Pamela's Testimony

Hi! My name is Pamela and I was blessed to be raised in a church-going family. Sometimes, when sitting through a baptism and testimony service and I hear how some people have literally been rescued by God, I feel that my testimony is rather dull. My whole life I have known about God's love and his gift of salvation through Jesus. I can't say that while I was growing up that God was a primary focus in our household, although we did pray a memorized prayer before every meal and a memorized prayer before bed. However, I am thankful that my parents saw it as a priority to go to church each and every Sunday. Growing up, I was very involved in our church, attending and later teaching at our weeknight kid's club and also as a Sunday School student and later teaching as well. When I entered my teen years, I am eternally grateful for the friends and youth leaders of that time because I know it protected me from many of the teen peer pressure that so many others face during adolescence. I met my husband at the church we both grew up in (another reason I am thankful my parents chose to attend each week :)) and I am thankful that God blessed me with such an amazing soul mate and that we could grow up together. I was baptized and and became a member of our church when I was 16 and my relationship with God has had its close moments and moments where I feel distant from His presence. Currently, I am feeling the need to become closer to God and to also instill the importance of a relationship with God to my children. I feel that helping my children make a decision about their eternal home is a huge responsibility and if my life is not an example to them then I have failed in my job as a parent. I feel that I have improved in some of the ways that I feel my parents fell short of but I still have so far to go and my hope is that reading the Bible this year will help me grow closer to God and so be more focused on Him and His plan.

I know God is at work in my life and he has blessed me so richly especially in the last year. I just graduated with my B.Ed last spring and God led me to the most amazing job. I am teaching in a private Christian school where I am encouraged to share the message of salvation with all of my students. We just celebrated the Christmas season and what an amazing experience to be able to share the true meaning of Christmas. I see God at work in our family as He strengthens my marriage when so many relationships around us are failing. I see Him guiding and protecting my children and helping them to make good choices. I know God has a plan for me and my future and I am learning to be patient as He reveals it in His time.

My goal for participating in this blog is to actually accomplish my goal of reading through the Bible and to discover new things in it. I think this format (especially being accountable for a few studies myself!) will help me to stay on track. I want to deepen my relationship with God and make spending time in His word a priority. There are so many things in my life that push my time with God to the back burner and I want to change that...starting now.