My Story

Well, it's been a while since I posted anything. In the last month and a half, I've been taking a 7 week class at the Seminary called Women Mentoring Women. It has been really good - both challenging and encouraging. We have also started the process of adoption and have a big pile of paperwork that we're working our way through. So... I haven't taken the time to sit down at the computer and share. One thing I have worked on recently because of the class I'm taking is writing out my testimony. I've done this before but this time I was really challenged to think about how God has and does work in my life to effect change in my heart and I wanted to include the beautiful truth that I've been learning over the past few years that the Gospel is as relevant to me today as it was when I first became a Christian.

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Mine, at first glance, is not a story of great change. I've known the Lord for as long as I can remember. And I've loved Him and wanted to please Him equally as long. I don't really have a “before and after” story. Christ has always been an important part of my life. And I am SO grateful for that blessing! But when I look a little deeper, right down to my heart, the need for continued change becomes obvious.


The more I read in His word and know His character and His standard, the more I realize how far short I fall – how stained and dirty and sinful I am.

I am so thankful for His grace: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” Eph 1:3-4



I know that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23) and that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).



I deserve death “but God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5: 8) He took my punishment and gave me His righteousness – which He also offers to everyone (John 3:16). And it is because of Christ's righteousness that I am holy and blameless in the sight of the Lord.

 - Think about this with me... We have a holy and just God who punishes sins (disobedience to Him). The punishment for sin is death. I have sinned. Therefore, I should die. Jesus never sinned. He didn't deserve death but He chose to die and take God's wrath on Himself so that I don't have to. He took my punishment and gave me His righteousness (or right standing before God)! Wow!

I like what author, Jerry Bridges has to say about God's justice in his book, The Discipline of Grace: "At this point it will be helpful to distinguish between justification and a mere pardon. A pardon is excusing an offense without exacting a penalty. It may be granted gratuitously by a president or governor for no reason at all, and sometimes has been done at the expense of justice... In God's plan of justification, however, justice is not violated by a gratuitous pardon of the convicted sinner. Rather, justice has been satisfied; the penalty has been fully paid by the Lord Jesus Christ."

Without Him, I am a tired, impatient, even angry mom. I am a cold and bitter wife. I am a rebellious and ungrateful daughter. I am a bossy sister. I am an inconsiderate friend. I am selfish. My friends and certainly my family have seen me as such. But praise the Lord, these are not the traits that characterize my life. In Him, I am a new creation (Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2Cor 5:17). Because He loves me and serves me, I desire to love and serve my husband and children as well as my extended family and my friends. I can put aside my desires and honor others above myself (Romans 12:10). I can seek His glory and not my own (To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. Rev 1:6 ).

Even then, even in my good works, I am still aware of my sinfulness (All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; Isaiah 64:6a) 


This is why I need to remember everyday the good news that God came to earth in the person of Jesus, He lived and experienced life as a human. He was tempted and He suffered. He died a brutal death – which is really what I deserve – and He rose again on the third day and is currently alive in Heaven with God the Father. He sent the Holy Spirit to equip me and guide me. He has given me everything I need for life and godliness (2Pet 1:3) In Him, I find grace and mercy (Heb 4:16). I have forgiveness and hope (In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. Eph 1:7-8).

I am so thankful for God's grace as He has revealed Himself to me, first through my mom & dad and Sunday school teachers, then through His word especially as I clung to the only familiar thing near me during my year in France as an exchange student. He granted me a Christian community in college who challenged me and pointed me ever more to live according to His word. He gave me a godly husband who continues to do that for me. And He has refined me through my marriage and my children. He has given us a wonderful church family to be a part of. My story is really His story - for without Christ, I am nothing. In Him, I am a child of God, co-heir with Christ! Tho' I may face trials and hard times here on this earth, I know that I am in His hand and will spend the rest of forever with my LORD. Praise be to God!