This is not my first testimony, and it will probably not be my last. It is good to reflect on my own growth with the Lord. The beginning was very dramatic.
In 2007 I was a retired, active and happy woman who was looking forward to traveling with my husband. Then, in July of 2007, I was diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma. I was not particularly religious but found myself crying out to the Lord with an anguish that comes from that deep place of hopelessness. He answered me – I mean he actually talked to me. I did not like the pain and suffering that comes with a serious illness like cancer, but I did like the feeling of the Lord’s arms wrapped around me and hearing his gentle loving voice. Surrender can be so sweet. That was the beginning of my faith journey.
I had no idea what it meant to be a Christian but I was determined to know the Lord in a heartfelt way. I made a vow that Christ was going to become my best friend – and he has. I started reading the Bible and after the initial chemotherapy I started to go to different churches. In February 2008 I was baptized in a small church in Palatka – a church that did not have a baptismal font until the day I was baptized – God was at work. During that initial trial I could feel the Lord’s presence and he would talk to me and guide me. I thought it would always be like that. But He grew more silent and I slipped back into my old self reliant mode. Then followed a whole series of health crisis ensued partly due to the side effects of chemotherapy and I found myself turning to God once again. I still had not found a church right for me and prayed to God to guide me.
The day after I prayed they broke ground on Lifepoint Community Church – a mile from my home. I went to the church after it opened and joined soon after. I was hungry for God’s word and took all the Bible study classes. I was still struggling with my health and often was so fatigued it was an effort to do anything – but I kept going as best I could. I asked the Lord for healing and he told me clearly I was not ready. What?! Not ready! Then I got it. When I was ill I surrendered to the Lord, but when I became healthy I fell back into my old self reliant ways. So I vowed to become stronger in my faith. I was not sure how to do it and then God showed me.
In February 2009 I was asked to teach a Bible study class at a retirement community and God told me to say YES. I had been a Christian less than 2 years and now I was teaching Bible study! I turned it over to God and stepped out. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. My health has been slowly improving and my life is in God’s hands. I have a long way to go but I pray that the Lord will continue to guide me and kick me in the butt when I get off track.
Yours in Christ,
Mary Ann Maguire
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I had only been a Christian for about 1 year, and I ran a campground in Crescent City, FL. I regularly went to church on Sunday mornings and Sunday nights with my daughter, grandson and an older gentleman, Carl, that helped me do outside yardwork in the campground. I was very close to God, and I talked to him all the time. I prayed every day for at least an hour on my knees and read my Bible every day. We had all been to church one Sunday morning and gone out to lunch after church. We were just riding around enjoying the countryside and singing gospel songs. The subject came up about going to heaven – I don’t even remember how it got started. Carl said, “I believe I will go to heaven because I have always been a good person.” I didn’t know what to say to him. I didn’t think that he was saved, but I wasn’t sure until then. And I just didn’t know what to say.
The next morning, I was cleaning the shower rooms and bathrooms that the campers all used. I was down on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor and was almost finished when a voice said to me, “Go to Carl’s and tell him you can’t get to heaven by being good. You can only get to heaven by accepting Jesus as your Savior and by believing that He died for your sins and God raised Him from the dead. You can never be good enough to get to heaven any other way.”
I must admit that for just a moment I was shocked. So, I just thought to myself, “Okay, I’ll go when I finish this floor.” Within seconds, the voice said, “Go now!” I waited another minute and the voice repeated, even louder, “Go now!!” Then, I knew it was God talking to me. So, I jumped up and ran to Carl’s and knocked on his door. It was about 6:30 in the morning. When he answered, I told him what God had told me to. Carl then said that he had wanted to go up front at church during altar calls for a couple of weeks, but he had been scared and didn’t know what to say. I told him not to be scared or worry about what to say – just to step out in the aisles and go up there, and his friends would be up there to help him. I can’t tell you how happy we all were when church was over the following week. Carl did, indeed, stand up and walk to the altar to accept Jesus as his personal Savior.
About 2 years later, Carl died peacefully in my arms at his home. He was one of the finest men I ever met and I thank God that He gave me the chance to help him.
-- Mary M. Broxton-Gronewald