First Installment: Meet My Sister
Second Installment: The Functioning Years
Third Installment: The Maelstrom
Fourth Installment: Like Sunlight Burning at Midnight
Fifth Installment: Stepping Out On the Water
Sixth Installment: A Different Street
With a heart spilling over with affection and wonder, I hand you joyfully to my beloved sister, Gay, for her final installment in this powerful series. Don’t worry. I don’t believe this will be the last time you ever hear from her on this blog. I’ll get her to chime in here and there if she feels the leadership of God. But, still, this is a tender moment, watching her wrap up this gorgeous streaming testimony of Christ’s unfathomable grace. That same grace also saved and delivered me. Saved and delivered you, if you’ve let Him. If you do not know Jesus yet and you have never received the gift of His life offered for you on the Cross – a gift you cannot earn or deserve or be born into – and the power of His resurrection that strips us from our grave clothes and covers us in robes of righteousness, do not wait another day. Today is the day of your salvation. Get down on your knees, lift your face toward Heaven and express to God in your own words that, by faith, you willingly and earnestly receive His glorious Gift and desire to be saved, to turn from your own destructive way, and to follow Him. Believe with your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. And, Child, YOU WILL BE SAVED. And nothing – I do mean nothing – will ever be able to take eternal life from you.
My beloved big sister, I will let you take it from here. Words fail me to express my appreciation. We are changed by what Christ has done through you here. He alone will be able to give you a precise account of the lives altered. “My brothers (and my SISTERS), if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” James 5:19-20 You, Gay, have been this “WHOEVER” to so many.
And, now, from her pen…
Hi Sisters!
My life is so sweet today both on the outside and on the inside. Much has improved since I walked off the concrete. Improved would be an understatement. Wildly improved, exorbitantly improved, inconceivably improved would be far more expressive. Gregg was right when he said that we cannot fathom the dreams and plans that God has for us. Paul knew it too when he wrote his first letter to the Corinthians. God might have told him about it but my guess is that he had experienced it after he fell to the ground on the dusty Road to Damascus.
“However, as it is written:
What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived
the things God has prepared for those who love Him.”
1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV
When I got here in mid-April of 2009, all I asked for was sobriety and a roof over my head. I’ve said many times to many people, “Sobriety is the best gift I’ve ever been given in my life and if it’s the only one I ever get, ITS ENOUGH!!” And it would have been enough, Ladies. Quality sobriety has brought great abundance into my life: trustworthiness, integrity, self-respect, meaningful relationships with my children and siblings, employment, housing, improved health, the ability to feel, etc. I am so grateful for it that I sometimes burst into tears and I always, ALWAYS thank God for another day sober in my every prayer. I am still very clear that it comes first, that the devil is not very creative and that He hasn’t forgotten how to tempt me and lie to me in the same old ways. So I keep it first on my priority list, always. I never become complacent to the fact that I have the disease of alcoholism. It’s in my brain and all I have to do is tip that celebratory drink and the beast will come forth just like it did the last time. It doesn’t have to prove that to me again. (Step 1, by the way.)
However, sobriety is not all I got! I have gotten, first and foremost, a continually healing and fully restored FAMILY. Although Tut and I did not reconcile marriage-wise, our relationship today is one of acceptance, trust and solid teamwork where the boys are concerned. We are today – and will forever be – very dear to one other. I know, I know, we girls like a Cinderella story but really, don’t fret. I’ve got my Prince!
The two little boys in Sugar Land? They are just WONDERFUL!! The three of us are wound so tight that they sometimes wish I would pop free. Not happening!! They’re not getting rid of me, not any time soon anyway. Zach is now 26 years old, a graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design with a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Effects and has been gainfully employed since 3 weeks after graduation in 2008 as a 3D Render Artist. He is the best person I have ever known and never loses sight of his God-given purpose for this season of his life which is to take care of Josh. He has laid his life down for his brother and their souls are knit together as one. They will have that for a lifetime, long after Tut and I are called Home. God so wonderfully works all things together for good for those who love Him.
