03/17/2013: David Ring
http://www.iamsecond.com/seconds/david-ring/
The Adventures of a Truly Blessed Woman |
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"We throw away broken things.......but God uses broken things." This is a quote from David Ring that just gave me a new perspective immediately! There are some testimonies that leave you happy, some that leave you in awe, some that make you cry, and some that take your breath away......This one was all of the above! My eyes are still streaming.......my heart is still in awe of the mighty God we serve! Oh please share this testimony with your friends! This one is so needed because at times we all feel broken.......oh what a blessing this one is! May God bless you and ALL who hear this testimony!
03/17/2013: David Ring http://www.iamsecond.com/seconds/david-ring/
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“My life wasn't an accident.” This is what Joe Gibbs says in this I Am Second video. I know that in my life, I have had times when I have wondered what God was thinking when He created me.......what wrong thinking! Each and every one of us are here for a PURPOSE! Please share this video with your friends and family for I know that I am not the only one who has ever felt this way! May God Bless you!!!!
03/16/2013: Joe Gibbs http://www.iamsecond.com/seconds/joe-gibbs/ OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS ONE!!!!! This is one incredible testimony from Sujo John. You talk about God having a plan for someones life! Sujo is a 9/11 Survivor. Please share this testimony......it is absolutely a reminder of hard times, but also that there is victory in the Name of Jesus! May God bless you!
03/15/2013: Sujo John http://www.iamsecond.com/seconds/sujo-john/ There are a few things in life that we cannot escape......hurt, pain, and death. If you are human, you will experience these things! Jack grew up in a wonderful home with very happy memories, and yet he could not escape the things that I mentioned first..........BUT GOD! Please watch this video........share this video, it is a powerful testimony of forgiveness, even in the midst of a horrific crime. May God bless you!
03/14/2013: Jack Graham http://www.iamsecond.com/seconds/jack-graham/ Broken home...........broken heart.......broken mindset. Victoria turned to the one thing she thought she could control.......yet it controlled her. Cutting is an outlet that is far more common than most people know. It is the one thing you can usually hide and keep others from finding out..........but it is just as destructive! Please share this video with those you love.........for you never know what could be hidden from sight.........and they feel all alone. May God bless you and all who watch this video!
03/13/2013: Victoria Childress http://www.iamsecond.com/seconds/victoria-childress/ We serve such an amazing God! Just over two years ago, I met this amazing woman through the Band that I manage. Shannon has such a beautiful heart, and a beautiful testimony! Please feel free to share this with your friends and your family for you never know who may need to hear what God has given Shannon to share! 03/12/2013: Shannon Cox Newton Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Come in today, come in to stay. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Amen. ~Author Unknown I was 5 years old, and the children at our church had been learning a new song. I remember sitting on the vanity beside the bathroom sink of my home as my mom taught me this song. She then proceeded to tell me the meaning of the song in a way that even a 5-year-old could understand. I felt the need to ask Jesus to come into my heart, and my mom helped me do that. No fancy speech was prepared, and no party took place that day………except the party that was going in Heaven as the angels rejoiced! (Luke 15:10) A few years later, I followed the scriptures in water baptism and began listening more intently at church, as well as attending church camp every summer. One particular summer when I was 14 years old, I remember making a commitment to The Lord that, with His help and guidance, I would live a pure and holy life before Him. My high school and college years were spent serving God and singing for Him every chance I got. Just a few months after I graduated from college, I got married. Less than 3 years later, I had broken the commitment I made to my Lord. I was not living a pure and holy life before Him. I had made many bad choices, and the marriage ended in 2001. Many heartaches followed, both in my heart and in the hearts of those who love me. In 2009, The Lord got my attention through a Bible study I was doing with the ladies at my church. It is a Beth Moore study titled “When Godly People Do Ungodly Things.” This study ripped me apart and caused me to be completely broken before The Lord. I remember one of Beth Moore’s statements resonating so strongly in my heart. She said “Am I still considered a ‘fake’ if the person I profess to be at church is the person I really want to be?” That was the cry of my heart……… I longed to be that Godly woman I pretended to be in front of fellow church members, but I was deceived into believing it was too late for me. Through this study, The Lord revealed to me that He could see my heart and that, although my lifestyle and my actions did not always line up with His Word, He was not finished with me yet. He was going to grant me those desires in my heart if I would turn my life back over to Him and surrender completely. I did surrender, and just