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Salvation

This is my salvation story. It took place in 2011. My salvation date is October 9, 2011.

I was intimidated by the thought of going to church by myself.
I had grown up in a family that didn’t do religion, so church attendance was not something I was familiar with. I had cousins who went to church and discussed the Bible during family dinners like they knew what they were talking about. I envied their knowledge, but I was too embarrassed by my own ignorance to ask them about it. I didn’t know Jesus, and I didn’t know how to meet Him. I was looking for someone to notice how lost I was, but no one did… until I met Izzy.
Plenty of excuses
We were both undergraduates at the College of Charleston. She was working for the residence hall as a desk assistant, and one spring break, we managed the front desk by ourselves from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. We became really close friends.
Izzy seemed to know Jesus like my cousins did. I confessed to her I was jealous of my relatives’ faith but too embarrassed to actually tell them. She told me about her faith and gave me a devotional for Christmas. I devoured it at first, but soon gave up having no idea what I was doing. I knew she wanted me to accept Christ, but if I wasn’t ready to take that step she wasn’t going to shove me. She invited me to attend a service at NewSpring in Charleston and I was very eager to go. I enjoyed the service, but once I’d returned home to Greenville, the thought of going to the local campus by myself was overwhelming. Religion was too scary to do alone. I had two small children, and my husband was working overseas. I had plenty of excuses.

But I still felt I was missing something in my life. When Izzy came to visit me in Greenville, I was eager to go with her. It was at that service I felt Jesus speaking to my heart through Perry Noble. He explained all I had to do to find Jesus was to ask Him into my life and put Him in control. I had previously prayed many times to be saved, but those attempts had been half-hearted. This time, I prayed fully surrendered to Jesus. That surrender included going to church by myself after Izzy returned to Charleston. I was no longer afraid to go without the crutch of a friend. Pretty soon NewSpring began to feel like home. When my husband came home from overseas, he went with me and the kids.
Changed forever
As I took steps of faith God’s hand was obvious. The day after my husband and I set aside our hesitations and decided to give Jesus control of our money by tithing, a home loan we’d been denied miraculously was approved. I was baptized, became an owner and started serving. As God would have it, I have found myself back at the Charleston campus.
Izzy saw the change in me, but when I told her how instrumental she was in leading me to Jesus, she said she had no idea. She’s now a major part of the community of faith that I have. Living a Christ-like life can be hard, and we’re always talking about things we’re struggling with.
I am so grateful to my friend who brought me to a church that displays the amazing love of God. When my 2-year-old son told me after KidSpring one Sunday that Jesus is his best friend, I knew that Jesus — through NewSpring and the persistence of a friend — had changed my life forever.

I think I will make a photo album of all the times my daughter has been sick and details of what happened and how we dealt with it. It could be interesting to look back on when she is older.

Orange/Carrot Slushie

I used a high power blender to puree raw carrots, oranges, and water to make a slushie like drink. The kids loved it! I will be making more of these hidden veggie drinks for them! Especially Little Corah who is super picky and refuses to eat hardly anything. Win one for mom!!!