Josh is 17 years old and in his senior year of high school. I don’t know which one of us has enjoyed his senior year more, him or me. I’ve spent this entire school year with him soaking up every single minute trying to make up for years lost. I know that our days together are numbered now that he is becoming a man. There have been many miracle moments between a redeemed mother and a once abandoned child where I have so wished to press the pause button to freeze them in time yet a moment longer. He has grown so much inside and out, come out of his shell, become Josh apart from the rest of us. I have fallen head over heels in love with him as with his brother. One especially thrilling moment was during opening night of this year’s high school musical, The Wizard of Oz, on January 28th. I sat perched on about the 5th row of Rogers Auditorium as the curtain opened on Kansas. Josh had been cast as the Cowardly Lion just two months before. Although some of my family members have quite a stage presence, I certainly didn’t know Josh was one of them. I was impressed out of my mind that he had learned his lines. All of them! When he sprung onto the stage in all of his Cowardly Glory I squealed with laughter, cried for reasons unknown and cheered out loud all at the same time. I had seen him grow over the weeks but I was, in no way, prepared for fully Josh. He was confident, accomplished, ironically COURAGEOUS, adorable, funny and oh so entertaining. He was fully himself, fully Josh, fully alive. He stole the show and it took my breath away. I sat in awe during those miracle moments with my hands clasped at my chin whispering “Thank You, God” over and over again. I realized that God had not only healed me but that He was healing my son as well. Josh’s performance that night was brilliant with the absolute highlight being his delightfully humorous delivery of the song King of the Forest. How appropriate is that? Applause please!!!
One quick note: I haven’t had to preach to my children or grovel over my past mistakes. I have simply had to stay sober, be present and fully engaged, and shine the Light. God so masterfully takes care of the rest.
I also got the best job on the face of the planet, handpicked just for me. I work at Mercy Street! You knew that already. At around one year sober, I just so happened to be making my way through the still buzzing Mercy Street hallway that I had come to call home. I rarely got an opportunity to have a personal conversation with Gregg Taylor, most beloved, most popular “street” pastor. He most often has a captivated audience. But somehow (we all know how) I did this particular night. I was looking for a job, uh … an office job, and Mercy Street just so happened to have had their Administrative Assistant’s position come available that very week. Now, you might think that was mere coincidence but I have come to believe that coincidence is simply God’s way of remaining anonymous. That job was mine! I knew it from the minute Gregg spoke it and I cried all the way through the service that night. God meant for me to be employed at Mercy Street where I could most effectively carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers and to anyone who might have lost hope. I heard Beth say during the Esther series that our destinies cannot be severed from our histories. I was so perfectly placed at Mercy Street not despite where I had been but BECAUSE of where I had been, and where I had been delivered from.
When I got to New Hope 35 months ago today I looked long and hard at the steps hanging on the wall and my eyes rested on the words “a power greater than ourselves.” I was a weakling when I got there. I was beaten up, burned out and practically in a fetal position. The cat was a power greater than me! I didn’t need a power greater than myself — I needed a power greater than King Alcohol. I needed the biggest, baddest power of them all! I needed a great power with extraordinary muscle, strength and COURAGE. I needed the King of the Forest. I needed the King of the Universe. I needed the King of Kings…
“Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” Jeremiah 32:17
… so I set out to find Him through His way for my life that day and each day since.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity.” Jeremiah 29:13-14 NIV
On the 20th day of next month I will have 3 full years of sobriety. Wow!! None of us humans, especially anyone who knew me before sobriety, would have ever dreamed I would have YEARS of sobriety. The fact that I am walking through this life, taking care of business, parenting, working, paying bills, doing laundry, laughing, crying (and everything in between) SOBER after a lifetime of drinking is, well … a flat-out miracle from God!
I try to imagine sometimes what exactly happened in the heavens that night under the bridge. In my limited mind’s eye, I see Almighty God in the image of man sitting at a grand oak desk drumming His holy fingers across the surface among dozens of beautiful, INCONCEIVABLE plans, drawings and designs. He’s waiting, whistling and waiting, drumming and waiting, patiently but not nervously waiting. He’s known it was coming since the foundation of the world but I like to think that He gets a hint of sweet satisfaction in being the Boss and whispering, “Hurry up, Gay, we’re waiting!” I think that even before the aching, desperate cry of “God, please help me” fully crossed my lips He had already leapt from desk to chariot and, with a loud trumpet sound, shouted to His angel armies, “She’s ready! Go get her!!” He knew, even though I didn’t know, that I had surrendered and that I would be willing to lay down my own failed plans and follow the ones He had custom drawn for me, just for ME. Upon His great command, the armies must have flown across the heavens in all of His Amazing Glory to the intersection of Sabo Road and the Sam Houston Tollway where the first appointed angel stepped through the veil as Tut in the flesh. Or maybe the first appointed was Zach who, knowing where I was, had asked his father to go fetch me for fear I would die that very night. Or maybe the first appointed was Jerry who had gotten us from Galveston to Houston in the first place that rainy Spring in 2009. Who knows? Only One. All I know is that they were all appointed.
