When God encouraged us to write our testimonies for Good Word Project, we were excited to have the chance to share our faith journeys collectively. Each month our blogs share pieces of what God is doing with our lives, but never the full picture, which is understandable, since He keeps asking for and revealing more. As I sat to write I was faced with the same struggle, how do I tell enough of my story to convey all God’s influence and blessing, without publishing tens of thousands of words? Here goes.

I grew up in a family that prayed before meals, did nice things for others, and went to church weekly. Still, I never understood that the Readings correlated to the Bible until a youth ministry came to my hometown. I can confidently say they launched my faith journey. They connected the dots for me to desire a relationship with God, and how I could get to know Him through scripture. All these years later, I can tell you the date and who was in the circle praying as I accepted Jesus as my Savior.

Shortly after, I went out of state for college. I couldn’t rely on my hometown youth group because we didn’t have cell phones or internet. I tried to grow in my faith through campus ministries, and at the same time, enjoy the freedoms of college. Looking back, I wouldn’t say this duplicity was stressful. Some nights I would go worship God; on other nights I would head uptown to drink beer. I was wearing a Christian fish and a sorority golden key. It was who I was.

My life continued like this for years. I can share different phases of my faith journey, from using faith as an insurance policy (being good enough in case unexpectedly killed), faith as my cross to carry (not drinking freshman year of college), and even using my faith as a bargaining chip in hopes of healing a loved one. I’ve been a forever fan of U2, from the moment I discovered their song “40” is from Psalm 40.

Writing my testimony, I can see that there has always been a through-line, or maybe a gnawing in my soul, of my desire for more Jesus. I attended Bible Study in college, as well as during lunch breaks at the banks I worked for in Chicago and Cincinnati. I attended Mass and desired a husband who would attend with me. God continued to pursue me and truly got my attention with the pregnancy of our first child. I had accepted Jesus as my Savior 16 years prior, and as I was entering parenthood, I was finally beginning to understand the necessity of surrendering my wants to Him by ending some of the duplicity.

Those baby and toddler years were fueled by finding a church that fed our desire to know God more, learning scripture with a community of believers, and applying it to the current day. This led to a pivotal faith growth point, a women-only mission trip to Cape Town. To keep this brief, I received the supernatural Baptism of the Holy Spirit while at Sunday service in Khayelitsha, South Africa. I didn’t know what was happening when the Holy Spirit zapped and started pulsing through me, only that I didn’t want it to stop. Throughout the week, the Holy Spirit prompted a second gift from Heaven, the Great Commission was placed on my heart (Matthew 28:16-20). Then to pull it all together, on the day we were leaving, when I was empty and feeling far, far from home, God supernaturally spoke to me through a lovely lady named Petru: “’Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (Acts 4:29-31).

I share this portion of my story because friends have mentioned having similar feelings after being baptized. In obedience to God’s request for change, many of us have to surrender people or activities to race after Him! For me, it was amazing and empowering to have this purpose from God, yet also a risk. God was asking me to boldly wear my faith in my home community. It was scary yet life-changing, and I realized that I became unpopular to some. I wasn’t expecting this and it was hard as someone who loves to be out and about, talking to everyone. I found certain friends weren’t inviting me over anymore. Yet I could also see the good fruit that was appearing: blessings of writing opportunities, deeper friendships, different paths for my husband’s business, our children watching us, seeking the Lord, and asking to go on mission trips. I’ve since realized that their faith is farther ahead than ours was at their age. That alone is well worth the loss of popularity, even though it can still sting.

Throughout our lives, God will take us each on a journey to teach and test us. For our family, the next area was our finances. Through preaching and reading books on generosity and tithing, in 2019 we heard God tell us to change our tithe to 10% of our gross income. That was another uncomfortable step for me, yet I knew it was scripturally based (Malachi 3:9-12). This obedience prompts different conversations with my family and friends. From simple explanations “God doesn’t need our money, He has all the money in the world, but He desires our hearts.” To the deeper conversations about the freedom God has given our family by giving away more. Many know this passage from Luke 12:48: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

I’m sure God has more lessons and areas to refine me, but I also want to share how He has recently blessed me. I’ll close with two amazing stories that only God could orchestrate.

As I mentioned, my faith today is much different than the faith of my family of origin. Sometimes that makes me sad and lonely. In 2021, by God’s intervention, I met a blood relative who has loved Jesus since his high school days. He is well known in YoungLife circles and started the ministries of The Silver Ring and The Family Wins. He has brought hundreds of thousands of people to accept Christ. I never knew my cousin, Denny, even though I have fond memories of his mom and brother visiting. And because our God is a loving, caring, and generous Daddy, for the last 40 weeks of Denny’s life I was blessed with meeting him, recording our conversations over the last few months, and partnering with him on writing some final sermons. I am 100% confident Denny is waiting to welcome me into Heaven (1 John 5:10-13). Thanks to God’s provision, anytime I feel crazy for wearing Jesus on my sleeve, I know I have more to do to catch up with Denny’s legacy!

God did it again this April while I was at a large Christian conference. As I was making my way through a mass of people, a woman passed by. I stopped in my tracks, and had a conversation like this in my head: Is that really her? Or someone who looks like her? If it is, I better say something now, or I will not see her again. I called out, “Excuse me, are you Melissa?” and it was. What was the likelihood that my high school youth leader, whom I hadn’t seen in over 30 years, was walking right in front of me, 1200 miles away from either of our homes? And that it was in this space, not in a random airport or shopping mall, but in a Christian setting that I could say, “You are the one who brought me to know Jesus, and my life is how it is today because of your simple obedience some many years ago.” I am so grateful to God for using Melissa and Denny, and I look forward to all that He’s going to do as He continues to write my testimony.

Please pray with me:
Lord, thank You for pursuing me and offering me a place in Your family. There are so many more amazing scenarios and stories You have woven together to create my story. Please continue to dazzle me and my family, and to use us to create godly connections for others. Let my story spur others to write out theirs, so they too can boldly speak of You.
Your loving daughter, xoxox

💗 If you like what you read, please follow Good Word Project and share! 💗