My Testimony

Posted by LisaV | 0 comments

As a church project for 2011, we are collecting each member’s written testimony to put into a booklet. Since I had written my testimony and shared it on both my blogs, I went there first to find what I had already expressed. Editing it a bit for our church pamphlet, I came up with the following. I encourage you to share your testimony on your blog too.

Growing up, I attended church occasionally but not consistently. In ninth grade, I took confirmation classes at a Lutheran church with many of my classmates from school. Toward the end of that year, I was baptized and then confirmed into the Lutheran church. I don’t recall learning about a personal relationship with Christ as a means of salvation, but did benefit from reading my Bible daily. It took me three years to finish reading the Bible one chapter at a time. After my confirmation year, I stopped attending church.

In my senior year of high school, I started to have fears of dying and going to hell. I struggled with fears of committing the unpardonable sin and thought I was beyond salvation.

I met my now-husband the summer before my senior year and got a part-time job at Ponderosa, where he worked. He would call and tell me about Jesus Christ and how Jesus could save me from my sins. He shared verses about how God’s love was greater than anything, including my fears.

Romans 8:38-39 state: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I began to read my Bible again and search for answers to my questions and fears. On August 1, 1987, I sat on the front steps of my parents’ home and looked up in the sky, searching for God. That night I continued to read the Bible in my room, wondering how to pray. I came to Matthew 6:5-15, where Jesus teaches about prayer. That night I knelt beside my bed and asked the Lord to forgive me and save me from my sins.

After that time, the Lord opened my eyes to his Word with new understanding as I started to reread my Bible. My life was changed. I no longer needed to be afraid. I had new life in Him. I was scripturally baptized at Grace Baptist Church on my birthday, July 19, 1992, six days before I was to be married.

Through the years, the Lord has worked in my heart and life to change me from a very self-centered young adult to one who is concerned about others and has a desire for ministry. Though I’m clearly not perfect, I can see the hand of God working in my life to make me more like Him. It is God who gives us purpose and peace and leads us in the way we should go. He prepares us to face the challenges ahead by building in us patience, experience, and strength for each new day.

Ephesians 6:10 says, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” May the Lord work in and through us to accomplish His perfect will in our lives.

Lisa Van Dong has been teaching her two sons since 2004 and attempts to incorporate study, work, service, and play into their homeschooling days. She takes an eclectic approach to homeschooling and enjoys reading, writing, editing, and essential oils. Lisa blogs publicly at Pockets of Time and privately at Scooter and B.