I did not do this by myself, Sweet Sisters. An ARMY of “angels” wrapped in human skin have helped me and were strategically placed in my life by Almighty God Himself. There is no amount of white space for me to list them all and some names I don’t even remember if I ever knew them at all. From the street to New Hope to The Women’s Home to Mercy Street to Living Proof — from Southeast Houston to Pasadena to Montrose to Sugar Land — from a power greater than myself to Jesus, the One and Only. They were and are everywhere if we only open our eyes to see, our hands to receive and our hearts to feel. I don’t believe that any two of us cross paths by mistake or mere coincidence. I believe that the positive, negative and seemingly insignificant people, places and situations add value to our lives based on how we respond to them and learn from them. Its all a matter of perspective, isn’t it? If we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change — being transformed by the renewing of our minds. I only hope to have the most honorable assignment of being divinely appointed by Almighty God Himself to reach out to a friend in need, a fellow sojourner, a perfect stranger, a ragamuffin, the hurt, the lost, the seeking. Here am I, Lord. Please send me.
I stepped out on my back porch the other morning and in more of a casual talk with God rather than a prayer I cried, “Oh thank You, oh thank You, God, for not letting me die before I got this, before I got You, this sweet relationship, this rollercoaster of a ride, this ebb and flow of faith, trust and sheer awe that leaves me begging for MORE. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this. It would have been such a shame to have missed this. Thank You for saving me so that I could experience this … experience You. You are the Love of my life. You are the Great Love of my life. And I am Yours.”
I know today despite my shortcomings, failures and imperfections that to Him I am Beautiful, I am Redeemed and I am Loved. I have been seized by the Power of a Great Affection. I have been Saved. I have been Forgiven. I have been raised from the dead to walk in New Life. I have been Resurrected. Wow! It just doesn’t get any better than that, does it? Not in this life.
I have a CD of Travis Cottrell in my car that I like to listen to LOUD. Track 9 is an old hymn with a new and wildly improved sound. The ending words have never once failed to bring on the tears. They go like this:
The redeemed will sing forever,
The redeemed will sing forever,
The redeemed will sing forever
Jesus Saves.
Amen and Amen.
Dear Sisters,
I thank you for letting me share with you my story or, better yet, Christ’s story weaved into mine. It has been one of the greatest privileges of my new life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for each and every comment and word of encouragement. This divine assignment has been quite a challenge and I needed you all to charge me on. You became like my angel army in this endeavor. Isn’t that so cool? I have watched you minister to each other and pray for each other and pray for ME. I’ve experience many miracle moments sitting at this computer, reading and typing and trying my best to let God speak to you through my mumbling and fumbling to express the Inexpressible. Our testimonies have much power, don’t they? People love to hear that Jesus still saves even today. We love to see tangible evidence of it too. We love to see living proof! Thanks Beth, for giving us this beautiful venue and for giving me an opportunity that would have only lived in my dreams. You’re the best! I’m pretty sure that I’ll never be the same after this experience.
And again, thank You, oh thank You, my sweet Jesus for loving me and showering me with Amazing Grace. I love you with all my heart. I am Yours always. All of me.
Loved you are,
Gay
I awaited this final chapter of your journey with such anticipation. And I say, Bravo Lord Jesus. You have encouraged me so much. I am giving my testimony before our church soon, and your story is so closely related to mine, I pray I can do the Lords work through this. Our stories have one common extraordinary thread. The life giving, merciful redemption of The Lord Jesus Christ. I praise him everyday for you and for me. There are just not enough words to express my humble thanks at your transparency. God bless, sister Gay. May his angels watch over you.
Thank you Gay for being brave and sharing your testimony of God’s love, grace and mercy. You have ministered to me and others far more than you can imagine. God is still in the life changing miracle business. Thank you for reminding all of us. GLORY!
Thank you Gay! What an amazing testimony…you have such courage and faith. You are an inspiration to many…I too say the same prayer…God use me! May the Lord continue to amaze you! Blessings to you and your family…thank you for sharing!!!
xo
Thank you Jesus!Thank you Gay for sharing your story. It strengthens my faith. Every time I finished reading an installment I couldn’t wait for the next one. Please let us hear from you soon.
