothing we can do to earn it, but we do have a decision, a choice to make to actually ask Him to forgive us and to take control of our lives.

We don't all have the same testimony, but we all have a testimony of some kind. It is the power of God in us. It is our duty to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone. I share my testimony with you in an effort to tell you that someday, every one of us will die. We don't just die when we're grandfathers or grandmothers. We don't just die when we're mothers or fathers. Sometimes we die when we're young, the age that we're at now. But if sins are not forgiven by Jesus Christ, death will be met with hell. Contrary to popular belief that you'll just join up with your friends in hell and party on, the Bible says that hell is a place of solitude and torment. Yes, you will hear your friends, but you will hear your friends screaming in torment. You will hear them, but you won't see them, because it will be utter darkness. Alone. Forever.

In the Bible, the book of Joel gives us a word (an instruction) from God about this. Joel 1:3: "Tell your children about it, let your children tell their children, and their children another generation." We've got a duty to tell the next generation the Truth, the gospel of Jesus Christ. The reason He came. The reason He died. The reason He rose again and is still living. The reason He is coming back someday. We're seeing Joel 2:28-29; "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on my menservants and on my maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days." We're not just hoping for Joel 2:28-29, WE ARE LIVING Joel 2:28-29! And we're preaching Joel 2:32/Acts 2:21, Acts 2:36, Acts 2:38-39, and Joel 1:3:


- And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
- Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.
- Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.
- Tell your children about it, let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.

If it's not Jesus Christ, it's some other way; and if it's some other way, it's not going to work. John 14:16, (Jesus said) "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father except through me."

Susan

One of my blogging buddies, Matt, has a pretty unique blog, where he writes about controversial topics such as abortion, church structure, and what Christianity should really look like.  I found Susan's story through his blog, and she was gracious enough to let me share it here.
 
My childhood was stressful. I had little emotional support and years of verbal abuse. By the time my teen years rolled around I was angry and hurting. I just wanted someone to love me, encourage me, hold me and assure me that everything would be OK .

I was attractive and began to find my worth in looks alone. I’m sure that you can imagine where that led. I quit school, ran away from home, moved in with various friends, and even hitchhiked around the U.S. I wanted to get as far away as I could because anywhere was better than home. I was rough around the edges and oh so guarded.

At the age of eighteen I got pregnant. My boyfriend of only a few months and I moved in together. His patience and kindness slowly began to wash away the bitterness and life was good. We got to know each other and realized that we were becoming one. We were in love and wanted to get married.

Having a baby completely changed my life. I fell in love with someone new! A beautiful little girl named Danielle. When she was 6 months old another wonderful thing happened. I met Jesus Christ. I had no religious background so it was a true leap of faith; somehow I knew that Christ was indeed the answer.

I began to attend a church in the area. The congregation seemed to embrace me, at least for a little while. Until I learned that it wasn't OK to marry Danielle's dad because he wasn't saved. I had never attended church before and couldn't understand the big fuss about marrying my baby's daddy. Wasn’t it the right thing to do? I wanted to please Jesus. My desire was to get my life straightened out and do things His way.

The assistant pastor told us in no uncertain terms that we were unequally yoked and shouldn't be married. John loved me and was willing to meet with the leaders to try to work things out. What happened that night was quite unexpected. Our meeting turned from loving to forceful. John had to commit his life to Christ immediately if we wanted to be in the church.

Our minds were reeling. Now, living together was sinful AND getting married was sinful! Was this actually what my new friend who died for me wanted?

I decided to step away from church to get married. I could feel the eyes of my "new-family" glaring at me as I walked through town. I felt sick inside. I started shopping in other towns for fear of seeing someone from church.

John was Catholic so we decided to see if the local priest would meet with us. He was funny and kind and encouraged us to commit ourselves to each other in front of both God and our family. We even took the required premarital classes and enjoyed them! After the ceremony we scooped up our precious thirteen month old daughter and the three of us walked down the isle. I was flooded with a strange peace that I figured was the kind that "passes all understanding."

In April my husband and I will celebrate 28 years of marriage. He did accept Christ four years after we got married, but not because he was forced. He was loved. It took me years to heal from that wound but I did heal. And only because I learned to keep my eyes on Jesus.

New location, new look, new blog!

I've moved my blog.  Slightly.  It will now be easier for me to manage, which is half the trick in blogging.  :)

So much for new years resolutions...

Really. It's almost February and I haven't blogged since I posted my NY Resolution to post 2x a week. So that's out of the way...

Now, I am going to make a couple of changes to the blog. I hate the focus right now, and I'm way too busy with school to write about the things keeping me busy, the way I have in the past. Lately I have really struggled with the question of whether or not to continue blogging. Last night, while talking to God about it, I had some divine inspiration.

For about five or six years, I have had this idea that I would like to collect people's salvation stories and get them published in a book. I think this blog is a perfect way to begin. However, I cannot do this without YOUR participation. What I am asking you to do is click here and send me your personal story of salvation. Some questions to consider:

How long have you been saved?
Who led you to Christ?
What was life like before you accepted salvation?
Was there a final straw in my life that prompted you to seek answers in the church?

In the subject line of your email, put MY SALVATION.

I look forward to reading your submissions.