With the many wonderful blogs out there to read, where should I start this story?
How about a little snippet of the author of this blog? Intrigued? I hope so!
To date I'm a very blessed wife with a very loving and hard working husband. We have been married for 10 years as of this past May. We've had so many triumphs and losses, we've been through hell and high water. Fallen in love more deeply than we could ever imagine! We've been able to "co-create" little people from our love of one another and our Heavenly Father. There are four of these lovely treasures walking around with us on this journey together.
Each of us has a beautiful testimony to give and I thought for this post I'd start with mine. It wasn't really me that inspired myself to start this... It was God. Yes, He spoke to me and put this dream/desire in my heart. To tell the story of His Love for me, for my family, and well friend who might be reading this, you too. Let's see where to start?
When I was 10.5 years old, I accepted Jesus as my Savior. Simply put, I'd been going to a wonderful Baptist church in a little town called Tow, Tx. (The town's Sheriff's wife actually made T-Shirts that said Where in the World is Tow, TX? Except World started with an H... As a kid I thought it funny, now I miss Tow.) Pastor Moore was preaching one Sunday, and this time I paid attention! Something was stirring inside of me, and instead of passing notes or trying to be goofy with my friends, I knew I needed to listen. I can remember Miss Dorothy, my Sunday School teacher, teaching us on Salvation. I earnestly listened. The next thing I know, Pastor Moore was done with his sermon and at the end he did his altar call like always. I looked at my mother with tears in my eyes and told her I wanted to go up to pray. She lead me up and that day in June of 1992, I accepted Christ to come into my life and be my Savior and my friend forever!
History Snippet:
HISTORY: Handbook of Texas Online: "It is the oldest community in the county. It began with the arrival in 1852 of David and Gideon Cowan and their mother, Ruth, from Tennessee. The Cowans were directed by local Indians to a salt bed near the Colorado River, which they developed into a successful saltworks. Significant not only in the local economy, the Bluffton-Tow Salt Works was also known as the Confederate States of America Salt Works for its contribution to the Confederate cause. The operation was destroyed by the "salt works cyclone" in 1871. John F. Morgan arrived in the area with his family in 1853 and soon established a hat business, using beaver and other fur trapped locally. When the Tow brothers, William and Wilson, arrived with their families in 1853, they named the nearby area in which they settled Tow Valley. A post office was established there in 1886 as Tow with Mathew B. Clendenen as postmaster. Tow grew rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s with the addition of retirement and recreation to its economic base. From a population of fifty before 1950, the lakeside town had grown to 305 by 1974, when it had a post office and numerous businesses."
TOW BRIDGE: A bridge across the Colorado River. A 30-inch rain in 1936 washed out the bridge and covered the First Baptist Church grounds. The church was then rebuilt.
http://www.hillcountryportal.com/tow.html
http://www.dailytrib.com/2014/10/14/tow-first-baptist-church-celebrating-160-years/
Moving forward a little, my family ended up moving away after 3 years of living in Tow, and moved to San Antonio, TX. I was 14 when my mom and I began attending an Apostolic Tabernacle church in Universal City. We loved it there! My parents were very loving towards me and my brother. (He's about 7 years younger than me.) They provided everything we needed to thrive in a loving home. We had so much and did so much together too. We went on so many vacations and had so much fun going up to the Lake on weekends and holidays. (More stories to come from those precious memories.) My parents were not perfect and did not have a perfect marriage. They did argue a lot. I thought it was normal, but at this age I began to realize it was not. I had many friends that had parents who doted on each other and never raised their voices. One of the struggles that happened during this time was that my dad did not agree with my mom on her choice of churches. But we kept going and before to long, my parents decided to separate and that was very hard.
