Before I was saved, I lived a life full of sin.
I used to drink, party, lie, steal, cuss, and worst of all, I took God’s name in vain so many times. I knew it wasn’t right, but not knowing the Lord as my personal savior, it didn’t really bother me.
I thought I was a pretty good person. I certainly wasn’t as bad as a lot of people I knew. I hadn’t murdered anyone, or robbed a bank. I tried to justify my sins by saying, “What’s wrong with taking a few motel towels? I paid for the room, so I deserved the towels.”
But I was gloriously saved in November 1995 at the age of 32.
When my grandma, whom I was very close to, died very unexpectedly, I was devastated. I remember her always telling me she wished we would go to church and especially take our 3 children to church. That just kept going over and over in my mind for months after she died. I didn’t want to go by myself, and my husband wouldn’t go with me, so, finally, I started watching church on TV.
We also had a salesman for Frito-Lay (Rick Saldivar) who always came into our gift shop and serviced our rack. He would talk to me about the Lord, the Bible, or anything else I wanted to talk about. You see — he was a very strong Christian, and it showed through his everyday life. He always invited us to church, but it was 45 minutes away, and my husband said he would never drive that far to go to church.
One day, after watching a church service on TV, the Lord spoke to my heart while I was walking from our gift shop over to our house. I wanted to go to heaven when I died, not to hell. I remember crying as I walked through the trees, and I just asked Jesus to come into my heart, to forgive me for all my sins, and to save me. He did!
Well, after I was saved, I still didn’t have anywhere to go to church, so I kept watching it on TV. I kept asking my husband over and over to go to church with me, and he wouldn’t. I started reading my Bible, but wanted to know more. I was so hungry to learn all I could about God.
One night my husband and I were out Christmas shopping, and while in a restaurant, I told him that I really, really wanted to go to church (I begged him). And it was only by the grace of God that he said O.K.!! I couldn’t believe it.
Well, we went to Rick’s church (that long 45-minute drive). I loved it there, and the Lord spoke to me the first time we visited there. As I sat in the pew looking around, I’ll never forget it. He told me, “This is it.” I knew this was the church where He wanted us.
After visiting the church about six times, the Lord broke my husband’s heart, and he gave his life to Christ also.
Ever since I was saved, it has been absolutely wonderful.
Not that life is perfect, but there is a joy and a peace from God that you don’t get from anything or anyone else. It is a life I wouldn’t ever exchange for my old life.
To know that I’m going to heaven, that I’ll live forever, is something for which I’m so thankful to God. I also thank God every day for his precious son Jesus Christ who died for me and everyone else.
