My Story ...
This past Sunday at church we were encouraged to write down our conversation story and to keep it to four minutes in length (when you share it verbally). Well here is my story....
I was raised by a Catholic step-mother and an athiest father. We (my sister and I) attended whatever church was closest to the house that we could walk too. They wanted us out of the house for a few hours Sunday mornings. This left me confused at all of the different groups that we had worshipped with. During my eighth grade year in school my dad and stepmother decided to send me to a boarding school. Without going to visit any, they decided on Great Lakes Christian College in Beamsville, Ontario. I would be a boarding student and only come home at holidays. God surely played a hand at this decision. GLCC is the only "Church of Christ" backed school in Eastern Canada. It was a same school that most teens in the churches in Ontario attended. We had daily Bible classes that wet my appetite for more. That first year there I could not go home for Thanksgiving, my parents were taking a cruise, I got to spend the holiday with a local family and say for the first time how a God lead home should look. Wow, I wanted that.
The following spring the chorus that I was a member of, at the school, travelled to sing at local churches. When we arrived at St. Thomas in southern Ontario a group of college students from Harding were up working with the church during their spring break. That night one of the young ladies was talking with me about my faith and she answered alot of questions for me. At 1:30 am I was baptized. I had finally found my comfort and the God of my nana (father's mother). I was excited.
When school let out that June I wanted to attend the local church and had to find a ride. One wonderful family decided to pick me up and drop me off each Sunday. The first couple of weeks my folks were okay with it. However, they were not happy when I chose church before "sunday activities". Within a month all of my belongings were on the front yard and the locks were changed. My dad told me to chose and I did. Evan and Debbie Whittington loaded up my belongings and took me to his (Evan's) parents home. By the end of the summer they had "adopted" me and to this day I call them mom and dad.
God knew where I needed to be and gave me the strength to make the hard choices. He put me in a home where I would see Godly people raise their family and love each in their marriage. I knew that there was hope of not repeating the cycle of divorce and children out of wedlock that haunted my family. I have never regretted my choice. He has been faithful leading me to a godly man, allowing me to raise two of his children the best I can and giving me the support I need now with my health issues.
It is not a "wonderful" story but it is mine.
I was raised by a Catholic step-mother and an athiest father. We (my sister and I) attended whatever church was closest to the house that we could walk too. They wanted us out of the house for a few hours Sunday mornings. This left me confused at all of the different groups that we had worshipped with. During my eighth grade year in school my dad and stepmother decided to send me to a boarding school. Without going to visit any, they decided on Great Lakes Christian College in Beamsville, Ontario. I would be a boarding student and only come home at holidays. God surely played a hand at this decision. GLCC is the only "Church of Christ" backed school in Eastern Canada. It was a same school that most teens in the churches in Ontario attended. We had daily Bible classes that wet my appetite for more. That first year there I could not go home for Thanksgiving, my parents were taking a cruise, I got to spend the holiday with a local family and say for the first time how a God lead home should look. Wow, I wanted that.
The following spring the chorus that I was a member of, at the school, travelled to sing at local churches. When we arrived at St. Thomas in southern Ontario a group of college students from Harding were up working with the church during their spring break. That night one of the young ladies was talking with me about my faith and she answered alot of questions for me. At 1:30 am I was baptized. I had finally found my comfort and the God of my nana (father's mother). I was excited.
When school let out that June I wanted to attend the local church and had to find a ride. One wonderful family decided to pick me up and drop me off each Sunday. The first couple of weeks my folks were okay with it. However, they were not happy when I chose church before "sunday activities". Within a month all of my belongings were on the front yard and the locks were changed. My dad told me to chose and I did. Evan and Debbie Whittington loaded up my belongings and took me to his (Evan's) parents home. By the end of the summer they had "adopted" me and to this day I call them mom and dad.
God knew where I needed to be and gave me the strength to make the hard choices. He put me in a home where I would see Godly people raise their family and love each in their marriage. I knew that there was hope of not repeating the cycle of divorce and children out of wedlock that haunted my family. I have never regretted my choice. He has been faithful leading me to a godly man, allowing me to raise two of his children the best I can and giving me the support I need now with my health issues.
It is not a "wonderful" story but it is mine.
wow! -you have had an amazing life.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry your birth parents chose to not be parents like they should of - that must of been heartbreaking
but that is wonderful that your adoptive family was there, just when you needed them.