I’m a sucker for a happy ending and have cried tears of joy reading Jesus’ love story over Gay. Praise Him! Thank you again for sharing with us. You are a treasure indeed.
With love and joy, Jill
Your chronicle has impacted me in ways I can’t express. Above all, I want you to know I’ve just entered into a counseling relationship with a woman whose story is so incredibly similar to yours. I have given her the links to your testimony and am praying and impatiently waiting to hear how God speaks to her through your hope-filled words. Your mighty proclamation of freedom will blow the doors off many prisons, of this I am confident. Thank you for inviting is in.
Happy Anniversary my dear sister. What a victory….in Jesus.
Praise HIS holy name!!
Thank you, sweet Gay, for sharing your wonderful story. We all have a story. Praise God for blessing you so graciously. Looking forward to meeting you one day….either on this side or on the other side!
Bond Servant for Christ,
Patti
God is shining through you, dear sister, and He is so beautiful.
I am rejoicing tonight alongside of you, Gay! I am so very impressed by the intervention of God in your life. Your posture of continued surrender each and every day to the King of kings is a remarkable feat. One I can attest is the greatest feat to accomplish. So very proud of you I am and even more pleased that your relationships with your FAMILY have been restored. Only God can accomplish such. You see, I am a child of an alcoholic father who has never been strong enough to overcome the disease. One day though, in the sweet by and by, he will be free.
We love you and appreciate witnessing His strength in your weakness. Stay strong!
I have been so blessed by your journey. Thank you for sharing it. Father, God thank you for Gay!
Gay,
You are a treasure! With tears of joy streaming down my face, I give praise to our sweet Jesus who is using you in a mighty way! Love to you dear sister.
Beth & Gay, Thank you for your willingness to share your life stories and be so real and honest with us. Our God SAVES!! Oh What A Mighty God!!
Grace upon grace…. amazing grace! Isn’t it wonderful that He lets us extend it to others after He has set us free? Awesome!
Thank you for sharing so openly. Only eternity will reveal how many lives were gently shoved in the right direction by reading. — I pray on for the “tough cookies” in my family… there day is coming!!!!
Oh, my, Gay…what an awesome ending to an awesome story. Thank you for sharing the yucky with the great. Your story could be mine and many others; but I thank God that He ended mine similarly to yours. We are blessed beyond anything we can imagine, and I know that my redeemer lives! Praise God for you and your life.
Your story gives me such hope for those I love who battle alcoholism. Keep telling your story!
Wow! and Wow! My alcoholic brother was sober for ten years while being caregiver to our elderly parents until their deaths at age 90. Within a year, I found evidence that he was again feeding the beast of alcoholism, always denying that he had a problem. And all the while, continuing his Bible Study and prayer time and talking about going to heaven one day. How tormented he must have been! Your story, Gay, brought chills to me! I will never know why, but now two years out from it, I see God’s hand of mercy in calling him home as he took a nap one afternoon after work. For some reason, God chose to spare him the enemy’s torment, and reunite him in heaven with loved ones. Thank you for sharing your story. Even though he is gone, it helps to understand my brother more clearly. Bless you as you continue to minister to others.
wow. Wow. WOW!
God! You are SO good to us!
thank YOU for the redeeming love You brought forth in Gay’s life. You alone are so worthy of praise!!!
thank you, Gay, for sharing your story. It’s not one i will soon forget.
jackie
Gay,
Thank you for courageously sharing your story with us. As a 27-year-old, 3rd generation Christian who lives in the Bible belt (and a Christian school teacher, to boot!), I have to fight against a kind of weak faith that threatens to overtake those of us who have had it “easy”– and I find it’s not real faith at all. By sharing your story with me I am reminded that BUT FOR THE GRACE of God, I would be in heaps of trouble. I’m sorry for the pain you’ve suffered, but thankful for God’s glory shining through your circumstances. Sometimes the most powerful thing is a clear picture of what I’m saved FROM. God’s richest blessings on you, Gay. May He reward your faith and courage.
Dear Gay,
I’ve been reading this blog for at least five years, and I can honestly say that out of everything wonderful and touching, life giving and truthful, that has been written here, your story has touched me the deepest. Thank you for living your redemption story so beautifully. Addiction has had it’s grips on my loved ones for as long as I’ve been alive–it’s always a question in my mind if it’ll grip me as well. For now, I’m choosing to walk in freedom, and not drink. There are days that it’s a struggle, but thankfully, God is moving and active in my life.
