Dave and I fell in love and had a fairytale wedding. He had a great job, we moved into a nice home, and we had two beautiful children. Our life seemed perfect. We got sucked into the world and all it had to offer – money, possessions, success, status, praise, recognition, and self-exaltation. But many things began to affect us and our loved ones, including smoking, drinking, drug abuse, and alcohol related problems. Satan was relentless in a short period of time. Our life was not going as we had planned! We finally said, “We can’t do this anymore.”
Our journey to Christ began when we were visiting family in the cities. We joined them in attending a church called Grace Church. It was nothing like the religion we grew up with. It was the first time we had really heard the teaching of the Gospel. We wanted to hear more so we started watching the internet services every week since we could not attend regular services.
The following year brought a major tragedy. Our daughter Tess had a stillborn child. We did not know how to handle this or where to turn. Within a few weeks we went to the cities to visit our family to find comfort. Once again we attended Grace Church with them. The words that came out of the pastor’s mouth that day left us all stunned and brought us all to tears. In his sermon he said if we live our lives without Christ, it’s like having a stillborn, a life that never begins. God got hold of us and showed us that we had left Him out of our life together and were living a life that never began.
That child’s short life was the beginning of our walk with Jesus. He had been waiting for us to ask for His help and guidance because we couldn’t do it alone. He is our comfort and strength, consistent, faithful, and forgiving. Unfortunately it took a tragedy for us to seek God, but this is the best thing that has happened in our lives and we will never be the same. I thank God for our grandson. He didn’t get to spend time on earth with us, but now that our new lives have begun, we are guaranteed a place in heaven so we will meet again. Since then, our daughter lost her second child, but God has lightened the load this time and we trust in His plan.
When we moved to Fargo, we searched for a church like Grace and found it here at Bethel. What a blessing! God is on the move in our lives and only He can renew and restore us.