Hello

I never really felt I had a testimony to share because most of my life has been “normal” and I have been very blessed. I came from the typical family, hard working parents and was always quote on quote the “good girl.” I didn’t smoke, do drugs or get into any real trouble. You know the quiet shy student who teachers forgot about? Yes, that was me!! I thought I was pretty good and in a good place (in my life, what I was here to do etc), until the day God brought Sheri-Lynne into my life. You see I work in long term care as a Recreation Programmer, so during the pandemic when no families were allowed in you can imagine how busy we were with Facetime, and Skype calls. My place of work hired RCA (Resident Care Aides) temporarily to help us out. The day Sheri-Lynne walked into my life I can honestly say it changed for the better. I feel God placed her in my life for a reason, He knew deep down I was struggling even though it didn’t show on the surface (and I am not even sure if I knew). When I found out she was a Pastor’s Wife, I thought to myself, okay Stacey you need to be respectful and not swear around her (my parents raised me to be respectful of others and their feelings). You see I had quite the “potty mouth.” I can honestly say I did try, but it just came out when I was frustrated (I remember Sheri-Lynne saying to me one day it doesn’t make you sound smart, listen to how you sound, so I did and of course she was right!). It was around this time that I was dealing with a lot of anxiety, fears, and insecurities about myself. I would get anxious over little things, (tend to over think and over analyze every little thing) and always needed to keep myself busy because when I had down time, the mind battles would start. I didn’t really know how much this was affecting not only my life and health but those around me. I would start pushing the people I loved away with all the over thinking I was doing about our friendships, my worth etc. It hit me that I didn’t really know who I was anymore or why I was here. Let’s back up a bit to me attending church. Sheri-Lynne invited me to church many times, and I was like yes maybe I will try..haha not really intending on going of course. Finally, one day I gave in and said sure I will come. Now I don’t really remember going to church, maybe Sunday school a few times, so I had no idea what to expect. I can say I will not forget this first real experience. Church started at 11 and I was sitting in my car texting my friend at 1045 saying do I go in now? I have no idea when to go in? I don’t want to make an entrance…right then Sheri-Lynne who already knew me so well texted me saying you can come in now if you are sitting in your car haha!!! I went in cautiously not knowing what to do and not wanting to stand out or do anything that made me uncomfortable just to fit in with everyone. I recall giving her my stipulations of sitting in a back corner somewhere, and low and behold she saved me the corner seat in the back. As the service started, I remember thinking I have no idea what they are talking about (this verse, that scripture, Psalms) and the worshipping part I was like what are they doing raising their hands I will never ever do that. I sat there quietly trying to make myself as small as possible. I believe it was when they did an alter call (what is that?) that Sheri Lynne said she wanted to pray with me, and I was like sure; So, I let her carry on not really knowing what to expect.  After the service, I wanted to run away as fast as I could, but people wanted to meet me as Sheri Lynne had told them about me. Now if you know me, I absolutely dislike small talk, when you are a shy person, this is very difficult to do and try to relate to others. I will never forget one person in particular (Sarah) started talking to me and in my mind, I was thinking please stop talking as I don’t know how to respond to you. Eventually as I kept attending, determined to give it a chance, it got easier to talk to people and fellowship. Fast forward to a couple months later, when I was saved in October (it was on Thanksgiving), I will never forget repeating the prayer that Pastor was said. That day changed my life forever in many ways! As I became more comfortable in my surroundings and learning all the terms alter call, offerings, tithing etc I found myself starting to change on the inside. Little by little God was working in my life to mould me into a godly woman. It was really encouraging to have all my brothers and sisters around me, checking in on me and helping me to continue moving forward. Slowly, day by day I was gaining confidence to follow my walk with God. Attending bible studies, prayer mornings, and fellowships, were outside of my comfort zone, but all of this started to help me become disciplined and move forward. Fast forward to July 2021, and I made the big decision to get baptized, even though I didn’t really understand it all at first, but I knew I wanted to give my life to Christ, I wanted more and more to be like him. The days leading up to the big plunge (haha), had me so nervous as I was told I would have to give a small testimony of what God has done in my life. Public speaking is not something I like or am good at. I must have written out 5 different versions of what I was going to say, and when the big day came all of that went out the window (with nerves) and I said something short and sweet before I was dunked. I have slowly started to realize how much I want to be like Christ. When I pray and read my bible first thing in the morning, my day is so much better, the days when I must miss church has me feeling down and depressed, I need Christ in my life, all of us do!! Needless to say; my swearing days are over. I am still dealing with mind battles every now and again but knowing Christ is beside me giving me strength helps. I have learned to quote scripture (I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me) when the mind battles start or when I am getting overwhelmed. God has taught me how to calm myself, think before I react, and how to handle situations in the right way and not the way I was used to before. I have also learned to humble myself and apologize when I am in the wrong. I will not say that it will be all butterflies and lollipops, because nothing in life that is worthy and important to you is easy. Having Him by your side does make it easier to get through the trials and tribulations. You will experience them as God wants to help you grow and learn in certain areas of your life. When I stop and think about what He has done in my life, the list is too long to go through them all. I thank God everyday that He brought all these amazing brothers and sisters into my life to teach me his word and to support me on my walk (and vice versa). My hope is that I can help spread the gospel to others and let them know all about Christ and how he died for our sins. We all need Him in our lives and to find salvation. God has changed me and continues to mould me into a virtuous woman. What will you allow Him to do in your life? It’s your choice but once you go forward you will never look back! I will keep praying that we bring more people to God and His word!