Linda shares her unlikely story of coming to Christ, and the lessons she's learned since then about spiritual growth through suffering.
My first part of my story started when I was 13 years old, and I actually went to a Jewish temple, and it was the first time I ever heard that you could actually be a chosen person.
And I started thinking, why wasn't I chosen to be that chosen person? Eventually I just realized that if God really was there, he really wasn't interested in my life and he wasn't really involved. He kind of like set the world in motion and kind of like, okay, you're on your own, right?
And so I moved to Columbus and I was working. I have a great job, you know, opportunity to meet new friends, opportunity to, you know, do pretty much anything and the freedom that I could ever want.
But I was really lonely and I really felt like if this is all there is, I really have no sense of purpose. So I came to the conclusion, if this is all there is, I'm giving God a week to prove that he's really true.
I went to a movie on a Tuesday night and found myself on Thursday night in a Bible study. See, the things I didn't know was on Tuesday there was a group of girls who were praying for me, and they really wanted to find somebody who's open to knowing Jesus. And so I didn't know I was that person. So we went to a movie separately and they invited me to sit with them. I just started asking questions and they said, Well, come to this Bible study.
And I came to the Bible study. And this older woman was speaking about being transformed. You know, God in your life can transform your life. And so I wanted to have a transformed life, but I didn't know how. So I was watching all the people around me, and I was like, hearing them being open and vulnerable. That was the first time I ever saw anybody admit that they needed somebody. Right. So that very night I accepted Jesus into my heart and meaning. All I said was Jesus, I just want you there. I've done wrong. But I want the gift you have to offer. And it kind of started from there.
And so I got involved in different areas and I saw where prayer, you know, changed things. I saw where the word of God, you know, was living and active you know, I saw where the people in the church were still vulnerable. You know, now, years later, but they still trusted a living God and they trusted in his resurrection power.
So that really continues to feed my desire to want to know God well along the road. You know, life hasn't been all guns and roses. My husband and I have had some pregnancy losses, which were devastating to the point where I just told him, You can leave if you want to, because I knew he wanted to be a father and there was nothing we could find out to needed fixed. There is nothing that they could fix. But by the grace of God, we do have a child. And you know, it's been a joy watching her grow and become the person that, you know, she's supposed to be.
My husband has always said, you know, when I pray for spiritual growth, my wife always has surgeries. And so I've had a lot of different surgeries in my life. So I've asked them to stop praying.
And so we've actually gone through some hard times that actually draw us closer. But the best thing with my home church and with my husband, I get to do ministry and sharing my faith has been so energizing and I just can't get over the fact that I get to share the greatest gift I've ever gotten. And so with knowing God in a day to day basis, I've learned that I can trust his plans for my life. I can also, you know, say, hey, you are the God who sees me and sees me as an individual, sees my personal needs. when I spend the time in the Word and stuff like that, it's still a new discovery.
And this is after 42 years and the person who led me to Christ, we are still good friends 42 years later. And I am no longer lonely. I actually have a joy that I would have never had because that week that I met these girls at the movie theater was the week that I had decided that, you know, I'd commit suicide.
I found 40 years later, I would have missed the best part of my life. God's not so much interested in your comfort. He's interested in your character. And I was taken back by that because I was praying, hey, I am you know, I'm struggling here, you know, and this is so difficult. But through that, I know he has been changing my character.
And with whatever is going to come up next, I know I can trust him. And, you know, that's what the Christian walks about. And it is the funniest journey I've ever been on, you know?
So, that's me.