Thursday, June 20, 2013

My Story

Tonight, I would like to end our Virtual Backyard Bible Club with a portion of my personal testimony of how God saw me through a very turbulent time in my life.  Thank you so much for visiting my blog. 

Jesus is My Savior

As hard as life is, I could not imagine going through it without Jesus.  When I was a young child, I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins and save me from eternal death.  I realized He was the only way to Heaven and I believe that fact by faith not by sight.
As an adult of 41 years, I look back and see the absolute miracles he has performed in my heart.  I believe God is a miracle worker in the physical since, but I also believe He is a miracle worker of the human heart.  He has surely changed mine through the years.  He changed my heart from broken to healed, from bitter to peace, from unforgiving to forgiving. 

When my husband and I married, we went through that first blissful year of newly married love.  Not many ups or downs.  Then, we started to show our selfish side.  We started to bicker and fight.  It became habit or routine for each try to get our own way. 

A few years later, we decided we would like to add children to our family, and it took about four months to conceive.   However, our baby died after 11 weeks during the pregnancy.  As a result of my heart ache I was incredibly focused on my pain, never really seeing my husband’s pain.  Within 6 weeks of our loss, our marriage was truly falling apart.  Over a sequence of events, God took two people who were focused on themselves and caused us to see each other and to see our own selfishness.  We both asked God to forgive us and we forgave each other.
That same year, we tried for another baby.  All went well and we had a daughter.  She was healthy, and she is thriving to this day.

Fast forward 10 ½ months and guess what?  Surprise, we are having another baby.  Completely not in my plan and selfishness ran rampant for 9 months on my part.  But our baby girl was born healthy and I was pleased not to be pregnant.
During the first 6 weeks of our third child’s life, we were hanging tough doing the baby and toddler thing.  We were changing diapers and trying to stay sane. However, we noticed our newborn was changing.  She cried a lot so I thought colic.  She went in for a checkup and there were no alarms.  But one morning she woke up with a fever and vomiting.  The pediatrician told us to go to Texas Children’s Hospital.  Shortly after the initial exam, the Doctor asked me why was her belly distended?   I said I hadn’t noticed because all babies had pot bellies (young mom with very little experience).  So they did blood work, and when the results came in, everyone went into high gear.  Her blood count was completely opposite of normal.  They tested for many things and we ended up in the NICU, then we ended up in Intensive Care, and finally in an isolation room.  Initially, they told us she had Neuroblastoma, and the doctors began chemo.  But sadly to say, after just one day, we could tell this was not going to help her.  The physical signs were so obvious that she was at the end of her life.  After seeking God through much prayer, we had the hospital turn off life support.  On October 27, 2001 our youngest child passed from this life straight into Heaven.  We were given the final diagnosis a month later and it was actually a rare form of leukemia.

I knew the only way I was going to thrive through the grief of losing my child was going to be through the healing power of my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I had already grieved the loss of a child my way and learned doing life my way doesn’t work.  I knew for my marriage to survive the loss of another child, I needed God’s help. 
During the time of grieving, rather than turning my pain inward, I turned to God.  I cried out to Him, and He heard my sincere need for Him to heal my broken heart. 

Also, my husband and I needed God to help our marriage stay intact, because this type of devastation can destroy a family.  We experienced that possibility after losing our first baby. 

To make a very long story short, God gets the credit for saving the life of the Mills family and keeping our marriage together.  We thrive today because of Him. 
I believe that God knew our pain because He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Savior of the world.  But in order for humanity to be saved from their sins, there had to be a sacrifice and that sacrifice was his son Jesus.  Jesus died as a way for me and all of mankind to be reconciled to God rather than separated from God.

God does not wish anyone to die an eternal death so He made a way for us to have a thriving life now while on earth and for eternity.  The life I am writing to you about on earth is a life of self-less-ness.  The life I am talking about for eternity is a life lived free from the bondage of sin.
Please consider what the Bible says in John 14 verse 6 when Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Also, please consider what the Bible says in John 14 verse 27, when Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. “
And finally, please consider what Jesus said in the book of John verses 10-11, “the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that you may have life and have it abundantly.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. “

Thank you for listening to a part of my life’s story.