A glimpse:
Loving my parents and my little brother like I did, it was incredibly difficult to focus at school. Instead of being the outgoing bubbly young lady I'd become, I held back and became a little more to myself. Their separation caused me to turn to Christ like never before though! God used this tough situation for His "Little Darlin's" good! I was in 8th grade at the time and wanted so badly to be a good witness to my friends that I'd be leaving in two weeks time to move to Universal City. I'd be transferring to Kitty Hawk M.S. for my last six weeks of school! Having my youth group and youth leaders to support me really helped so much! But still I was suffering. My parents fought often over the phone and my little brother couldn't understand all of it and really wanted me to stay there with him. So much heart ache!
My heart and soul cried out to the Lord night and day, day and night for those last six weeks while finishing school. I didn't make a single friend. I was not me fully. I was okay, because what I experienced during that time with God, made up for everything else going wrong! I would literally get up and read my Bible from Genesis to Revelation! Seriously! I wanted more of God! I would go to the living room and just pray until I was to tired to pray anymore. Go to bed, and get up and go to school. The first couple of weeks was hard, but something incredible was happening inside of me. I was being filled with His truth and His love. Not just for me, but for everyone around me. I felt alive, and somehow, JOY came in with song and dance!
One day while carrying groceries in with my mom, she suddenly stood still, sobbing turned around and said, "Leslie, how come I never see you cry or sad? You act like this never affects you!" She was demanding to know how I seemed unaffected, and rightly so. She didn't know that I stole away late at night to pray and give my cares to Jesus. I plainly and calmly told her, "Mom, I am very sad over this whole thing, but the reason you see me smiling and able to get through my day is because I am weeping and praying at night. Every night I have been getting up and praying! I've been giving all of my hurt and sadness to the Lord! That's how I'm making it through each day and why I'm smiling."
She just said, "Oh. Really? I didn't even know." That made her heart relieved and I believe inspired. She began praying more earnestly as well.
That summer, God did 2 miracles, that I'm aware of! He didn't allow the enemy to have his way. The divorce never went through and my parents made a slow reconciliation. We eventually moved back in! Before I transferred over to Kitty Hawk, God did something in me that the words on this screen can't quite compute very well into the English language. I'll try.
Most Sunday mornings we showed up very early to church to pray and invite the Holy Spirit to come and prepare us and our church for the service. I was very dedicated to that! Except this time, my heart was so heavy laden, I didn't leave the altar when announcements started. I didn't leave the altar when Worship started and ended... they lingered longer because I was still there. After 3 straight hours at the altar I had relief.
What I Said:
(Sobbing uncontrollably) "God, I can't take this anymore. I'm broken, so broken. My dad and brother are mad at me and mom for moving away. For going to this church. I have two weeks left to witness to my friends before I move. I don't know if I'm bold enough to say what I need to say. HELP ME! I'm falling apart. I miss my family Jesus! Heal us, bring us back together. Take this sadness away."
I began to pray in tongues for a good while, then it was just utterances and weeping like I've never done before. Relief. I starred at my pastor and he just stood there in awe and smiling kindly at me. My whole church family was in awe and warmly smiled at me as I went to my seat next to my best friend at the time.
What God Said:
The following Sunday we had a special guest. A visiting evangelist had come in to preach. Worship was amazing as always, and the house was packed out for this. It was very exciting to be apart of the Body and wait expectantly to see what God wanted to do. The Evangelist was singing with his wife, when he stopped suddenly and began to wait on the Lord. He looked up and out into the crowd. Looked in my section's direction and pointed right at me. He said, "Little Darlin'." I turned around thinking he was talking to Sister Jameson right behind me. For crying out loud the lovely lady was shorter than me, and I'm a shorty! He said, "No, no don't turn around, I talking straight to you." I shivered as he began to speak to me, not the man of God, but God Himself. God spoke through him and said, "Little Darlin' you've come out to an altar, when no one else would come. You have poured your entire heart and soul out to Me! And ye, even this day I have called you out and I have put into your bosom an intercessory prayer ministry! I love you, I adore you, I cherish you. You are my daughter and I'm your Father. Thus saith the Lord!"
And would you believe it, our church had been planning to have a 24-7 prayer chain going and were doing sign ups that day! Yes indeed, I signed up for the 10 o'clock hour!