like in the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15, the Father welcomed me with loving arms back into His presence. Through many sleepless nights and many tears, God performed an amazing surgery on my heart (Ezekiel 36:26) through this study and through His powerful Word. In July 2010, I was baptized in water once again, as a sign of my rededication to The Lord, and as a “renewing” of the vow I had made to Him 20 years earlier at church camp. This past Sunday, the pastor at my home church made a statement that sums up so much of my life: God’s grace is greater than our disobedience. During that same worship service, we sang a song with these lyrics: “I still remember the day You saved me, the day I heard You call out my name.” In that moment, as we sang this powerful song, The Lord reminded me of that day almost 32 years ago when He called my name as my mom explained to me what it meant to ask Jesus into your heart. And He assured me that His hand has been on me ever since that day, through all the mess and all the mistakes. Even then, He looked into the future and knew where I would be today, serving The Lord alongside a Godly husband who is a youth minister, and trying to follow God’s leading in every part of our lives. Yes, in December 2012, I was given in marriage (by The Lord) to the Godly man I had been praying for. My husband often reminds me that God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23) and that He makes all things new (Revelation 21:5). Yes, He makes ALL things NEW! He has given me a NEW LIFE and a NEW PURPOSE, and He will complete the work He began in me so many years ago. (Philippians 1:6) Be encouraged that our God is in the restoration business, and no life is too far gone……. He doesn't want to simply make you better, He wants to make you brand NEW! If you need NEW LIFE, let me invite you to visit the Potter’s house where He does not throw the clay away, but instead He remolds each vessel into something NEW. (Jeremiah 18) ~ Shannon Cox Newton Drew McKinney holds a very dear place in my heart! I met Drew at Loganville High School when I was subbing there. Drew always knew how to put a smile on my face and he was always such a great help if anyone ever needed help. I have to tell you that I am feeling really old at this point! He was there with Bubba and Candice so at this point it has been at least 10 years ago! As you read his testimony, be encouraged! He was in a really bad place physically......maybe even worse than he portrays here........BUT GOD! We serve such a mighty God who has an incredible plan for each and everyone of us! May you be blessed as you read it.......and please share it because you never know who may need to be encouraged by Drew and his testimony! Thank you Drew for your obedience! 03/11/2013: Drew McKinney The day before Thanksgiving 2005 I had my sister and some friends over for dinner. I cooked a very nice meal. We ate. We were going to watch a movie or something and then I started to not feel so well. It all started with a headache that got worse and worse. As much as I hated too I went to bed really early. 7pm - which is really early as I am a night owl. Then next morning I woke up in worse shape than I ever could have imagined. Not only was the migraine almost unbearable I was nauseated as well. I laid in bed all day. I could barely move the pain was so bad. That night I went to the emergency room. I do not remember who but someone took me. My sister met me there. They gave me some pain medication. About half an hour later it was not helping so they gave me more. Half an hour later...still no help. So they gave me something stronger and told my sister they were going to do a spinal tap to see if I had meningitis. I really did not want to have this done...but, I thought if it would make me better...then so be it. It took about three spinal taps to confirm that, that is what I had. Little did I know this would be a six month ordeal. Back and forth to the hospital. Test after test. Pain so bad morphine would barely touch it. Six months of tears because the pain was so bad. My grandmother would call to check on me. I would cry and she would too. She always told me that "This too shall pass". I would always say "yes I know, but when". I was sad from being so sick. I would mainly lay in bed because my headaches were much worse sitting up. I had cried many days. I asked God to return my joy. Give me a reason to smile. If I had joy I felt I could overcome. Finally they found that from the spinal taps I had a small hole in the spinal column and was leaking spinal fluid into the brain. They drew blood from my arm and put it into the spinal column to fix it. My headaches got fewer and less intense. My joy was returning. Around April of 2006 the migraines stopped. I have had a few headaches since but not one full on migraine. Not one. I learned that God sends us through things to make us stronger. I learned that sometimes we go through things so that when someone else faces the same we KNOW how to pray because we have been there. I have learned that if you ask you shall receive. I had asked God to heal me and to return my joy. He did both. I am thankful for all the Lord has done for me. If it were not for him I could not make it. To God be the glory forever and ever....Amen!! The young woman you see here has a very special place in my heart! Over the past few years, I have had the honor to work for her grandmother at the Good Hope General Store, and to get to know Kelly. Kelly has one of the most beautiful hearts