I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior when I was a young girl around the age of 11. I have been in church all my life. Most of the youth at my church had gotten born-again right before I did so I did an unusual thing and refused to go forward simply because everyone else had. I didn't want anyone to think I did it only because everyone else had!! Well, God got ahold of my heart very quickly and wouldn't just let me sit still anymore. Don't get me wrong, you don't have to go to church and go forward on a Sunday morning to ask Jesus into your heart. That just happens to be what God had for me as a child. Anyway, I grew up and kept an ok walk with the Lord through school but I was never an outgoing person, let alone an outgoing, on-fire for God christian. I graduated high school and went into the Air Force because that just seemed like where I was supposed to go, it was what I knew (I had been in JROTC for four years). That was were my walk began to falter ever-so-slightly. By God's grace and mercy, though, I never strayed too far. You see, God loved me and even though I didn't always let others see that I loved Him, he knew that I was His child and He took care of me. I met my future-husband at his sister's wedding and I believe it was love at first sight. Of course, we've had our ups and downs but we've pretty much been together since that day. He lived in another state at the time but moved to where I was stationed soon after we met. We were married in May of 1991. We had a daughter the following January and she became very ill with bronchial-pneumonia and RSV. Thankfully she recovered but we decided I should be the stay at home mom and my husband should be the bread winner so he joined the Marine Corps. After almost 15 months apart, God sent us to South Carolina so that we could go to a fabulous little church and learn the Word. We had no clue why God would send us to Beaufort. It was not on our list of choices (like the Marine Corps ever looks at those anyway!! hehe) and we had never dreamt of going there. But, like I said, God wanted us to learn and He knew where we could go to do that. While living there, we were blessed with 3 more children, all boys, and friends that you could search an eternity for and never find! Recently, my husband and I completely surrendered our lives to God and are now waiting for Him to lead us. The future is always uncertain but we have put our trust in God and we know everything will be ok. Update on my testimony!!We just recently moved from South Carolina to Okinawa, Japan (that was on our list *smile*). We were a little worried because we knew that it was expensive to live here but once again those worries were for naught!! We received housing right away and God even led us to a new church within 3 weeks. What an awesome God we serve!!

A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ - someone who has a growing relationship with Jesus, tries to obey Him in all things, and draws on His strength to help with problems.

1) God loves you. Because of God's love for all persons, He desires that you have unbroken fellowship with Him. (John 3:16, Ephesians 2:4-5)

2) You are a sinner. All persons are sinners in that they disobey God. Sin is choosing to go your own way and do your own thing as opposed to being obediant to God. (Isaiah 53:6, Romans 3:10)

3) Sin seperates you from God. Sin forms a barrier that prevents youfrom entering into unbroken fellowship with God, Who is Holy. As an unholy sinner, you can't have fellowship with God. You are headed for a Christless eternity that the Bible calls hell. (Isaiah 59:2, Romans 3:23)

4) You can't save yourself. People often think that through their efforts they can overcome the sin barrier between themselves and God. That isn't true. There's nothing you can do to restore the broken relationship with God. You can't earn God's salvation. (Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5, Romans 4:4-5)

5) God sent His Son Jesus to remove the sin barrier. The death on the cross of Jesus Christ, God's Son, removed the sin barrier between you and God. Jesus died for your sins, taking your punishment on Himself. God did for you in Jesus Christ what you couldn't do for yourself. (I Peter 2:24, Romans 5:8, II Corinthians 5:21)

6) You can receive Jesus Christ through faith. Faith is trusting in what Jesus Christ has done for you rather than trusting your own efforts to restore fellowship with God. Faith is complete reliance on Christ to put you in right relationship with God, allowing Him to live His life through you. Faith also involves repentance or genuine sorrow for sin and willingness to turn away from sin. (John 14:6, Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9-10)

7) Through prayer you can trust in Jesus Christ. Admit to God you are a sinner. Express genuine sorrow or repentance for your sinfulness. Ask Him to forgive your sins. Invite Jesus into your life as Savior and Lord. Thank Him for entering your life. Commit yourself to live for Him.

Accepting Christ is the beginning. After accepting Him, be obedient by following Christ in baptism and by uniting with a church. When you do, you will find that life truly does have purpose and meaning. Talk with another Christian about your decision for Christ.

If you have given your life over to Christ today, or if you still have some unanswered questions, please e-mail me so I can pray for you and help you.