Surrendering daily,
Teri
thank you gay. incredible.
Oh wow! Gay, thank you so much for having the courage to share your story, and thank God so much for redeeming your life so that you can help others. I have loved every installment of your story. You have a gift for writing; please continue to do so. Thank you, thank you, and may God always bless you. Your siesta sister loves you right back!
I, too, looked forward to each of your installments and cried from start to finish. I know we will be hearing more from you. Can’t wait to see what He has in store for you next, Dear Sista!
No other words than just Thank You for your testimony!
God is so AMAZING!! Your testimony proves it! My husband and I are the Ministry Leaders
for the Celebrate Recovery ministry in our church!! Hearing stories like yours is what helps others
in their recovery! Keep sharing it everywhere you go and let God continue to use you!
EXTRAORDINARY! The Glory and Presence of God filled every word and reached deep into my soul. Thank you for giving so selflessly of yourself to us, Gay. You have blessed us greatly. God IS a miracle worker. Today and forever. Praise Him!
Gay,
Tears of joy and gratefulness…
Thank you SO much for being willing to share your journey back from captivity.
The LORD be praised for all his lovingkindness and mercy to us all.
I STAND amazed, sister! Blessings as you continue to serve and minister in His name.
I wept with joy when I read the last words your wrote here, Gay. God is so good! I love Him too! So much. Thank you for being willing to share your story. I know it will be a blessing of encouragement to others out there. I have shared your story with other friends I know that needed to hear it. Really hope they will read it for themselves and be truly touched. To God be the Glory!
love-n-hugs,
Thanks Gay for sharing your story. May our Lord and Saviour continue to use you for His glory. Blessings on your continued journey.
Gay, you are precious!!! You have ministered so deeply to my heart. Thank you, God!
Please keep writing – stay in touch with the Siestas.
One day at a time,
Rebecca
Gay,
I have cried my eyes out over your posts and have waited anxiously for this final installment.
“I haven’t had to preach to my children or grovel over my past mistakes. I have simply had to stay sober, be present and fully engaged, and shine the Light. God so masterfully takes care of the rest.” WOW! I love that! These words resonate heavy and deep in my soul. What wise words for all of us who are parents.
No mind could have conceived how your story would turn out. I know your whole family must be be over the moon at your hard work and the complete transformation in their beloved. I do hope you will continue to write, speak and share your incredible testimony to a hurting world that desperately needs the Jesus you are clearly in love with.
Much, much love my Sister in Christ,
Jennifer
Thank you for being so courageous, vulnerable, and real. Your strength, story, and love for God is inspirational. I believe God is going to use you (continue to use you) in incredible and amazing ways!
Thank you Gay for sharing your story. I have wanted to respond to your writings so many times but have not known how. My father was a prescription drug addict for 35 years. It has torn my family apart in so many ways. Glory to God for restoring your family relationships. It truly is amazing and I hope and pray for the same for my family. God Bless you and thank you for your courage to share your story with us here in Siestaville.
I have nothing but tears- rejoicing with you, said a prayer for you!
Amen, Thank You and PRAISE YOU LORD!!!
BLESS you, Gay!!!!
Bless you Gay…what a wonderful, wonderrful, encouraging God story. I celebrate Him and what He has done for you and will do for others.
Debbie
P.S….and celebrate you’re surrender and submission to Him — war is hard but you have been and are a princess warrior in your surrender and it inspires other…thank you!
Gay, I grew up just around the corner from Sabo and the beltway. I drove past it on my way to and from school at a minimum everyday. I can recall many times in my young life seeing people under that bridge and in that area. People suffering. Looking like they had nothing and no one. It scared me as a kid. I often wished I didn’t have to see that – it scared me. I wondered why they didn’t just go somewhere else. But your story, it took me back in time, to my childhood, to a time when I knew God but not really yet, it made me see that the person laying there half dead was someone’s mom, someone’s wife, someone’s sister. And not only is that person hurting but there’s a whole family hurting. If anything you put tenderness, compassion, empathy, sorrow, and countless other emotions on my heart for the person who is lost in a mess so bad they can’t even see how God would find them. Praise God you’ve been redeemed and have the courage to share your story with us. God bless you and your family!
