No such thing as a "boring testimony"

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Where were you 12 years ago? 10 years ago? 5 years ago? 1 year ago?
If you're actively seeking the Lord then God has worked in your life and you're not in the same place Spiritually that you were then.
 
I can tell you where I was 12 years ago today... I was at the first drawing point of my testimony. I was in a tiny, stained-glass church in Honaker, VA. It was 2002; I was 11 years old and for the first time in my life I understood how to become a Christian. More importantly I wanted to be one. I had always wanted to be one...
 
As a small child (as far back as I can remember) I went to church with my grandpa on my dad's side. My mom and dad weren't involved in church at the time but he took me with him. He had made some bad choices... ones that prevented me from going any longer. So my cousin started taking me with her. That was short-lived because of family struggles and I was once again not in church. But I always counted myself as a Christian. I went to VBS every year. I read a Precious Moments Bible in bed at night. I went around singing, "I am a C, I am a C-H, I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N." I even sang a Sunday School song in my Kindergarten talent show. This was all before I ever turned 10.
 
Looking back I thought I was Christian simply because I believed in Jesus and went to church when I could. Shortly after my 11th birthday my sister and I were invited by our new neighbors to attend a homecoming service at that beautiful church on the hill in our town. We went that Sunday and continued to go. Turned out we had other family who went there and my parents started coming too. It became our first home church.
 
That May my mom was saved and baptized. I was so excited for her but to be honest I still thought that I already was saved and that baptism must be for adults. But on June 16th God opened my eyes and spoke to my heart.
 
It was VBS there at Honaker FBC and I was one of 2 kids in my age group. So we had 2 teachers and 2 kids in my classroom that Sunday night. They could have just written us off... not worried with teaching us a lesson since there were just 2. Instead they clearly shared the Gospel and for the first time it made sense. The whole message that year revolved around the "ABCs of Becoming a Christian." It was so simple...
A- Admit to God you are a sinner.
B- Believe that Jesus is God's Son.
C- Confess your faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord.
They explained to me that God had created me. He loved me. He sent Jesus, His Son, to die for me. Jesus paid for my sins by dying on the cross. And that after 3 days He came up from the grave and into Heaven where I could go too. They explained that the appropriate response to all of that was to give Him my life!
 
Leaving that night I couldn't get it off my mind. I wanted to be saved. Thinking I needed to be guided in this I waited until the next day. After talking with my parents and telling the pastor I needed to meet him before the evening got going, I was ready for that big moment. It was the most excited I had ever been. My heart was full. My hands were shaking. I'll never forget kneeling down in my pastor's office and giving my life to the Lord. It changed everything... It shaped the rest of my life... the rest of my eternity.
 
It wasn't until I was in college that I started to feel as though my testimony was "boring." I would hear of these people who had been drug addicts or alcoholics or who had run from God for years. It made me feel as though I had a plain jane story. Where's the spark in "saved at 11 and living for Jesus since?"
 
But ask that question to my Jesus who died for me just the same as the drug addict. Or to the VBS teachers who poured their hearts out to 2 kids. Or to the people who have guided me along the way as I continue the process of making Him the Lord in every area of my life. Or ask it to the me I am now.
 
Here I am 12 years later working with my own set of kids at VBS. Praying over them that they too will know Christ and have more and more years to serve Him with. I cant tell you the joy I had in getting to walk 3 members of my 2013 VBS crew through the prayer of salvation.
 
When I look back I see that God (the same One who created the world) created ME and pursued ME. He was poking at my heart even as a kindergartner. He was calling me to follow Him. Not just then as a child... but forever. There's excitement in that. I'm so thankful that God saved me at a young age and I'm so excited to follow Him wherever He leads in the future.
 
See getting saved is just the start of the testimony. It's the most simple part. But when we realize who Jesus is and recognize Him as Lord, it's only then appropriate to follow Him with our lives, give Him all of our hearts, plans, dreams. God will be writing my testmony for the rest of my life... because He will always be teaching me something or sending me somewhere. And I will never hesitate to share it! My salvation story may not be the one that gets featured in magazine... but in my life it's the highlight of the story. It doesn't get any better than God rescuing a sinful heart and a Hell-bound soul for His glory and my good! I will forever sing of that!
 
 
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1 comments:

  1. UnknownJune 17, 2014 at 9:32 PM

    Thanks Brandy for sharing your remarkable testimony. It is obvious that you have known Jesus for a long time. Your walk with Jesus is very evident. It was so exciting to hear the great things that you and Joel are involved in at your church. God is using you both in a great way. Pray for our VBS next week at Swords Creek. Blessings and peace,
    Arnold J. King

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