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
What a Redeemer we have! Oh that each of us might proclaim the victorious stories we all have in Him alone, that the world would see Him and celebrate His coming through the precious mercy gates! Thank you so much, Gay, for reminding us that our Jesus is our Prince, and he has every intention of fighting for each of us, unworthy as we are. His love is so good.
Precious Sister, As many Siestas have written, God has used your story to bless and encourage us and give praise to the One and Only! Your testimony has caused me to continue to thank Him each moment for saving me from tragedy. To thank Him for the understanding that my destiny cannot be severed from my history. To thank Him that I am here not despite where I’d been (scary), but because of where I’d been and where I’d been delivered from…”for such a time as this.” Thank you, again and again. He is life, always.
Gay, Thank you so much for sharing how Jesus has rocked your world and loved you to distraction. It still blows me away how He loves us, perfectly! You will be part of my prayers from here on out. Sure hope that we get to hear from you along the way. You are loved, Lynda
Gay-its hard to express in words the emotions I have felt through your testimony. Thank you for your boldness and courage! Thank you Jesus for our dear sister in You!
Gay, thank you for sharing and baring your life in this way. It has been a great encouragement to us. Lord guide and bless your days.
Thank you so much for sharing. I will miss these installments by you. Looking forward to hearing from you soon! I am so glad your family has had the blessed experience of reconciliation. Praise the Lord!
Dear Gay, the only word I can form right now is WOW! Thank you so much for your transparency in sharing your testimony with us.There is such power in hearing a persons testimony of how our Merciful Savior saves! I love it!
Love you Sister,
Connie
Your conversation with God brought tears to my eyes (as most of the installments in your story have). Oh, why don’t we all feel that way…every day??? God, through his precious Son Jesus, has saved us and loved us and blessed us. We should all have Gay’s attitude, her gratitude, for all that God is and does. Thank you, Gay, for reminding me. Thank you for sharing your difficult story. The Lord has been glorified by your testimony.
WOW – thank you Beth for trusting us enough to share your beloved sister with us. Gay, your testimony has been inspiring, but I do not believe for one moment that this is the “final installment”. I believe Jesus has much more in store for you. It has been a great reminder that no matter the “type” of pit we allow our poor decisions to take us – we can shout because we have a Redeemer who is waiting to clean us up and set us on the straight path to acomplish His will in this life. I am blessed to be one of those and I am grateful for His Love for me despite myself.
Praise to The Lord our Savior!! Your testimony is a beautiful testimony Gay!
With Love,
Siesta Stacie
Thank you for sharing your wonderful testimony – I have two brothers who struggle with addictions and have lost their families as a result – it is so encourging to know it doesn’t have to be the end – God still has great things in store for them if they turn to Him!!! Please help me pray for them – so many times I get weary but I want to persevere on their behalf and one day – God willing – they will be able to testify of his forgiveness, grace, and love beyond anything we could imagine!!! Thank you dear sister – press on!!!!!!!!!!!
Gay, you have so touched my heart and I thank you for your boldness and honesty. Thank you for the love you have for our Father and fopr sharing with us all. Tears ran down my cheeks each time I read your testimonies/story and I can only say, Praise God for reaching you in time. You will be a witness to other folks so needing to hear and see the miracles that God can do in each of our lives.
Well done, my child.
Hallelujah! WHAT a testimony to our Risen Lord and Savior!! Gay, so many of us are in bondage – and it may not be drugs or alcohol – there are so many things that we can be in bondage to! I know that God will use you mightily in His kindgom. God bless you and your family, Gay. I am so happy that you are right where you long to be with your sons. . . Our God is faithful. . .He is a Redeemer of the time!! Thank you so much for sharing! And thank you for giving some of us who have children with drinking problems hope! If God did this for you, He can do it for my son, too! xoxo
Thank you so much Gay for sharing your journey with us.