I have ever known. She is giving and kind......helpful and loving! As you read part one of her testimony, you will start to see a picture of the Kelly I know and love. We don't know how many parts God is going to bless us with but I promise you this.......each one will hold beautiful nuggets of love, pain, disappointment, and pure joy........all of the ingredients that make up an incredible testimony! Please share this with all of your friends.....you never know who may need to hear it! 03/10/2013: Kelly Sims BAREFOOT IN A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY "Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn to false gods. Many, O LORD, my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you, were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." Psalms 40:4-5 Not too many years ago I was asked what would seem to be a simple question, "Kelly, what are you doing with your life?" My friend went on to declare that I could do anything, go anywhere, or go overseas. OVERSEAS? "Why would I do that" I asked him? "Foreign mission work." This was not the first time I'd had this conversation, but it might have been the first time I considered it. As the weeks went by, my friend handed me an invitation to go to Haiti with his church. I finally gave in to his persistence. It wasn't too long after the hurricane devastated the little country, so it made the details of our journey more tedious than normal. After months of waiting the trip was cancelled, but the taste of a different country had already implanted its crave in me. I wasn't finished; I hadn't even begun. My friend tried to plan another trip later that year but again it fell through. Months past and a trip to South America fell in my lap. My excitement rekindled again. This time the trip wasn't cancelled, but I wasn't on the plane that left for Brazil. Why? Because God said, "No, you aren't meant to go on this one." The night He told me this I sat on my bed, starring at my bible, not wanting to open it, and really not wanting to talk to Him at all. I was heart-broken. However, there was a question I wanted answered, "Why? God, why would you even tell me about this trip if it wasn't Your Will?" I sat there a bit longer until I finally reached for the closest instrument next to me, my ukulele. There was only one song I knew on my ukulele, "This is the Stuff." How fitting. "This is the stuff that drives me crazy. This is the stuff that's getting to me lately. In the middle of my little mess I forget how big I am blessed. This is the stuff that gets under my skin. But I've got to trust you know exactly what you're doing. It might not be what I would choose but this is the stuff you use." Needless, to say, the chorus ended up being the medicine from God that I needed. The simple truth was if God didn't want me in South America then I did not want to be there either. Yet, the desire to GO still burned within me. Time passed yet again, and again a trip to Haiti knocked at my door. To make a long story short, the details were made, the group assembled, the meetings met, the funds were raised, and the people were ready. We just had to wait on time to bring our journey to us. You'll be just as frustrated as I was when I tell you our trip was cancelled again! The unsettled government of Haiti made our trip unsafe, so the board made the decision to shut it down. I told God I was done. My heart could not handle anymore. I didn't care to know the reason behind the cancellation, thought I knew He had one. I am sure it was a good one, but I wasn't ready to hear it yet. Fast forward a couple of weeks and you would find me and my family circled around a dying woman. Her pulse weakened, her breath escaped her, and we knew my grandmother would not last the night. I was holding her hand and my mother when she died. I knew exactly the moment when she left us and saw Jesus. I knew because I was there and not in Haiti. That's right, the week my grandmother died was the exact week I was scheduled to be away on my trip. It would have left me to grieve on my own and unable to return for days. Can I tell you how great the kindness of my God truly is? He withheld the thing that I wanted and gave me the things that I needed instead. He showed me how great His love for me was when I was still angry with Him. And though it took four cancelled trips and a funeral to make my trust for Him greater than the cravings of another country, it is a journey I am glad He made me take with Him! "Blessed is the woman who makes the Lord her trust"...... We live in a very diverse Country........so you would think at this point that race should not be an issue.......but it is. These days, almost everyone has felt the sting of racism........even if you are white. Racism is real no matter what color you are.......and it should not be! Christine has a first hand experience with racism and the feeling of, "what is wrong with me?" Please share this powerful video with all you know! May God bless you!!!
03/09/2013: Christine Petric OH MY! I have never looked at someones testimony who tells you up front that they are a PRODUCT of Date Rape! This is one incredible testimony! God has a plan.....God has a purpose! Please share this video with your friends! May God bless you!!! |
AuthorI am a wife, mother, and best of all.......a Honeygram! I love the Lord with all my heart and I long to do HIS Will. He has set me on a path and I am ready, willing, and able to follow it.....come what may! Archives
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