Occupation: Housewife

     I was raised in a Christian home.  My dad was saved before he and my mom were married, and my mom was saved when I was 7.   After she was saved, our family life changed drastically.  I also have a younger brother who was saved when he was 17.

     I liked Sunday School when I was young, but I hated to sit in the church service.  I remember thinking that I would NEVER go to church when I got big. The first thing I would do when we got home from church is watch TV.  I was upset if we missed my favorite program.  My mom worried that I was too attached to the television. When I was 10 we got rid of it, and have not had one since. "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes:" Psalm 101:3a.

     In Sunday School they always asked us to raise our hand if we wanted to be a child of God.  I loved attention, and I loved to raise my hand.   I prayed to be saved many times from ages four to six years old.  I always wanted to take communion when I was little, but was told I could not, because I was not baptized.  I asked to be baptized for that reason.  They had me take a class, and asked me some questions.  I answered everything right, and at age 7 I was baptized.

     My parents spanked me as a child, and I am very grateful for it. "Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell." Proverbs 23:14.   "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." Proverbs 13:24.  Once, after being disciplined, my mom told me that God commanded parents to spank their children.  When she left the room I said, "God, I Hate you!"  I knew it was wrong, and I felt awful after I said it.   I dismissed it from my mind, and tried to forget about it.

     I learned to swear from the neighbor children.  I soon found out it was not allowed at our house, but I would still do it around the other kids. "For thus saith the Lord GOD... my name continually every day is blasphemed." Isaiah 52:4a&5b.

     On a winter day when I was 8 yrs. old, I was outdoors with my 5 yr. old brother, and some of the neighbor kids.  The snow was deep, and we had gotten a warm spell followed by a freeze.  This caused the snow to be covered with a coat of ice.  We were having a great time trying to walk on top of the snow without breaking through the ice.  We lived by a lake. The lake was at the bottom of a high slope.   Walking along this slope one of the girls who was in her teens slipped and started sliding toward the lake VERY fast.  This looked like fun to me, and I followed her.   My brother followed me.  There was a retaining wall near the bottom of the slope.  The first girl hit that, and I hit her.  I thought it was great!   She was sore.  We started to get up just as my brother hit the wall.  I wanted to see if Joey had fun too, the girl with me looked at him and said, "Joey is knocked out!  I will go get help!" She told me to wait there and hold him.   When I saw him his eyes were rolling back in his head!  I screamed, "Joey is dead!"  Getting down the hill was easy, but getting back up was very difficult.  You had to break the ice to get a foothold.  My mom was at work, so my dad came to get Joey.  On the way up, we saw where the bark was ripped off the tree where Joey had hit his head.  If the wall was not there, he would have went in the lake, and we might not have realized he was in danger in time.  There was ice on the lake, but it was thin yet where the thaw had melted it.  This scared me.  It was the first time I had thought seriously about death. "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." James 4:14.  It scared my mom too, and she quit her job. "That they may teach the young women to be...  keepers at home..." Titus 2:4,5.

     I never went to a public school in my life.  I went to a Christian school until 5th grade.  In school I did many bad things.  One thing that stands out is when I was tested for sugar.  The doctor said I could not have sugar, so my teacher bought me special sugar-free treats to eat.  One of the kids had brought cupcakes to school for his birthday.  I was given a cupcake to give to my brother and some sugar free candy for myself.  I ate the candy, and when school let out, I ate the cupcake.  I went back in our classroom to get something I forgot, and my teacher asked me if I ate the cupcake.  I said, "No."  She said, "Yes you did, you have crumbs all over your face."  She did not do anything to punish me, but I did not take home any more sweets.  This made me realize how bad I was.  It was the first time I remember feeling any guilt for my sin.  Instead of feeling sorry for what I did, I kept kicking myself for being so stupid.   "...and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." Revelation 21:8b After this my mom started home-schooling my brother and I. "And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Deuteronomy 6:7.  I believe this is when many of my wrong doings were found out.  When you are with your mother all day, she finds out what you do.  I could not blame things on the teacher anymore, and she taught me to stop swearing.  She had me replace it with, "Oh, my!"

