Do you guys want to really know me???

[Ryoko]

help me edit my testimony to give it on a mission trip this summer. Is there anything in here I shouldn't say? And, you get to know me in the process.

I'm formerly misao if you guys haven't figured it out yet,

here you go. It's in bullet style.

-I was raised in a christian home.

-My parents were not truely christians though. They only knew of christ, they didn't actually believe with their hearts.

-My parents were abusive. My father beat me when I was six because I wasn't able to take my pill. My mom had been trying to teach me how to take my medicine because I didn't know how to swallow pills and he interrupted. He beat me until I swallowed the pill.

- My mother yelled alot about anything. Nothing was ever good enough for her.

- My mother was saved when I was six, but she was afraid of my father and it affected her faith.

- My life was normal after that until I turned 10. I was going to a methodist church and had never heard the message of salvation preached. The church I was attending at the time did not allow Christ to move in it. It was spiritually dead. I went to a Baptist Vacation Bible school that summer and was saved. All my life I had known about God, but I didn't know who he was and I did not have a relatioship with him.

- After that my life was somewhat normal again until I reached the age of 16. This year of my life was when everything I had known came crashing down around me. On Feb. 2, 2002, my grandfather died of a massive heart attack. I was extremely close to him and it tore my heart apart. I also had the flu that day. The next day, I called my boyfriend to tell him what had happened. He broke up with me.

-About a month and a week after that, my father beat my mother and I called the police. My brother and sister were too scared to. At that point my parents were seperated. I bore the weight of the situation. My mother started to rely on my strength instead of giving her burdens to God. This was an extremely hard burden for me to carry. I was trying to figure out who I was in God and deal with being an American teenager and I was having to deal with my mother's problems too. During that year, I had an acquaintance die of a heart attack and a childhood friend die in a car accident. There were times I wanted to die. I would have never taken my own life, but there were times that I wished God would take my life from me.

- There was a scripture that helped me through this time. Psalm 138 :8 NIV: "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love oh Lord endures forever. Do not abandon the works of your hands." It was the promise I clung to during that time. I know that God does have a purpose for my life. I wouldn't be where I am today if it were not true.

- God brought me close to himself these three years since my parents seperation. We changed churches and my father recently accepted Christ. He's learning and growing slowly, but at least he is trying and we're making steps toward where God wants us to be as a family.

- God has brought me through alot that much is true. I will honor him and obey him. I surrender my life to him because he loves me and he cares for me. He has after all created me. To do anything less, would be for me to live in dishonor. He is my joy and my strength. I can do nothing apart from him. He loves me and you, too. Give him the honor he deserves, for only he can save us from ourselves.

[fire_senshi]

wow. that's amazing...i've had a pretty hard life too, but jeez...anyway, i'm glad that your experiences have brought you closer to God instead of driving you away. It takes a lot of faith to stick to something like that. I'm glad your life has improved so much too, I will keep you in my prayers and i hope things continue to get better. God bless you!

[Ryoko]

thanks, I think the reason it didn't drive me away from God is that I'm stubborn to a fault...

[Roy Mustang]

thanks, I think the reason it didn't drive me away from God is that I'm stubborn to a fault...

Well, being stubborn is sometimes a good thing. Its good to see that you over came this and didn't give up on God.


Wingzero22

[David]

That's an awesome testimony!! Being stubborn can be a blessing sometimes can't it. Be Blessed!

[Ryoko]

thanks you guys!!

So there's nothing I should take out when I give this to the congregation in Japan?

[fire_senshi]

No! This is totally powerful as is. Good luck on the trip!