I thought I could read your final installment this morning to my husband, needless to say a river of tears flowed as the words passed my lips, tears of JOY, THANKFULNESS and appreciation t o God for you and His work in your life and mine, as I am a former pit dweller also. God has indeed redeemed the years of my life the locusts have eaten. Jesus Saves is one of my favorite songs. Thank you for encouraging me and being willing to be used by God. You have blessed my life so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you! King of Kings we adore you! Love, Debbie
Thank you so much, Gay, for sharing your amazing story of God’s faithfulness and grace. What an encouragement it is. I’m so glad you are reconciled with your family and that you have a place like Mercy Street where you can have such a ministry to those who need all of what God’s taught you. I can tell that you have already touched many lives through sharing your story on this blog. I know you have brought great encouragement to me. I’m not enslaved to alcohol, but there are other areas of my life that feel hopeless. But when I read your story I’m reminded that with God, there is always hope. Bless you, sister, and happy 3rd re-birthday! 🙂
Thank you for sharing Christ’s story in yours Gay! Praise Him he has set us all free. Praise Him for His Love and Mercy. His ocean of Grace that overwhelms. I pray He continues His mighty work in you to completion and I’ll see you when we are complete with Him!
Thank you for sharing such a loving, powerful testimony! I am crying and rejoicing with you in so many ways! God is so loving, so forgiving, so awesome, so powerful, and so wonderful…it is so overwhelming! It is so beautiful how God took you and brought you this far, to bring you back home, to reunite you with special relationships of family and friends! Thank you God for all You do in our lives!
I run into my Master’s arms
and I vow to stay
He always seems to lift me up
Especially when I pray
Oh, life can be too much for us to bear,
things can get out of hand
But I run into my Master’s arms
And that is where I’ll stand.
Oh, not everyone will understand just how I feel
But peace has its resting place
Love has its home
And I know in my heart that He is very real
And I’ll never be left alone. ~joyce <3
Thank you Gay for allowing me and all the others reading your story into your journey. What a breath of life! Continue, dear one, breathing in all our Lord & Savior Jesus has for you, one breath at a time and smile, smile, smile. Your fellow sojourner, Beverly
DEAR GAY, WE ARE DESPERATELY GOING TO MISS YOUR INSTALLMENTS. I ALWAYS FOUND MYSELF ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT READING THEM AND SIMULTANEOUSLY PRAISING GOD, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEANT FOR US TO DO! HE IS ALIVE! HE IS STILL IN THE BUSINESS OF PERFORMING MIRACLES! HE IS WORTHY OF ALL HONOR, GLORY AND PRAISE! MAN, I JUST LOVE HIM TOO!!!!!
Incredible—– I hope you are thinking about writing a book, because I sure want to read it!!!
Marcy,
I was thinking the same thing. What a great read Gay’s book would be and how many more lives could be touched. Maybe Beth could help find a publisher- I think she might have a little experience in that area.
Also have to say-Loved the ARMY OF ANGELS. Need those for my brother right now who was convicted of a crime he did not commit. Waiting on the Lord and His ARMY OF ANGELS.
Linda
My heart swells with just joy – as the power of our heavenly Father’s love displays in your life – a story so real of beauty from ashes – so real of how sorrow dances with joy – so real of a precious woman redeemed and who knows it. Thank you for your willingness to be real, your incredible detail to truth, and your words of expression. I am blessed through your story – and pray you can only continue to live in the truth – of no (wo)man has conceived all that God has planned – can’t wait to meet you on the other side – unless of course – God allows it on this side. The peace of God which is above all understanding GUARD your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. AMEN!
My father was an alcoholic for years. He died one month ago yesterday and while I grieve because I miss him, I rejoice because I know he is celebrating with Jesus!
My dad drank for as long as I could remember. My parents divorced, he disappeared, and we had very little contact during for almost 8 years. 20 yrs ago he had major surgery due to a severe internal bleed because of his cirrhosis and then began contemplating suicide as he couldn’t drink and felt he had no purpose in this life. Five years later, I get radically saved and he thinks I am in a cult so he begins to read His Bible to prove I am crazy ( Jesus is just so cool !!). He ends up visiting my church and getting saved. That was 15 years ago. God redeemed my Dad, healed our relationship and brought honor to man who had not been honorable for years. He is a true miracle and God is such a redeemer! Tears stung my eyes as I read your story :
“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 … ”
YES and AMEN!! I thank God for giving this to my Dad before he went home. Before his surgery he told me, “I either come out and go to the house or if not, I go HOME. Either way I am good.” He is home, healed and worshipping face to face with His Savior and Redeemer.
