Isaiah 53:4-6
4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! 5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. 6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
Isaiah 54:4-8
4 “Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood. 5 For your Creator will be your husband; the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth. 6 For the Lord has called you back from your grief—— as though you were a young wife abandoned by her husband,” says your God. 7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will take you back. 8 In a burst of anger I turned my face away for a little while. But with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer ".
These verses perfectly sum up my life. WOW! Thank you Jesus for taking the burden of my sins, even my abortion.
So now I want to get you up to speed on everything that has happened in 2010. God is rocking my world something great!
In February my husband and I made a trip to see Clay and Christi in Alabama. Clay is the youth minister as well the worship leader in their church. He was holding a purity event for his youth and asked me to come share my testimony along with statistics I had researched regarding premarital sex, teen pregnancy, abortions and STD’s just to name a few. I will be honest and tell you that I felt like I completely tanked big time. Yes, most of that was the enemy telling me this but I think some of it may stem from the fact that I was not completely ready to stand up in front of people with a microphone sharing my story.
The next few months were pretty quiet. It got to a point where I said, “Ok Lord what now?” I decided to contact some churches by mailing my testimony and telling them about my ministry. I mailed ten letters out and one of the churches I contacted was Southside Baptist in Alma. I mailed the letters in the middle of May and a few weeks later I received an email from the preacher of Southside telling me that he had just received my letter that very day. My first thought was, man that took a while to get there. I found out later that there was a reason behind that. What I didn’t know was that the young women of this church were in the middle of a Bible study called Captivating and at the end of this study there would be a banquet as a way to end the study. When I mailed these letters the plans for their banquet were already in place. They already had a guest speaker as well. What they didn’t know was that this speaker would have to cancel. More about that shortly. So Aaron, the pastor, in his email to me asked me if he could pass along my letter to a young woman in his church who happen to be the one leading the young women through this Bible study. Her name is Avery and little did she and I know God was orchestrating yet another amazing friendship. We finally get in contact with one another and here is a breakdown of how the events came about;
On a Tuesday Avery goes to the pastor in a panic telling him her speaker canceled for the banquet. She asks, no begs, him to help her find someone.
Wednesday my letter finally makes it to their mailbox after floating around for two weeks. The pastor sends me an email asking me if he can hand it over to Avery.
Thursday, Avery and I meet for the first time and marvel in the awesomeness of our God and how He orchestrated everything leading up to that moment. I don’t guess I have to tell you that I was asked to speak at this banquet. I also don't believe for one second that the events that led up to this moment were just a coincidence. God's hand was all over this. I also made several life long friends through this. So the banquet came and I spoke candidly for the first time about my life before, during and after my abortion but I could not have accomplished this without the Holy Spirit guiding me and speaking through me. Did I change someones life that night? I honestly don't know but what I do know is that God knows and that's all that matters. I do what He calls me to do and He does the rest.
4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! 5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. 6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
Isaiah 54:4-8
4 “Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood. 5 For your Creator will be your husband; the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth. 6 For the Lord has called you back from your grief—— as though you were a young wife abandoned by her husband,” says your God. 7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will take you back. 8 In a burst of anger I turned my face away for a little while. But with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer ".
These verses perfectly sum up my life. WOW! Thank you Jesus for taking the burden of my sins, even my abortion.
So now I want to get you up to speed on everything that has happened in 2010. God is rocking my world something great!
In February my husband and I made a trip to see Clay and Christi in Alabama. Clay is the youth minister as well the worship leader in their church. He was holding a purity event for his youth and asked me to come share my testimony along with statistics I had researched regarding premarital sex, teen pregnancy, abortions and STD’s just to name a few. I will be honest and tell you that I felt like I completely tanked big time. Yes, most of that was the enemy telling me this but I think some of it may stem from the fact that I was not completely ready to stand up in front of people with a microphone sharing my story.
The next few months were pretty quiet. It got to a point where I said, “Ok Lord what now?” I decided to contact some churches by mailing my testimony and telling them about my ministry. I mailed ten letters out and one of the churches I contacted was Southside Baptist in Alma. I mailed the letters in the middle of May and a few weeks later I received an email from the preacher of Southside telling me that he had just received my letter that very day. My first thought was, man that took a while to get there. I found out later that there was a reason behind that. What I didn’t know was that the young women of this church were in the middle of a Bible study called Captivating and at the end of this study there would be a banquet as a way to end the study. When I mailed these letters the plans for their banquet were already in place. They already had a guest speaker as well. What they didn’t know was that this speaker would have to cancel. More about that shortly. So Aaron, the pastor, in his email to me asked me if he could pass along my letter to a young woman in his church who happen to be the one leading the young women through this Bible study. Her name is Avery and little did she and I know God was orchestrating yet another amazing friendship. We finally get in contact with one another and here is a breakdown of how the events came about;
On a Tuesday Avery goes to the pastor in a panic telling him her speaker canceled for the banquet. She asks, no begs, him to help her find someone.
Wednesday my letter finally makes it to their mailbox after floating around for two weeks. The pastor sends me an email asking me if he can hand it over to Avery.
Thursday, Avery and I meet for the first time and marvel in the awesomeness of our God and how He orchestrated everything leading up to that moment. I don’t guess I have to tell you that I was asked to speak at this banquet. I also don't believe for one second that the events that led up to this moment were just a coincidence. God's hand was all over this. I also made several life long friends through this. So the banquet came and I spoke candidly for the first time about my life before, during and after my abortion but I could not have accomplished this without the Holy Spirit guiding me and speaking through me. Did I change someones life that night? I honestly don't know but what I do know is that God knows and that's all that matters. I do what He calls me to do and He does the rest.
Avery and I at the "Crowning Creation" banquetSo here is what has happened since that precious evening in late June. I am still volunteering at the center weekly but in February I will no longer meet with clients but instead I now have a much different role to fill. When I decided to no longer volunteer anymore little did I know that God was in fact preparing and working in the hearts of Teia and myself to become involved with the abortion recovery the center offers. I am now actually on staff at the center as the Abortion Recovery Facilitator. I will be leading the very same Bible study that I was a part of last summer. I will be flying to South Carolina at the end of October for training where I will be trained and equipped with the tools to help my Father with healing of hurting women. I will be helping them to find their voice again. To say that I am excited is a complete understatement. I am beyond crazy ecstatic! I know that I know that I KNOW this is precisely where God wants me. I am so very honored that He chose me, ME! I am on such a high that I can't stand to be around myself sometimes. Anyway I will continue to blog about my journey. I ask that all who read this please pray with me for the women that God will put in my path, for complete healing for these women. And yes I do know that the enemy will be working overtime against me but know that he has a huge fight on his lying hands and that I got King Jesus on my side and we already know Who comes out the Winner. Thank you JESUS!
Psalm 91:14-16
The Lord says, "I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them My salvation."
1 comment:
Kristi, you did change someone's life that night. You changed mine! I can't remember life without you in it, because you have become such an intricate part of my life as my friend..and my sister! It's almost hysterical to me to think how God was smiling the day I was crushed my speaker cancelled...the days you wondered why no one responded to your letter...the day Aaron and I contacted you...the night we met at the track...the many other nights we met at the track!...the night of the banquet...the dinners we've shared...the hugs I get from your precious son in the hallways at school...the random texts saying how much we miss each other...I bet God was smiling through all of it!!! I love how He worked it out! :)
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