At the Dedication service of my birth when I was around one month old
"In this service of Dedication we are to give thanks to God, the Maker of all things, the giver of all life, for the creation and birth of L. We have not come to formally give this child a name, nor to bring her into the Christian faith, for that is something she must decide for herself at a later stage...
Heavenly Father, you have heard the solemn undertakings we have made in Your Presence. We ask for grace and strength to keep them, to the blessing of L, for whom we now pray. Keep her under Your Fatherly care and protection; may she grow in wisdom as in stature, with body and mind and spirit under Your especial care. Enrich her with Your heavenly grace; bring her safely through the perils of childhood and the temptations of youth; protect her from all evil. Lead her in due time to put her faith and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, and to perservere therein to lifes end."
- When I was a baby, i caught Pneumonia and the doctors didn't pick it up until i'd visited them for the 3rd time, at which point i was rushed to the hospital and put in the childrens ward. To quote my parents, I was like a 'ragdoll' and was literally fading to death, but by the grace of God He brought me safely through that particular peril in my childhood.
- When I was 7, feeling friendless, lonely and in need of a close companion, my mum encouraged me to pray, to ask God to send me a friend. In that scholastic year, a new girl moved to the area and joined my class and we became best friends. She actually had quite a large impact on my walk with God, being a person I looked at when I was 18 and realised that I had wandered far from the person who I once was, or wanted to be.
- When I was 18, I was at a place with alcohol that was exceedingly unhelpful. I had by this point dated lots of guys and my heart was in tatters. I was not treated with the respect that men should treat women, but i also did not treat them with respect either and often used my looks and charm to manipulate. I would have said I was a christian but my life did not say so. I was also suffering from depression and was cutting myself. I kind of made a deal with God the morning after my 18th birthday party, well not a deal so much, I just said to Him that I wouldn't drink in my freshers week when I went to Uni. Since then, during the student years, my getting-drunk episodes got less and less frequent and i've been single for the past 5 years (which is a good thing, as my heart has been healed!)
- When I was 20, having suffered from a depression that was like a black cloud in my head for as long as I could remember, it was November 2006 and God met with me by His Holy Spirit. (bear in mind I did not ask for a baptism in the Holy Spirit) I asked Father God to show me if it was Him or not because I thought I was going nuts. I ended up having a shower/bath that to me signified my sins/mess/rubbish being washed away. Two bible verse references clearly came to my head as I asked God to show me if it was Him, 1 of which was from a part of the bible I hadn't yet read. They said "God said to me/The Word of the Lord came to me". I knew that the Word of the Lord is Jesus. I realised as I read those verses that the black cloud of depression was gone. I was healed! I count that day as my baptism in the Holy Spirit, which for me did not come by the laying on of hands, nor was I particularly thinking about God at that point either! That's just how it happened with me.
- Feb 18th 2011 I fell over at work and hurt my foot. The morning of Feb 19th I was limping and my foot was stiff and in pain. Some followers of Jesus prayed over me, telling the pain to go. By the 3rd time they prayed, there was more freedom of movement and I wasn't limping anymore. By the end of the day, foot was as normal.
- I do not suffer from suicidal thoughts now. I don't cut myself or self harm. I don't feel a deep loneliness anymore, nor does my heart feel like it's in tatters. I don't have an issue with alcohol anymore. I have this peace that passes understanding. I don't get everything right, nor is my whole life sorted. But I have been changed, looking back at who I was, and I will go on being transformed thanks to the grace and power of my Lord Jesus Christ.
Thankyou Baba God. X
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