     It was at a tent meeting on Thursday, August 8, 1989 that I was saved.  During the preaching at that meeting, I remember thinking about my life.   I was a very unhappy girl by the age of 12, and I knew it.  There were other girls in the church my age, and it seemed all we ever did was get mad at each other and hurt one another.  I became so bitter that I hardly ever smiled.  I would get upset when people would walk by and say, "Smile!" I would think, "There is nothing to smile about.  Why should I pretend I am happy when I am not?"  I also did not enjoy singing.  I remember thinking, "I wonder if I could pretend to be saved, and change my life.  Then I would have an excuse for all the bad things I have done, and everybody would like me again."  As I sat in the meeting the preacher broke my thoughts, and he was saying, "Think back to the day you were saved.   Remember the joy you had as a new Christian?"  I tried to remember when I had been saved.  It was then I realized I was not saved.  I always thought I was saved because I had prayed so many times.  It was never from my heart. "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;" Romans 10:10a.  I had wanted to pretend to be saved, but I now realized I had been pretending all along.   It was as if my eyes were suddenly opened.  All I could think after that was, "I am not saved!"  "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10:28.  I waited until the invitation, but they did not say what to do if you wanted to be saved.  I decided to ask my mom after the service.   After the service ended I turned to my mom and saw she was already talking to some ladies.  I quietly called her name to get her attention, but she did not hear me.   I could not stand it anymore!  I laid my head on her shoulder and sobbed, "Mom!"  She instantly turned and said, "What is it? What is wrong?"  By this time I was really crying and I said, "I am not saved!"  Then she started crying, and took me to the altar to help me.  She could not stop crying so she went to get someone else to help.  Before she got back I prayed, "Dear God, I will do anything if only you will save me!" "And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner." Luke 18:13.  My mom came back with the preacher's wife, and she showed me verses from the Bible about salvation. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23.  "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:7&8.  "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:9.  I again prayed and asked the Lord to forgive me for my sins.  I knew then what the joy of a new Christian was.  It was overwhelming! "...ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:" I Peter 1:8b.  The last memory I have of that day is walking out of the tent, and looking up at the starry night sky and thinking, "There is nothing between me and God!" "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him?..." Psalms 8:3&4a.  I smile all the time now, and singing is one of my favorite pastimes.  I was baptized the next Sunday.  A year later, one of the mothers of a girl in the church said to me, "Do you remember when you girls used to fight all the time?  You do not anymore.  It must be you are all growing up." After she walked away, I realized it was God that had changed me.  I had grown in the LORD.

     When I was in 7th grade, my mom was afraid she could not teach me anymore, so my parents sent me to another Christian school.  This school shut down, and I was sent to ANOTHER Christian school.  I was in 8th grade, and here I met some rebellious friends.  They turned my heart from my parents, and made me think I was missing out on a lot of things.  It was not until my parents took me out of that school, and away from my friends, that I realized how wicked I had been.  I had grown away from God at this time and doubted my salvation because I did not think God heard my prayers.  He was not hearing me because I was doing wrong and not willing to change.   "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:" Psalm 66:18.  The closer I got to God, the closer I was to my parents.  The last time I was spanked, I was 16 years old.  It was for not cooperating with my brother when told to help clean the house.  After this, I was left with answering to God for my sin.  I found this very hard at first, and I wished I could just be spanked! "As many as I love I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore and repent." Revelation 3:19.

     Since becoming a Christian, I have come to learn that praying and reading the Bible is very important for victory in my walk with God. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee" Psalm 119:11.   Whenever I have found myself sinning, I would remember that I had not read my Bible or prayed that day.  I have come to accept my dad as my authority in my life. "Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)" Ephesians 6:2.  I have learned to wait on the LORD for everything, and He has given me so much!  Everything in life is a lesson now.  I would rather suffer hardships and grow, than remain as I am.  I praise the LORD for his goodness! "For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee." Psalm 86:5.