My Walk with the Lord

I mentioned to someone that I desired to "interview" people for my blog......about their walk, their testimony for Christ.  That someone assertively stated that I needed to tell about myself in my blog.

Hmm.  Well I tend to think other people are more interesting than me, but I will try here, to tell something about my walk, and my testimony of traveling as His.

I was blessed to grow up in a functional Christian family.  My mother took my sister and I to church, and she taught us to pray at night:

I lay me down to sleep,
If I should die before I wake,
I pray thee Lord my soul to take.
God bless Mommy, Daddy, 
Grannie, Grandpa, sister....
In Jesus' name,
Amen

Mom also taught us good manners.  Daddy earned the living income, and entertained us.  My grandmother took me to church when we visited her.  Her and grandpa went together to church, three times a week usually.

I wasn't a GREAT reader in early elementary but I remember reading my Bible in second grade, about 6 or 7 years old.  I remember having an affection and warmth for my Bible.  I remember praying and feeling connected and grateful for the connection.  Christ was my savior and my faith was solid I thought.

I wanted to get baptized, but my family encouraged me to wait.  They thought I should be more mature.  When I was age 14, they agreed that I could get baptized, so I did.

I had a reputation in school of being very "straight," and a "Jesus freak."  I went to church as a teen, by myself often, or with a few girls that I picked up in the car my parents let me drive, because.... the rest of my family was not in attendance at that time.  I am sorry to say that I was too wrapped up in being a teen to have even tried to be much of an encouragement to them.  

I am grateful that the Lord did not stop His work on us there.  Today, I would say that actually everyone of my family of origin has a closer walk with Him now, than then.

I floated along in my comfortable little raft of faith,  that I had climbed on early in life, until.... my best friend cousin, got ill with a brain tumor during my freshman year of college.  Like a nightmare the sickness clung to her and changed our lives.  The tumor was fast growing and in-operable.  I spent my spring break during my freshman year of college, with her at a research hospital.

She was stronger than I was, and once when I got lost in the big hospital, trying to wheel her wheelchair to her appointment, and I started to cry, she soothed me and told me everything was going to be OK.  Despite our desperate prayers of healing, she died about 10 weeks later.

I was so very angry at God.  I am sorry of this now, but I can tell you that my Father allowed me to scream and cry and pout and sulk to exhaustion.  He allowed me to rebel, and ignore Him like I was a spoiled child.

He kept whisper calling me back into the comfort of His arms, and after  one or two years of major attitude from me, I began to settle down and long for the closeness with Him again,  but by this time, fellow-shipping with Him wasn't real cozy because I was preferring to live how I wanted rather than concerning myself with obedience.

When I met my husband, we were both age 27, and not wanting to give God much attention.  I liked that he seemed to be on a path parallel to my own.  (We were equally yoked.)   We both had experienced intimacy with the Lord.  I recognized the longing that he had in his heart, but we both were trying to ignore that part of our lives....like maybe until later.  

God used a series of events to bring us back to Him, separately.  Paul had his journey which brought him to his knees and to church where he was miles away, and his cousin got me to attend Wednesday night home-church.  The meetings with the loving and mature sisters and brothers, moved my heart.  I repented and rededicated my life to Christ privately, overwhelmed and grateful for God's mercy and grace towards me even during my rebellion.

Some time after that, Paul and I married. We  have raised our children in church, never being perfect, but always striving to make Him LORD of our lives and our family.


Every valley I have gone through, I can tell you it was never fun, to travel with a rift between my God and me, but every valley or storm that He found me through, and grabbed me and hugged me............. made me grow in appreciation and I can not say strength, but I can say WISDOM.

Before my prodigal child experience, I think I thought I was HIS because I was "such a good girl," and after my  drifting away, I realized that I was weak and incomplete, or insufficient with out STRENGTH and FAITH that HE supplied, so after growth, repentance and return to Him, since then, I know that I must pray and depend on Him, to "Please keep me supplied with faith and strength that I need."

He is faithful !!  Since then, He has again and over and over, been patient and loving, forgiving me, and constantly teaching me, growing me, molding me.  ALL of my hope is in Him, and I do not want to live this life with out Him.  In to His arms I commit my loved ones.  I pray for His will to be done, in our hearts, our lives, and all the world, as in Heaven.

Psalm 18:30
As for God, his way is perfect.

Psalm 19:14
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

At this point I would like to acknowledge some people that stand out in my mind, as having been used by God, to nurture and encourage or support my faith journey:
*my parents
*my grandparents
*my Aunt Pearl
*my cousin in law and love, Wadine
*my husband, who has always been my brother  in Christ
*various wonderful preachers and teachers over the years, including but not limited to  Doug Wilks of Robstown Texas (Hwy. 44 Church of Christ, 40 years ago), and Brother Gerald Pruett of Bear Creek Baptist Church, Cleveland Tx. (18 years ago who encouraged us to attend Sunday School, and eventually got me there)
*numerous wonderful Christian girlfriends who were the answer to my ♡prayers♡ <link, and all the women of my youth, middle years, and current years, as well as many preachers and teachers of the truth who have delivered the WORD.


Thank you for letting me share.

Tammy @

Grandma Mary Martha💖