Someone asked about my testimoney awhile back, so I thought I'd go ahead and post it. Mine isn't one that is very exciting, as I've had a fairly uneventful life.
I grew up in an atheist/agnostic home. I was always told I could believe whatever I wanted, but I noticed that if I deviated away from my parents beliefs, it didn't go very well. As a child, I went to church functions with my friends once in awhile, but felt awkward. I didn't know much about the Bible, God, or Christianity, just what my parents told me, which wasn't much.
By the time I got to high school, I was more interested in spirituality. I got into learning about Wicca and other general Pagan interests. That really got my parents angry, and I was pretty much forbidden to have anything to do with it (I thought that was a bit odd coming from non-Christian parents). Anyway, that interest, like so many when you're a teenager, eventually died out, thankfully.
I wasn't too much of a bad teenager, though I did rebel, as a lot of teens do. I drank and went through a short period of being promiscuous, which I regreted later even before becoming a Christian. In college, I had recently been dumped by my high school boyfriend when I met my future husband (we've been married now for 4 1/2 years) on a blind date. My first impression of him was that he was good-looking and very funny. He kept me laughing most of the night. I later found out he was a preacher's son. I couldn't imagine it, me with a preacher's son. I'd never really had any interest in Christianity, and now here I was with someone from a Christian family. It didn't really become an issue until we got engaged.
His father pretty much threw a fit about me not being saved. And to make a long story short, I went ahead and went along with the "sinner's prayer" not really knowing what it meant. It makes me sad that rather than it being something God lead me to, it was something I was bullied into. I realized later that the prayer I'd prayed didn't mean anything since I hadn't really understood what I was doing. But looking back, I believe a seed was planted...
Fast forward about 4 years or so. A friend of mine was a Christian and was always talking about the Left Behind books. I'd always seen them in the bookstores, but never gave them much thought. She talked about them so much though, that I decided to give the first one a try. That book really got me thinking (though I don't totally agree with all of it's theology at times)...I had a couple of Bibles that I had received as gifts, so I dug one of them out and started reading. Before long, I couldn't seem to get enough, but was having a somewhat hard time understanding what I was reading. So I bought a study guide to help me along. I started with Genesis, and finished the entire Bible about a year later.
I asked God for forgiveness and admitted my sinfulness that summer. Life was looking really good, except for the fact that my marriage wasn't going too well. My husband, who had been a Christian since childhood, had fallen away from God, and while he was happy for me, he wasn't really interested. We were fighting a lot a lot during that time. Things in that department were pretty rough.
By that winter, I was really growing in my faith. I was praying for my husband and my marriage most of all. In December, though, I was truly tested, and I think if I hadn't been a Christian by that time, things would have been a lot harder. My husband told me some things that left me absolutely devastated, and the next year of our life together was a roller coaster. So many times we thought we wouldn't stay together. But we're still here, by the grace of God.
I went through a phase where I thought God didn't care about me. Why would he let me go through something so horrible as I was in marriage just when I'd finally come to him? But then I realized that's precisely why he moved my husband to confess to me. If he had told me sooner, I wouldn't be where I am now.
I still struggle sometimes, and my marriage is still a far ways from being great, but my relationship with God continues to grow day by day.
I grew up in an atheist/agnostic home. I was always told I could believe whatever I wanted, but I noticed that if I deviated away from my parents beliefs, it didn't go very well. As a child, I went to church functions with my friends once in awhile, but felt awkward. I didn't know much about the Bible, God, or Christianity, just what my parents told me, which wasn't much.
By the time I got to high school, I was more interested in spirituality. I got into learning about Wicca and other general Pagan interests. That really got my parents angry, and I was pretty much forbidden to have anything to do with it (I thought that was a bit odd coming from non-Christian parents). Anyway, that interest, like so many when you're a teenager, eventually died out, thankfully.
I wasn't too much of a bad teenager, though I did rebel, as a lot of teens do. I drank and went through a short period of being promiscuous, which I regreted later even before becoming a Christian. In college, I had recently been dumped by my high school boyfriend when I met my future husband (we've been married now for 4 1/2 years) on a blind date. My first impression of him was that he was good-looking and very funny. He kept me laughing most of the night. I later found out he was a preacher's son. I couldn't imagine it, me with a preacher's son. I'd never really had any interest in Christianity, and now here I was with someone from a Christian family. It didn't really become an issue until we got engaged.
His father pretty much threw a fit about me not being saved. And to make a long story short, I went ahead and went along with the "sinner's prayer" not really knowing what it meant. It makes me sad that rather than it being something God lead me to, it was something I was bullied into. I realized later that the prayer I'd prayed didn't mean anything since I hadn't really understood what I was doing. But looking back, I believe a seed was planted...
Fast forward about 4 years or so. A friend of mine was a Christian and was always talking about the Left Behind books. I'd always seen them in the bookstores, but never gave them much thought. She talked about them so much though, that I decided to give the first one a try. That book really got me thinking (though I don't totally agree with all of it's theology at times)...I had a couple of Bibles that I had received as gifts, so I dug one of them out and started reading. Before long, I couldn't seem to get enough, but was having a somewhat hard time understanding what I was reading. So I bought a study guide to help me along. I started with Genesis, and finished the entire Bible about a year later.
I asked God for forgiveness and admitted my sinfulness that summer. Life was looking really good, except for the fact that my marriage wasn't going too well. My husband, who had been a Christian since childhood, had fallen away from God, and while he was happy for me, he wasn't really interested. We were fighting a lot a lot during that time. Things in that department were pretty rough.
By that winter, I was really growing in my faith. I was praying for my husband and my marriage most of all. In December, though, I was truly tested, and I think if I hadn't been a Christian by that time, things would have been a lot harder. My husband told me some things that left me absolutely devastated, and the next year of our life together was a roller coaster. So many times we thought we wouldn't stay together. But we're still here, by the grace of God.
I went through a phase where I thought God didn't care about me. Why would he let me go through something so horrible as I was in marriage just when I'd finally come to him? But then I realized that's precisely why he moved my husband to confess to me. If he had told me sooner, I wouldn't be where I am now.
I still struggle sometimes, and my marriage is still a far ways from being great, but my relationship with God continues to grow day by day.
