My Crazy Faith

On Godtube, I just watched this touching testimony from Alexa PenaVega (she's in my favorite Christian movies of all time, Do You Believe? , and one of my favorite TV shows, The Middle ).   I had no clue she had gone through such a tragic loss in her life (in 2024, I think) - the death of her newborn baby.  Heartbreaking! I haven't experienced the same kind of loss she did, but I totally appreciate that she's sharing her story, from a heart full of faith.  May God bless her and use her story to encourage others who've gone through loss, too. [One thing that caught my attention is that she quoted a verse - one verse - and it happened to be one (of about 5) that I had just written down shortly before I watched her video.  Out of all the verses in the Bible, I encounter the same one twice within a couple hours... coincidence?   I know that it's a verse I need... and maybe someone else out there needs it too:  "I will refresh the weary and satisfy th...

A dear friend of mine from another state gave me her testimony.  She printed copies of it to share with others in the hopes that sharing her painful story would help others who are hurting too.  It's such an amazing, beautiful testimony that I asked her if she'd like me to share it on my blog, and she said yes.  So here it is, in Renee's own words.  I hope you find encouragement in it like I do.: A GUN TO MY HEAD...  I KNEW I WAS GOING TO DIE...  AN ELDERLY MAN TRIED TO MOLEST ME...  I LOST MY IDENTITY...  SHAME AND REJECTION TOOK ROOT IN ME...  MY LIFE CONTINUED TO SPIRAL DOWNHILL... My story begins while I was still in my mother's womb.  My biological father would curse me in the womb, saying he wished I was never conceived and that I would die before I was born.  Nevertheless, I was born.  I never met my biological father.  I wasn't even a year old when my mom met my daddy that raised me.  He would tell people he f...

I just gotta share this one... I have always LOVED watching baptisms (and even more so when people share their testimonies too).  It's a special once-in-a-lifetime moment when someone vulnerably stands up in public and declares their faith in Jesus.  And it's a moment we should all celebrate and feel honored to witness. Well, today my neighbor - whom I've been doing Bible study with (along with her aunt) for the last few years after she became a believer in 2020 ( see here ) - decided (rather spontaneously) to get baptized during a church service at the beach.   And not only did I, her aunt, my husband, and my son get to go with to support her, but I got to get in the water with her (in my jeans, because I didn't know this was going to happen), pray with her, and help submerse her in the water too.   Totally cool!  And I am so honored and humbled to be a part of this amazing moment in her life! (And now we keep praying for her husband.)

This is the next-to-last of the "Satan's Schemes" posts in the Spiritual Warfare series (and it's a repost from something I wrote elsewhere)... and then I'll  move on. John 10:10 :  "Jesus said, ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy...'" To steal our peace, joy, and contentment.  To kill our hopes, passion, and Christian witness.  And to destroy our friendships, family, faith, and futures.  Among many other things.   And I think one of Satan's biggest tools for this is the snare of unforgiveness and bitterness.  If he can get us to focus on - and constantly ruminate on -  all our hurts, all the ways we’ve been cheated in life, the ways people let us down or treated us poorly, the ways God let us down, the ways we let ourselves down, all the things that've gone wrong, etc., then we'll grow more and more  bitter, discouraged, defeated, and closed-off... and farther and farther from God, His truth, other people, and any hope f...