Since that day, my life has been different, because the Chain Breaker, broke my chains and set me free from every fear! He broke every pain I had and gave me peace and joy. He brought me to His banqueting table in the midst of heart ache and lavished me with His unconditional love.
He has continued to break away fears and doubts in my life. I'll never doubt Him because His record of faithfulness is undeniably true and never fails!
I might be known as a prayer warrior, but really it's Daddy-daughter time!
More snippets to come, life is full of wonderful surprises but always I can count on the steadfastness and faithfulness of Christ. He's the Way Maker!
Walking in Triumph,
Leslie
 |
How about a little snippet of the author of this blog? Intrigued? I hope so!
To date I'm a very blessed wife with a very loving and hard working husband. We have been married for 10 years as of this past May. We've had so many triumphs and losses, we've been through hell and high water. Fallen in love more deeply than we could ever imagine! We've been able to "co-create" little people from our love of one another and our Heavenly Father. There are four of these lovely treasures walking around with us on this journey together.
 |
| My sister-in-law's wedding reception 4 years ago! |
When I was 10.5 years old, I accepted Jesus as my Savior. Simply put, I'd been going to a wonderful Baptist church in a little town called Tow, Tx. (The town's Sheriff's wife actually made T-Shirts that said Where in the World is Tow, TX? Except World started with an H... As a kid I thought it funny, now I miss Tow.) Pastor Moore was preaching one Sunday, and this time I paid attention! Something was stirring inside of me, and instead of passing notes or trying to be goofy with my friends, I knew I needed to listen. I can remember Miss Dorothy, my Sunday School teacher, teaching us on Salvation. I earnestly listened. The next thing I know, Pastor Moore was done with his sermon and at the end he did his altar call like always. I looked at my mother with tears in my eyes and told her I wanted to go up to pray. She lead me up and that day in June of 1992, I accepted Christ to come into my life and be my Savior and my friend forever!
History Snippet:
 |
| Painting of Tow 1st Baptist Church. |
TOW BRIDGE: A bridge across the Colorado River. A 30-inch rain in 1936 washed out the bridge and covered the First Baptist Church grounds. The church was then rebuilt.
http://www.hillcountryportal.com/tow.html
http://www.dailytrib.com/2014/10/14/tow-first-baptist-church-celebrating-160-years/
Moving forward a little, my family ended up moving away after 3 years of living in Tow, and moved to San Antonio, TX. I was 14 when my mom and I began attending an Apostolic Tabernacle church in Universal City. We loved it there! My parents were very loving towards me and my brother. (He's about 7 years younger than me.) They provided everything we needed to thrive in a loving home. We had so much and did so much together too. We went on so many vacations and had so much fun going up to the Lake on weekends and holidays. (More stories to come from those precious memories.) My parents were not perfect and did not have a perfect marriage. They did argue a lot. I thought it was normal, but at this age I began to realize it was not. I had many friends that had parents who doted on each other and never raised their voices. One of the struggles that happened during this time was that my dad did not agree with my mom on her choice of churches. But we kept going and before to long, my parents decided to separate and that was very hard.
A glimpse:
Loving my parents and my little brother like I did, it was incredibly difficult to focus at school. Instead of being the outgoing bubbly young lady I'd become, I held back and became a little more to myself. Their separation caused me to turn to Christ like never before though! God used this tough situation for His "Little Darlin's" good! I was in 8th grade at the time and wanted so badly to be a good witness to my friends that I'd be leaving in two weeks time to move to Universal City. I'd be transferring to Kitty Hawk M.S. for my last six weeks of school! Having my youth group and youth leaders to support me really helped so much! But still I was suffering. My parents fought often over the phone and my little brother couldn't understand all of it and really wanted me to stay there with him. So much heart ache!
