A Testimony of God's Grace

The beauty and intricacy of God’s creation has always captivated me. Even as a very young child I began to see the “bigness” – the awesomeness of God through his creation. More than that, though, I knew about God as he is revealed in his written word, the Bible, because of my parents’ teaching me about God’s character, his laws, our sinfulness, and our need for reconciliation with him. At age five I asked God to forgive my sins though the sacrifice of Jesus Christ his son and to teach me to follow him. At the time, my understanding of God’s holiness and my detestable sinfulness was very small.

Romans 3:23 says,
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.


I knew God was good and I was not, but I did not have a great grasp on how far I really did and do still fall short of the holiness of God. He did, even with such little understanding, give me the beginning of great desire to know God and be with God. As I grow in knowledge and faith I learn more and more the horror of my sin and the depth of my sinful character. This alone would, of course, be devastating, but I also continued to learn and experience the depth of God’s mercy and grace knowing that the penalty for my sins has been paid by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.
Romans 5:8 says,
God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Not only have I been justified by his sacrifice, but he continually grows my character and molds me to his perfect character. Although, in this life in this earthly body – my flesh, I will always have sinful desires, God faithfully sanctifies me – that is, he teaches me and enables me to live in more complete submission to him and to model his character. As he does this work in me, he increases my capacity to experience the greatest joy and pleasure possible under any circumstance, whether in scarcity or abundance, happiness or sorrow. That great joy and pleasure that no circumstance can destroy is simply being in the presence of God. Though my sins and weaknesses still keep me from seeking my greatest joy in submission and obedience to God which leads to wonderful fellowship with him, he is merciful and persistent in his guidance.

That was a pretty broad overview without any specific events other than my initial conversion, but there have been many significant events and lessons along the way – all used by God to teach me and bring me closer to him. Here are a few of those events:


- My baptism at age nine
- Learning the importance of reading the Bible on my own at
age 11
- Beginning a more consistent habit of reading the Bible daily in middle school
- Seeking God during a time of doubt and feeling of terrible distance from God during my freshman year of college.
- two and a half months in Peru on a summer mission trip during college
- engagement
- marriage
- having children

There are more, and more detailed stories behind each, but each event’s commonality is that God was at work every time. I know he will continue to lovingly guide me. Philippians 1:6 says,

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

I pray that God continually increases that desire for him that he gave me 23 years ago as a small child.

What an Unexpected Joy!

What an unexpected joy it has been to partner in prayer with my friends on the mission field. When I had Levi, almost three years ago, a friend at church told me a very valuable lesson she learned after having a few children. (Thank you, Angela). She told me how nice those middle of the night feedings for a new baby can be when you spend that time in prayer. It may be one of the few consistent quiet times for prayer and is very beneficial. When Melissa, my teammate on a summer mission trip to Peru in 2005, went back to Peru as a missionary this past summer, she asked for people to partner with her in prayer. I told her I would pray for her, and what a surprising blessing it has been for me to pray for her. Although there is infrequent personal communication between us, it has still greatly helped me keep a more eternal focus. As Americans with comfortable lifestyles, it is easy to lose focus on God and his will and become very self-centered and spiritually weak. Melissa writes frequent blog posts detailing lessons God is teaching her on the mission field, and they are excellent reminders of our purpose as believers in Christ.

Also, over the past few years, my husband and I have developed a friendship with Mary and Daniel and their five children who were raising funds to go to Malawi as missionaries. As they were raising funds, they also asked for people to pray for them, so we have been doing that for a few years now. They made significant sacrifices and worked very hard for years to raise the needed funds. They finally raised enough money to move and left for Malawi this past September. Their sacrificial lifestyle extended into their friendships as well. Not only have we been blessed by the opportunity to partner in their adventures and challenges through prayer, but we have been blessed by their prayers for us and their friendship.

It seems that in the months and even the last few weeks before Mary and Daniel moved to Malawi, my friendship with Mary grew significantly. I knew I would miss her, so I tried to spend as much time with her as I could, especially the month before they moved. With my husband’s new job we were out of town four to five days a week, but in August we were in Chattanooga, so we were back in town for the same month they were back in Chattanooga from their seven weeks of training. I believe God wanted to cement our friendship and enable us to be more helpful during the time they were preparing to move. It was also inspiring to see so many people from church surround them with support and meet their needs. The logistics of moving a family of seven to Africa is overwhelming, but God’s provision through the Body of Christ, the Church, is incredible.

Time with God in prayer and His wonderful gift of meaningful friendship is amazing and truly an unexpected joy.