One word sums up my testimony...transformation! I am still in the process of transforming into the person God made me to be. I am nowhere near but I remind myself that He has brought me a long way out of muck and mire!

I was raised mostly going to Church of Christ. When I was 11, I attended a church camp and fell in love with Christ and was baptized in the pool. I'll never forget that summer.

However because of the abuse (physical, mental, and sexual) that I suffered during my childhood, I had a very poor taste in my mouth about the church. I started to blame God. I hated Him because I cried myself to sleep just about every night begging for Him to rescue me, but every morning I would wake up. I tried to kill myself by taking a bottle of pills but nothing happened (I got sick and slept it off).

I remember going to church on many days and being slapped in the back of the car and yelled at and called names. Then we would walk into the church and pretend to be the perfect family. The hypocrisy was unbearable. I couldn't take it anymore and probably from the time I was 16 until I was 27 or so I didn't have much at all to do with church or God. I visited a few different churches with friends (Catholic, Methodist (to my mother's dismay--she thought only Church of Christ was the "right" church to attend).

After I got married my husband started going to visit different churches without me (he didn't want to push it on me). Which was probably a good move on his part because I don't take to well to authority. So I started to feel left out and said hey I want to go with you let's do this together. So we did and found one that we liked and have been there now for I think 6 years.

I felt the love immediately when I walked into the church. The people there are genuine and I just felt like I was at home. I found a family I could be a part of because I had pretty much disowned my birth family (with exception of a few). Don't get me wrong the church isn't perfect, no church will be perfect but I truly believe that God has put them in my life to mature me spiritually.

Since going there I have been able to forgive my biological mother for having no contact with me as a child. I forgave my stepmom for the physical and mental abuse. I have forgiven my father for sexual abuse. The Lord has forgiven me for my many sins and continues to show me that I am worthy of love and that allows me to love others and forgive them.

I believe if I didn't listen to the Spirit when He was drawing my heart to Him I would still be doing drugs and utterly miserable. I now have hope. I know that His mercies are new every morning, that no matter what happens today, tomorrow is a new day. I know that He is my refuge, my shelter, and hides me under His wings. I find so much comfort in that. I know that God has a plan for my life and that all the pain and junk I went through in my childhood will not be in vain, He will use it for His glory! He will trade me beauty for ashes!! Thank You Jesus!

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"Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles" Isaiah 40:31

Amen NewHope

New Hope, we have some things in common. Your testimony,still ongoing, is taking you out of yourself and into God. Thanks, dave.

I am twice adopted, the first time as a small child the next, by God, when I was about twenty. There was much insecurity in my life as I worked out as a young teenager who my birth parents were. At this time I started going to our local Methodist youth club, graduating to there from the Sunday School. The club gave me a taste of leadership and purpose. The insecurity remained and I left the club and went into the world as it were. I was aggresive and heading in the wrong direction when I attended a tent meeting in the next village to ours. There I found the Lord or he found me. It took some years before I accepted that all things work together for good to those who love God. I had preached the gospel in the Methodist Church before I was saved and that has been my main calling. It took three reminders from the Spirit before I started writing, the last from a none christian young woman who I was working with. I have had quite a number of things published including short stories for children and two poetry books. The spelling is still a bit weak though. I met and married my wife, June and we work together for the gospel. In recent years I have come back to photography and had some wonderful experiances. The insecurities about my birth have gone and my, our lives, are full. My prayer as I reach mature years is that the Lord will use me much more than when I was younger in proclaiming his greatness, that my life will be his life. Dave.

Thanks for sharing your story Dave. It's awesome to see the great work God has done in your life. What kind of obstacles did you face in getting over your insecurities? Did you find that you were getting in your own way of letting God work in you? Or do His work in you? I feel like that a lot of the time. I'll be going a long good for awhile and then something happens and I'm back to where I was before. Well I don't think it's a sudden thing that happens, it's more of a slow fade like that Casting Crowns song says.

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"Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles" Isaiah 40:31

New Hope, thanks. Obstacles, were many, as a child being unfavourably compared to my adoptive cousin, Clifford, by my adoptive Dad. Wondering why I had been handed over to others in my first year, not being a skilled worker with my hands. not being a success in life, though I had a good bank account. These took years to overcome but eventually they were. My wife June was a great help as were her prayers for me. I would not like to make the mystake of drawing attention to me through emmotion, the sob story. My life has been good, though I have failed many times, and I have always been optimistic, even a romantic, though that' not always a good thing. I believe that the Lord allows us to fail and is prepared to take his time with us. Praise HIS Name. God Bless. Finally being Illigitamate has never worried me for some reason. I once wrote a piece for a mag. entitled ' One of millions', about the swim to the egg. It was published. I am just grateful to be here however it came about. Thanks Jesus. That was my best swim. I can, but don't much. Again every blessing. Dave.

An up to date testimony, todaay in fact. This morning I was preaching at our fellowship. At the end of the service two of us were able to pray with a dying man, and his wife. What a privilage and responsibility. Would you all join us and pray fro their assurance of salvation in Jesus. Dave.