My heart and soul cried out to the Lord night and day, day and night for those last six weeks while finishing school. I didn't make a single friend. I was not me fully. I was okay, because what I experienced during that time with God, made up for everything else going wrong! I would literally get up and read my Bible from Genesis to Revelation! Seriously! I wanted more of God! I would go to the living room and just pray until I was to tired to pray anymore. Go to bed, and get up and go to school. The first couple of weeks was hard, but something incredible was happening inside of me. I was being filled with His truth and His love. Not just for me, but for everyone around me. I felt alive, and somehow, JOY came in with song and dance!
One day while carrying groceries in with my mom, she suddenly stood still, sobbing turned around and said, "Leslie, how come I never see you cry or sad? You act like this never affects you!" She was demanding to know how I seemed unaffected, and rightly so. She didn't know that I stole away late at night to pray and give my cares to Jesus. I plainly and calmly told her, "Mom, I am very sad over this whole thing, but the reason you see me smiling and able to get through my day is because I am weeping and praying at night. Every night I have been getting up and praying! I've been giving all of my hurt and sadness to the Lord! That's how I'm making it through each day and why I'm smiling."
She just said, "Oh. Really? I didn't even know." That made her heart relieved and I believe inspired. She began praying more earnestly as well.
That summer, God did 2 miracles, that I'm aware of! He didn't allow the enemy to have his way. The divorce never went through and my parents made a slow reconciliation. We eventually moved back in! Before I transferred over to Kitty Hawk, God did something in me that the words on this screen can't quite compute very well into the English language. I'll try.
Most Sunday mornings we showed up very early to church to pray and invite the Holy Spirit to come and prepare us and our church for the service. I was very dedicated to that! Except this time, my heart was so heavy laden, I didn't leave the altar when announcements started. I didn't leave the altar when Worship started and ended... they lingered longer because I was still there. After 3 straight hours at the altar I had relief.
What I Said:
(Sobbing uncontrollably) "God, I can't take this anymore. I'm broken, so broken. My dad and brother are mad at me and mom for moving away. For going to this church. I have two weeks left to witness to my friends before I move. I don't know if I'm bold enough to say what I need to say. HELP ME! I'm falling apart. I miss my family Jesus! Heal us, bring us back together. Take this sadness away."
I began to pray in tongues for a good while, then it was just utterances and weeping like I've never done before. Relief. I starred at my pastor and he just stood there in awe and smiling kindly at me. My whole church family was in awe and warmly smiled at me as I went to my seat next to my best friend at the time.
What God Said:
The following Sunday we had a special guest. A visiting evangelist had come in to preach. Worship was amazing as always, and the house was packed out for this. It was very exciting to be apart of the Body and wait expectantly to see what God wanted to do. The Evangelist was singing with his wife, when he stopped suddenly and began to wait on the Lord. He looked up and out into the crowd. Looked in my section's direction and pointed right at me. He said, "Little Darlin'." I turned around thinking he was talking to Sister Jameson right behind me. For crying out loud the lovely lady was shorter than me, and I'm a shorty! He said, "No, no don't turn around, I talking straight to you." I shivered as he began to speak to me, not the man of God, but God Himself. God spoke through him and said, "Little Darlin' you've come out to an altar, when no one else would come. You have poured your entire heart and soul out to Me! And ye, even this day I have called you out and I have put into your bosom an intercessory prayer ministry! I love you, I adore you, I cherish you. You are my daughter and I'm your Father. Thus saith the Lord!"
 |
| My son made this during a V. B.S. 2 years ago |
And would you believe it, our church had been planning to have a 24-7 prayer chain going and were doing sign ups that day! Yes indeed, I signed up for the 10 o'clock hour!
Since that day, my life has been different, because the Chain Breaker, broke my chains and set me free from every fear! He broke every pain I had and gave me peace and joy. He brought me to His banqueting table in the midst of heart ache and lavished me with His unconditional love.
He has continued to break away fears and doubts in my life. I'll never doubt Him because His record of faithfulness is undeniably true and never fails!
I might be known as a prayer warrior, but really it's Daddy-daughter time!
More snippets to come, life is full of wonderful surprises but always I can count on the steadfastness and faithfulness of Christ. He's the Way Maker!
Walking in Triumph,
Leslie
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