Greetings! My name is Pat. I'm in my latter 50s and I've been married 37 years, four children, three grandchildren. I gave my heart to Jesus in a little Presbyterian church in Safety Harbor, FL; but I didn't start believing Him till much later.
I walked many years in rebellion and hardship until I finally learned that God truly is good, His ways are good, His will is good. He is the God FOR us and He is the God WITH us.
His book is not outdated or irrelevant, but is actually the most current, life-transforming force on this planet. It helps the humans get good stuff working in their lives. Believing His word and trusting that His ways will work is the key to overcoming the YUCK in our lives.
I started believing God as a young mom when I heard this verse, "How long will you limp between two opinions? If God is God, serve Him." I had been limping through life, letting myself be god at sometimes, the world be god at other times and usually putting anything in front of God (astrology, pop culture, religion, etc.).
I had been in corporate America for many years and decided to go back to college to get a degree in religion. After experiencing the exhaustion of teaching elementary students, I decided I'd rather teach at the college level! I had given up my hope of having children after five years of no pregnancies. After so many disappointments, I just gave up and decided to invest myself in my career.
I was searching for God, but I found everything EXCEPT God in my college level studies. We studied the occult, witchcraft, Buddhism and anything else that was not Jesus Christ. One day, two diminutive nuns attended one of my classes and along with the other students, we tittered at their narrow-minded view of God; yet in my heart, I desired what they had...love, faith and peace.
I had found "knowledge" and "academics" and lots of fear, but no faith and peace. One day, as I went to my Buddhism class, I began throwing up and could not keep food down for weeks. Finally, I went to the ER thinking I had a bad case of the flu, but found out I was pregnant! I could not even attend class during the first trimester and when I tried to return when I felt better, I found I had no desire to go back into that environment.
Suddenly, I knew I had to get right with God for the sake of my children. I began searching everywhere for God. I went to every church from almost every denomination including Mormon, Metaphysical,etc. Just like at college, I found religion, but not Jesus Christ. Before long, I had a two year old and a two week old. My husband had nearly died from encephalitis, contracted from a mosquito bite. Our house burned down while we were out one day. My husband had no job as he had been sick and we desperately needed help. My husband's friend and previous co-worker had "gotten saved" a year or two before and was coming over continually to tell us about God even though we were less than gracious to him on many occasions. He and some other Christians came to our rescue after the fire by providing a duplex and things such as baby aspirin, spoons, blankets and other items you appreciate once you don't have them.
They loved us the way God tells us to and we were drawn to the life and light that was in them. They did not all go to the same church, but they got together regularly for fun dinners, BBQs, etc. They invited us to one of these events and although I had a fun time, I complained on the way home that all they talked about was Jesus. Can't they talk about something else - the weather or something?!?! They did not preach to us, but simply lived life with love. Love for God and love for the humans.
Soon we followed their example and went to church. We found something very different from our mainstream religious upbringing. These people actually had joy! They were learning how to triumph in life. They were being transformed AND they were happy! Although we picked at the preaching, the music went right to our hearts. We'd never heard praise and worship before with such vibrancy.
It wasn't long before we gave our hearts BACK to Christ, got baptized in the Holy Spirit and began the grand adventure. In stead of the academic environment, God had put me in His School of Life where He taught us how to love, how to forgive, how to be transformed, how to prosper, how to train our children and most of all...how to be the "overcomers" and "more than conquerors" that His Word tells us we can be.
This blog is simply relaying what God has taught me and what He is teaching me today. God said we overcome the kingdom of darkness by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. This blog is the word of my testimony telling you what Christ has done.
Since it took me so long to believe God and hear Him, my prayer for you is that you will receive "ears to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying" and a "good and noble heart" to do what He says.
