The Long & Short of it. . .

Recap:  That was a big time in my life when I saw God work in my life.  Tom and I decided to start going to church where he was in counseling and life was feeling so much better having God in my life!  That lasted a few years, until. . . . .

And now I give you:

My Life in God’s Hands, pt 2

If you haven’t read part 1, you can find it below.  That way my testimony might flow a lot easier for you.

After being in church thru the hard times and the hard times becoming easier and better we gradually stopped going.  Missing a Sunday here and there and finally finding other things more important than going to church.  Dumb, yeah, we know that now, but I have come to the conclusion that God allows us to live our testimony.  Justification for not going to church?  You just might be right. 

Let’s fast forward to August, 1999.  I had been working in an office job for 12 years and had come to the point that I had to quit.  I have an A-type personality and do my best to give 110%.  Most all of my co-workers seemed to be there just for the paycheck and really, to me they didn’t give a hoot and a holler about the quality of the work they were putting out..  I allowed their attitudes to drive me almost insane.

My last day of work was on a Thursday and on Friday I started going thru what I called “culture shock”.  Didn’t have to get up early and drive to work.  After a couple of months I was in depression and didn’t recognize it.  I would sit at the computer and go online for hours at a time.  I felt I needed God in my life, so I started looking for Him on the internet. (it’s ok to giggle, it is funny!) Looking for help to pull me out of muck and mire I found myself in.  Somehow I knew God was the answer to everything that was wrong with me, but to look for Him on the internet?  That’s how sick I was, sick with sin.

I found Christian “communities” on MSN and joined a few.  I met a few people online and we would have Bible Study, and it did help me – some.

I had been faithfully reading my Bible from the beginning and had started praying that God would change me into the woman He wanted me to be, and then around mid-January of 2000 I learned my husband was looking for another place to live.  Such a crushing blow, but I didn’t blame him.  I didn’t want to live with me either!

January 20, 2000 is a day I will remember clearly, the rest of my life.

Tom had gone to work and I was miserable.  As soon as he left for work I started crying.  I cried all day; I couldn’t stop.  I would go out in the garage and cry and pray.  I would pray and cry just walking around in the house.  I didn’t have the strength to even get out of my night clothes.  Several times I heard a voice telling me, “Linda, get down on your knees”.  I was in such pain I didn’t pay too much attention to it until around 2 or 2:30.  There it was again. “Linda, get down on your knees”.

I remember hearing someone say once that we should test the spirits, so I questioned God that wanting to know if it was Him and not “the other guy”.  I said, “Lord, I want to believe it is you wanting me to get down on my knees, so I will obey.”  I was still crying, sobbing, and got down on my knees in the garage and tried to pray.  All that would come out was “God, you know already what I’ve been praying, I don’t know what else to say.”

After a few short minutes I got up and went into the house.  I stopped in the middle of the family room and realized something was different.  I went to the living room, turned around, went back to the family room and turned around and around about 3 times then stopped.  I wasn’t crying!  I didn’t have that ache in my heart that had been there all day!  It took a few minutes and then I realized why I had been crying.  I thought about Tom moving out – no tears, no heartache, and then I started laughing.  Laughing with joy in my heart, full to overflowing!

On that day, God called me to obedience.  The voice I heard was just as though He was there, physically, in the garage with me!  It was the most awesome time of my life.  I felt so good, so blessed I couldn’t wait for Tom to come home so I could share that blessing with him.

God didn’t give me any instructions as to what I was supposed to do then, so I kept reading my Bible and working things out with my husband.  A while after that we started shopping around for a church.  Every Sunday we went to another church until we discovered where his counselor was preaching.  The counselor he had way back in 1984. On our first visit to Vista Community Church we felt at home.  So at home we’ve been there ever since.  Growing in the Lord and serving Him.

Oh, there have been hard times, but God has been with us the whole way.

I don’t have a Bible verse for that time in my life because God speaking to me is so much better!  It is such a powerful memory in my mind and in my heart I share that experience whenever I can and when God leads me to.  God became so very real to me that day; I hope and pray He is real to everyone!

What is your most precious memory of God in your life?  We all need to share those moments, the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our life; how real He is and walking in our lives.

I have more to share, that will be part 3.