Dearest Gay,
This post was bittersweet for me to read. It was exciting to read your final thoughts on this blog regarding your story of grace, restoration and redemption. But it was also difficult to know it was the last installment. It was a powerful moment when I read “if you change the things you look at, the things you look at change”. That resonated with me to the tips of my toes. I loved reading about your time with God in the backyard and at your son’s play when you poured out your gratitude. You are authentic and utterly refreshing. Thank you so much for letting us in and allowing us a front row seat at the story that is your life. I’ll never forget it. Please come post again.
May you continue on this path of sobriety all the days of your life and may Jesus always get the Glory for all that you are and ever will be.
Blessed to be a blessing!
Shelly
Dear Gay,
Tears of gratitude to our Great God spill down my checks as I rejoice with you, with your sons, with your siblings, and for the many who prayed for you WHILE you continued walking away from God and His help. We must Never give up or give in to thinking God can’t change our loved ones, regardless of the length of time we pray for them. I have prayed for my son, Chad, to return to The Lord for 20 years. Thank you for being vulnerable and sharing your own Damascus Road experience with us as it give us hope as we pray for others.
Gay,
Your description of God saying to His angel armies…”She’s ready! Go get her!” especially thrilled my heart because of my own experience of Divine rescue. Though Satan is not creative, he is relentless, and hearing of your experience & the re-reflecting on my own that it has prompted have encouraged me greatly in pressing on for Christ Jesus.
“A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” -Proverbs 11:25
Thank you Gay for generously sharing your story. In doing so you have refreshed me and many others I am sure.
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.” -Numbers 6:24-26
With much love,
Pam
Thank you, Gay! Your story is beautiful because of Jesus!
Thank you for letting Him speak through you!!
I don’t know when I’ve read a word picture that tore my heart straight open more than this one:
I think that even before the aching, desperate cry of “God, please help me” fully crossed my lips He had already leapt from desk to chariot and, with a loud trumpet sound, shouted to His angel armies, “She’s ready! Go get her!!”
So grateful for you.
Thank you so much for sharing your inspiring testimony ! As a mother of an alcoholic it gives me hope. It is beyond painful to watch my 32 yr old son waste his life and because of bitter disapointments and poor decisions we are all suffering with him. I gave him to the Lord before he was born and he gave his heart to Him as a child and I believe God has a wonderful plan for his life too…….”with God ALL things are possible.” I am rejoicing with and praying for you that God will send many in need your way so you may show His glorious love and deliverance ! ….and I hope we will continue to hear from you often as the Lord leads…my God bless you “over and above all that you could ever ask or think!”
Thank you, Gay! You are truly beautiful and blessed. I am frustrated at the lack of words to express how I feel reading your brave testimony. It would take days to pile them all on! I wish I could give you a big hug!!!
Through your fabulous sister and nieces and now you, I hear such hope and sympathy and love and am ever so grateful to God for bringing you all into my life, even through dvd and blog. 🙂
May God continue to teach and bless you and give you His strength every minute of your life.
Wow. Gay, I haven’t left a comment on any of your posts yet, but I have waited eagerly for each new installment. Thank you for sharing your testimony about God’s sweet, amazing, powerful mercy. It has been so encouraging. I love you.
Gay, thank you. I have a friend who has been in rehab for the past month. It’s a 9 month program and she’s ready to call it quits. Pray for her please. I plan to print all your entries and mail them to her; no computers allowed where she’s at. From the bottom of my heart I thank you.
I so needed this encouragement today. Certain Scriputures you put in your post I really needed to hear again today. There is so much I do not understand, but what I do know is that nothing is impossible for Him, so I will cling to that. I have to! Last week and this week have been so hard, so confusing, and I need Him!
We just finished session 8 of James last night. I plan to forward this blogpost to the group. The timing is perfect.
Also, I have been printing these out and sharing them with the wonderful woman who hosts the NA group here. We just ended up in conversation one day and I asked if she was familiar with the blog and you sharing your story. She was not and when I began to share she asked if I could print them as she has no computer access. So your story is encouraging people even beyond the length to which the internet reaches!
Thank you for sharing. I especially loved the part about God waiting over His plans and asking you to hurry! So encouraging!
Dear Gay
I have read each of your installments with joy and celebration. We belong to such an amazing Savior! Words are so limiting in attempts to describe Him and the miracle of His love. You spoke of Travis’ song “Jesus Saves.”. I share your love for this particular song. God spoke to me at a really low time in my life through these same verses. ” Day is breaking, night is quaking, God is making all things new! Jesus saves!” Praise You Father. Thank you for this sweet, precious sister. Thank you Gay f