Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." Revelation 12:10-11
Satan is the enemy of all humanity, and he accuses us day and night before God. But he is cast down when we, who are saved by the blood of Jesus, speak testimonies of His work in our lives-- when we are honest and vulnerable, willing to lay down our lives and self-preservation, in order for others to be set free.
I pray our Heavenly Father releases new depths of His freedom from the enemy's strongholds, as you read these testimonies about Him.
My Testimonies
"My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits. I will go in the strength of the Lord God;
I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only." Psalm 71:15-16
This website is a work in progress, as am I! Both are far from perfect, but I'm willing to step out in faith, hoping to further the love and life of Jesus. May you be blessed.
Salvation & Purpose
I am so thankful for my parents. They raised me with good morals, provided for me in love and kindness, and took the family to church every Sunday. Unfortunately, our church was void of the Holy Spirit. None of us knew Jesus, so we weren't reconciled to our Heavenly Father (yet). Our family's church-going was about religion, not relationship. It was sprinkled with confused, new-age spirituality. It was about doing good works, rather than being loved by God and choosing to love Him and others. Thank the Lord, my parents were eventually gloriously overtaken by the Holy Spirit and are currently walking in vibrant relationship with Jesus. And I finally got saved at age 26...
A Key Word & God's Will
Soon after my salvation in Christ, I prayed fervently to know God's will for my life. I'll never forget two very special ways He answered that prayer. One was through a Scripture. I'd been praying and praying, and one day, when I checked the mail, I received an envelope from a ministry I'd joined. When I opened the letter, inside was a key. A real, literal key, like you'd use to open a door. On the key was imprinted a verse, and that very verse answered my question! It reveals God's will not only for me, but also for all of us...
The Collapse & Great Trials
After 8 years of vibrant, life-changing, fruitful ministry, without warning, I collapsed with a sudden onset of extreme nausea, vertigo, fatigue, and excruciating, piercing pain. Within minutes, I went from totally healthy to utterly ill and debilitated. Bedridden, house-bound, and out of commission, this season lasted for years. Everything stopped, leaving me with countless questions for God. It was like going back to Christianity 101. How do we handle something like this? Why do things like this happen? Can anything good come from it?
A New & Holy Vow
At age 39, I met my husband. By our second date, he'd bought my engagement ring...but he didn't pop the question until the Lord told Him to a month later. When he proposed, it was on the very day the Holy Spirit had confirmed in my heart that I was to say "yes" if Robin asked. That night, in a stunningly decorated sanctuary with candles and rose petals, after enjoying a decadent sushi dinner and the song Robin had written and played on the piano, my sweet husband knelt and asked me to marry him. It was perfect! Or was it? Why did I awake the next morning feeling sick to my stomach? What was wrong? Had I made a mistake?
My Birth Story: A Day of Deliverance
When you think of a child's birthday, of course you think of the child. Over the years, I've chuckled with other moms, though, about how it's equally a day of celebration for us: a child's day of birth is their mother's day of deliverance. Did you know it's worded that way in the Bible? Indeed, while January 18, 2009 is my son's birthday, it also marks a day of deliverance for me. I was 42 weeks pregnant, was induced for 36 hours (contracting with no dilation), and was finally scheduled for a C-section. This was the last plan I'd desired. After the C-section, I hemorrhaged and was rushed in for emergency surgery. My midwife said later that I should have died. But the way Jesus met me during those 5 days in the hospital was incredible...
From San Diego to Texas to Illinois
After 20 years in Southern California, the Lord moved me, along with my husband and our 9-month-old, to Texas to plant a church. While it was challenging, it was also an experience for which we'll forever be grateful. Eight years later, He called us to move yet again, this time to Faith Church in Fairmount, Illinois, where my husband currently serves as senior pastor. And me? My days are filled with serving my husband, schooling and discipling our son, counseling women, leading seasonal Bible studies, speaking to Christian women's groups, tutoring or assisting at weekly homeschool co-ops, helping at a weekly after-school Bible club, and writing a monthly blog. So, how did I end up moving to a town and state in which I had never dreamed of living? Check out God's call in 2017.
Blessings of Obedience
Sometimes we hear a story about how God confirmed something, but then we don't hear the follow-up. Did it turn out well, or was it a disaster? Here's the follow-up to our step of obeying God by moving away from "the safety of familiarity" and stepping into "the risk of the unknown." It was written 9 months after we moved to Illinois.
No More Wining
Several years into my new life in Christ, I came to a place of wrestling regarding the use of alcohol. The Bible indicates that consuming alcohol is acceptable before the Lord as long as it is not to drunkenness and is done within the parameters of Scripture. For example, God calls us not to be mastered by anything (1 Corinthians 6:12), and He wants us to do all things in such a way that glorifies Him (1 Corinthians 10:31).
God brought me to a place where I made a commitment to not drink alcohol, and He did that through an in-depth study of both Scripture and my heart…followed by a vow I made to not partake of any such drink until the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-9). To summarize, for me, my reasons for not drinking alcohol include...