Ezekiel 36:26, New International Version

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.””

I would like to begin by giving my heavenly Father praise!

I was born in 1961. My birth mother kept me for three years and one day left me with the neighbors. My birth father took me in at that time. The woman my dad was married to was very abusive. There wasn’t much love in our house. My dad was not around much and I was told my whole life that he wasn’t my dad. At six years old, I was sexually abused by a family member, and it went on for many years. It’s a secret I kept for many years. It started doing drugs and being sexually active at a very young age. At nineteen I became pregnant with my daughter Rachel. I was still doing drugs and not being a mother. I was on a very dark path.

I have had many failed relationships through all this. At the age of thirty-one I became pregnant with my second daughter Chelsa. I was still doing drugs when I was pregnant. Somehow God still was involved in my life because I got clean when Chelsea was three years old. I was living in Las Vegas and decided to come back to Salineville. I was then reunited with my daughter Rachel. I have been clean for twenty-five years.

God was still working in my life. I have been married once and during that marriage I became pregnant and had a baby girl who is in heaven. That marriage ended in divorce. I am going to jump ahead to my life now.

God has since restored my relationship with my daughter Rachel, and I am very blessed to be her mom and grandmother to her children.

Two months ago, God was really working on my heart. I was on my way to work, and I was listening to K-love, which is not what I would usually listen to. The song “Come Jesus Come” was playing and God's presence was in my ear. I felt this overwhelming love and forgiveness. That same night I was sitting in my living room watching TikTok and a video came on. It’s called “Meet Me in the water.” As I sat there watching this video, the caption read “Have you ever seen the Holy Ghost on someone as they come out of the water!” It was absolutely the most beautiful thing I had ever witnessed. I cried out to God; I want this in my life. God met me right there in my living room. I received my salvation. I finally knew it was real. It’s so overwhelming.

I called my Pastor, Ted, the next week and asked him when I could be baptized. I was baptized on September 24th in the creek by Everyone’s Welcome Church. As I came up out of the water, every sin, heartache, all the shame it was all gone. God is so good and His kindness for us is so overwhelming! It has literally changed my whole life.

There are many first whenever God comes into your life. The first time I have ever felt the love of a Father. The first time I have totally surrendered my heart and soul to God. The first time my heart was completely whole. The first time that the Bible is real to me, and I am understanding God’s word. The first time that I am absolutely sure I am forgiven. I want to finish my testimony with this:

You are not your past. God has made you anew. You are not what you did. You are not what others have done to you. You are not what others say you are. You are not even who you say you are!

God says you are:

Forgiven (Hebrews 8:12)

A new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Redeemed (Psalms 107:2)

Free (Galatians 5:1)

A masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10)

Christ’s ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20)

Loved (Romans 5:8)

The next time you are faced with regret from your past, remind yourself of the future you have in Christ. There is power in Jesus’ blood!