Thank you for sharing your story…it has touched me deeply. Rejoicing in your freedom!!
Blessings
Nicole Graves
This is so, so cool. I’m sorry for your loss, Nicole – but so happy for your heart.
Sweet Follower of Jesus! Gay, your words have acted like tenderizing powder on my heart. 12 years sober after 18 years of alcoholism, I had almost forgotten those raw, grateful tears. You brought me back to my miracle — forgiven and freed from guilt, redeemed — loved beyond what I thought possible, and miraculously delivered, restored — with a healed heart, full life, and joy while I walk with Jesus.
It’s a miracle. WHAT A MIRACLE WORKER OUR JESUS IS!!!!!! Thank you, Gay! No…really…THANK YOU! You refreshed my memories and woke up my heart. I am in awe of the love of our Jesus.
KEEP WRITING!! We need you out here… Love you!
Reading your installments make me cry everytime. A big bold cry for Jesus. I once asked my sister I wonder what our “Bible Story” would be like? Well, you got yours and Praise God its still being written. Much l
Reading your installments make me cry everytime. A big bold cry for Jesus. I once asked my sister I wonder what our “Bible Story” would be like? Well, you got yours and Praise God its still being written. Much love to your sons.
I have been blessed reading your story over these weeks. It’s so refreshing to hear how God is still working in lives and changing people for His glory! Many, many blessings to you as you continue to serve Him wherever He leads you.
Teresa
p.s. I would love to see a current picture of you and Beth 🙂
i’m sitting here at work, tears in my eyes, reading this and rejoicing in my heart – over YOU, dear one, and the incredible Jesus who loves us. i’ve listened to Beth for many years and remember her saying things from time to time that i now understand were probably about you. what a beautiful thing Redemption is!!!! i love your mental picture of Him springing to action on your behalf – not worried over you, but oh so ready to pull you out of the mirey pit. you are a wonderful writer and i have learned from you how to better pray for those in my life who are battling addiction. i hope we hear from you again and again! this comes to you with great love and affection and admiration for who you are in Christ….brandie
Thank you so much for sharing your testimony. Whenever the first installment came I hung on every word and then anxiously awaited the next. You see, at the time I had a 20 year old son who had struggled with addiction for six years (that I know of) and your story offerred such hope. I am so happy to say that as I read your last installment I rejoiced along with you because my son has been clean for 30 days now. I give God the glory! He is pursuing God like never before. Your story and Beth’s teaching have been manna for me in this season of my life. Thank you for sharing and thank you for being real.
Oh, Gay, what a blessing it has been to read your series! It is so encouraging to see how far the Lord has brought you. Thank you so much for sharing your life with us! My prayers will be with you as you continue to heal and grow!
Breathtaking, Gay, absolutely breathtaking! Thank you for taking the time to share your story on here. I am sure that it was difficult at times to relive some of the dark parts of your story, but in doing so you have shone a light that so many needed to see. I pray that God blesses this sharing beyond your wildest imagination, and that many are brought to Him because of you.
It’s almost ironic how Satan tried so hard to destroy you, and here you are probably doing more to make God famous than if he had just left you alone to begin with!
Yes! V-I-C-T-O-R-Y! I knew even in the darkest installments of your testimony, the sweet day would come when we’d read of your VICTORY! Jumping for joy, Gay! God IS SO GOOD! Thank you, Sister, for sharing. What an AWESOME tribute to God’s power and love for each and every one of us!
Gay,
Your testimony has been such a tremendous blessing to me! You share with such abandon and such transparency. I praise our precious Lord for all that He is doing through you! And for all He will continue to do as you minister at Mercy Street and in your life in general. I am struck by how your story is a present day version of the story of the prodigal son. What a blessing it has been to journey along with you…thank you for sharing! You, like your sister, have been blessed with the gift of writing! I know the Lord will use that gift as well as you go forth in your life living for Him. Bless you, my dear sister!
In HIm,
Fran
Beth:
Thank you for putting all of the posts on this installment. I missed number 6. Thanks again for sharing Gay with us.
Gay: May God continue to richly bless you as you go forward in His name. I have been greatly moved by your sharing your heart as well as the comments from readers.
