One of the wonderful gifts God has given SMC in this last
year is our custodian, Risa. She does a
great job keeping our church clean but she is also a woman of deep faith. She
shared her story with me and I was blown away. I asked her to write it up so I
could share it with you. It is full of hope. Sometimes hope is hard to find at so here’s is a little extra…
-Todd Martin
I was
a 22-year-old woman who believed she had tried the American dream. A new house, a new car, a new marriage,
nursing career, a new baby, but no satisfaction in all the things the world
offers. On my knees I cried out to
Jehovah God, “I’m 22 yrs. old, I want to die.
What is wrong with me?”
My marriage was failing, I was in depression and
anxiety. The doctor had medicated me for
my symptoms. My husband and I were in a
divorce and we had separated. I was at
work and asked the pharmacist, “What do you think about the drug Xanax?” You see I grew up in a home that my mother
medicated her pain and had alcohol and drug addictions.)
The
pharmacist stated, God does not give the spirit of fear, but of power, love and
a sound mind, 2 Timothy 1:7. I asked, “Jud, do you think He would give me
one?’ “He said, I don’t know, I will
send my wife to visit you.” His wife
came and gave me the gospel. Which, I
had heard before, but my Jehovah Witness (JW) teaching I had learned as a child
said, Jesus was only a good teacher. I was convinced I would convert Sharon into a
JW. I could go check out her Baptist
church than she could come to the Kingdom Hall with me!
Within
the next six weeks the Holy Spirit began to work in my life. There was a garage sale down the road with
old books. I thought, maybe I can find a
Bible before the date, the JW told me the “a” had been taken out. I found that Bible for a quarter! Rushing home, I turned to John 1:1, “In the
beginning was the Word and the Word was God!”
With my JW Bible lined up against a very old King James Bible, I
realized they had LIED! The word is God (not
“a” God) and that is Jesus Christ!
My
mind was now open to what the gospel was.
I still did not understand. I
would go out dancing with my friends on Saturday and say I have to leave early
or something, the church is drawing me.
After about 4 to 6 weeks of off and on church I realized Christ was
asking me to give Him my life, He wanted to be my Savior. Matthew 11:25-30, “Come unto me and ye that
labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I
am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest for your souls.” I received Christ in the fall of 1984 and
began to pray for my husband to be saved.
I
really had no feelings for him, but I had his child and had a desire to see him
changed. 48 hours before the divorce,
after me telling him, “Scott get out of my life you need Christ not me!” Scott
had called to Jesus and came back to the house and said, “You are right I don’t
need you I have Christ now.” This threw
me into a tail spin…Scott had lied so many times before. I began to pray, “Lord, I don’t love him and
he says he has you now, what should I do?”
The Lord was very clear with what I should do. You are forgiven, he is forgiven by me. Now forgive each other. 2 Corinthians 5:17,
“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things have passed
away.” So, 48 hours before the divorce
we rejoined our lives. Scott moved back
in and we have been married for 39 years, with two more children.
Risa
gives glory to God for all he’s done for her. If you see her around SMC bless
her for all she does and who she is in Jesus! -TM
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