How God Impacted my Life

I find the biggest problem with testimonies is where to start. What message do I convey about what God has done in my life, and how has God been glorified in my life?

But most of all how can my story edify the body of believers. I grew up with many testimonies that are what I call from gutter to glory testimonies, where there was an unbelievable emphasis on the depravity of person prior to Christ. There was rarely a testimony where the believer grew up in a Christian home - was it because they were viewed as boring?

My story is simple. When I was born I was blue - a true smurf. I had twisted on the cord, and was slowly choking myself. My dad was a pastor and my mum was a nurse. The first 4 years of my life I was quite sick, at times death seemed very close - but by Gods grace, and the fervent prayers of a church I suddenly and unexplainable started to recover. There was an explanation, God is an awesome, faithful God.

I am hyperactive, so much so that still I struggle to control my energy levels. I also have a liver disorder called Gilberts syndrome - it is a nothing disorder, that does seem to create a chronic fatigue type condition. So I am an overly active person who keeps wanting to fall asleep.... And I grew up this way. (Unfortunately the liver disorder didn't really kick in till my late teens, which meant that my childhood was extremely bubbly.) I sometimes reflect and think that I was a hard child to love, but at the same time so easy to ~ a true Jekyll and Hyde.

When I was 7 God called me to make a commitment to him. Unfortunately I learnt that you have to be careful what you promise, because I promised to serve him. This came back at me when I was 13 and God challenged me to step forward and be baptised. I had already began a junior counsellor role at a Christian camp, and I saw about 8 people commit to God before I turned 14. It was truly awesome - I remember sharing with a boy, who committed to God - we shared this with the higher ups, and I was subsequently told off for not using a tract.

God is awesome and he is faithful. I however wasn't as faithful. I struggle with some private issues at home which impacted on my fever for God.(yes I mean fever, I was a red hot teen) I slackened, I hung out with a strange bunch of lads and I did the wrong thing. I was still living for each weekend, where I could gain contact with God again, but during the week, I was weak.

This life plagued me from 15 to 18. 3 years of my life that if I could do over, I most probably would. But you can't change the past, you just learn from it. At 18 I was very depressed, and God reached down and ripped me from my slumber. He reminded me of a promise to serve, and in March 1997 I was back at church, I was preaching by the end of that year - and at the age of 19 I enrolled at Bible College, following my calling to serve.

God blessed me during bible college, and led me to a church - place a mission on my heart and started leading me and moulding me. Then church politics struck - in my final year at bible college I was broke, the seams of my credit card were worn out and I needed to pay for my fees. I had faithfully served in my church for 3 years as a volunteer youth minister - and I asked for help, I didn't have anywhere else to turn. And the church said no. (right now I still am fighting back tears over this).

I had to find alternate funds, so I started working nightshift at a hotel. So I was full time at bible college, full time Night Auditor and trying to hold a commitment to a churches Youth group. Something had to give, and it did. The minister of the church was called to another church, and the pastoral search committee met with me. They suggested a part time role, with another pastor taking another part time role. It devastated me, I would have loved to embrace such a role, but I wouldn't have been able to meet my financial commitments doing this. I couldn't trust the church to be faithful financially, and I felt God saying that this church wasn't for me. I felt justified in my belief when the pastor they did employ was an extreme liberal - who had not been asked about his theology during the interview. I left the church - one of the hardest choices I have ever had to make.

God took me to another church for a while, but the nightshift created problems for church attendance. I was still at bible college, and slowly my finances were recovering.

During a discussion with the pastor of my new church, I mentioned that I had a desire to be a school teacher - he mentioned that I should be careful as a school teacher becomes a ministry, and I didn't want to bite off too much. Burnout was something this pastor was concerned about, and I considered what he said.

The rest is history, I went to Teachers college, and now I am teaching in a school where God is using me to impact children's lives. I am not allowed to actively promote Christianity, but they all know there is something different about me, and the school notices something different about my classroom.

God has been faithful, and recently I have felt God calling me to consider taking on a role again in a church - I must say that my physical being is reluctant to take a step forward. The only saying is once burnt, twice shy.

But God is an awesome God, and I know he is preparing me for a magnificent ministry - it is scary - but at the same time I know it will be glorious.

I have never known life without God - I can not imagine living without God. I am baffled by the atheist, astounded by the agnostic. It just doesn't fit in my brain. However, I have seen life without God - and I never want to be without God, it is a sad existence.

God be praised.