As I said before, I would love to read your book. Thanks for helping to change so many lives.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing! To God be the Glory!!!
Praise the Lord! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Gay and all siestas, Reading these installments has blessed my heart. Nothing is too difficult for Him….I need to be reminded daily, sorry to say. My two young adult daughters are currently not living their lives for Jesus and it is about killing me. My sweet Savior has tried to teach me much these days and some times my doubts get in the way. Please pray for my daughters, as well as me, during this season of waiting. I love you all.
Dear Gay,
Thank you for pouring out your heart and sharing this amazing story with us. I am in tears as I read your last installment. I too will miss hearing from you. God has certainly blessed you with a talent for writing and I do hope we will hear from you again!
I will be praying for you and know that God has MUCH in store for you! Praise His glorious name!
Love and blessings!
Gay, I’ve been in awe at what God has done in you and now through you! THANK YOU for sharing your testimony with such candor. May He continue to bless you so…
Thank you Gay for sharing your story. What a beautiful story of redemption! I have found your story to be so intriguing, a powerful example of God’s power in one’s life. I also hope you write a book because I’d love to share your story with some people I love. =)
Oh that you would know the gift your sharing is to me. Thank you for telling the truth
Gay;
I sit here w/ tears streaming down my face once again in pure joy and awe of our Lord and what you have allowed him to do in your life and thru you. The mental image of God sitting at his Desk strumming His fingers…. i had chills, tears and laughter all at the same time… and the command of Him sending His mighty heavenly warriors to you and the knowledge that even before that sweet cry of help was on your lips, God was with you, you just did not know it yet.But that He never left you. And the image of “his rescue squad” being sent to you by His command. If i never get a chance to comment to you again, please know I am so happy I was part of this journey w/ you for a little while and you have taught me more than you will ever know. I know that I know God is using and will continue to use you in a mighty way, because you have opened your heart and your very being to serve Him. May God Bless you and keep you and may his ‘angels’ in the flesh and at his command continue to protect you from the evil one. Jesus is real. We just need to look only at you. How can one doubt after hearing your story that Jesus is the real thing?!
Be blessed.
Oh Gay
I am a life that is changed by your life in Christ!!!!
Humbly
Deb
Arkansas
WOW!!! There is no way to adequately express my thanks to you for sharing your testimony so vividly and creatively. My son has struggled with addiction for about thirteen years and I am so grateful to God that you shared your testimony at this time. This year is his year to break free from addiction and your testimony was perfectly timed for his life. He has read all of your installments except “Jesus Saves” and will read that one soon. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!
Gay,
Thank you for sharing your story. God will use your story and experiences to reach others. Your willingness to share these details must have been hard, I am sure that God’s reward will be great.
Cindy
I will keep you in my prayers my dear sister, and pray that you will keep me in yours!
Your sister in Christ!
Dear Gay,
Not only are you a fabulous writer, you are a most excellent masterpiece, crafted by our loving Father’s hand! I read today’s post and experienced… Tears, joy, giggles, awe, sweetness… Which one first? All at once! You have blessed us here at Siestaville. Thank you for taking the time to share your journey with us. The really cool thing is that it’s not over yet!!!! Never met you face-to-face, but love you beyond words. Consider yourself hugged through cyberspace! Maybe one day we will meet this side of eternity, but if not, on the other side for sure!
In His grace,
Paulette
Thank you for sharing your story. Over the last month God has used it to it encourage me a great deal. You are a good writer and It’s great to see how God has worked in your life – it reminds me He is doing the same in mine! Blessings to you sister friend!
Gay,
I have followed every single installment of your story and I am so moved beyond words at the redemption and restoration in your words! You’ve given me more compassion toward those who suffer and struggle with alcoholism which touches nearly every family I know, including mine. God has truly used your history for his glory and that should encourage so many of us who have struggled to shake off our histories. It’s so important that we recognize that God can and will use it for his glory if we let him.
Thank you for sharing your story.
Marlys
Oh, Thank You! Thank you, thank you, thank you, for your testimony. How beautiful it is – and how wonderful God is!
Thank you so much for sharing your story of redemption with us! It encouraged me and reminded me of God’s unconditional love for each of us! Yes,
nothing is impossible for Him. Hallelujah!
And I agree, you should write a book!