Christianity Oasis Forum

[bigcityfox99]

First of all my grammy died of cancer when I was too young to remember and my mom was mad at God for a long time. That is the reason I didnt grow up in a church home.
And second, my mom and dad got a divorce when I was too young to remember so I grew up without a father. I needed my dad a lot and he was never there for me. Never paid child support, never gave me a phone call, never told me he loved me and I was very angry.
I had a pretty decsent childhood despite the fact I didnt have a dad and my mom never took me to church. I even got invited to church by friends a lot of the time, so I wasn't completely out of church. I dont remember when I started believing in God, but it was somewhere around this time.
Little did I know my life was about to take a turn for the worst. I wasnt even prepared for the challenges I would be going through during my teen years...
When I was about 13 years old I started having panic attacks, like 15 to 20 a day And I was scared to even go outside. I spent most of the next two years in a closet. I even painted the inside because I spent so much time there.
It got so bad that I told my mom I didnt want to live anymore. I was so tired of being scared of EVERYTHING. I couldnt even have peace when I was asleep b/c of my nightmares. She took me to a therapists and they diagnosed me with panic disorder with agoraphobia.
I gained a lot of weight b/c of the pills and b/c I couldnt be active anymore. I was too scared to go outside, and ppl freaked me out. I hated the way I looked and I hated the way I felt taking meds...so I weined myself off of them with my docs permission.
When I was about 15 years old I started using drugs to regulate my fears. It helped a lot, and I fell in love with marijuana. It made me feel so calm, and relaxed...a feeling that was new to me. I started making more friends b/c of the drugs and I felt so cool.
A little while later I slowed down on the drugs because I really didnt have enough money to support the habit. So I quit all together except when a friend would invite me or whatever. So about this time one of my good friends started inviting me to church, but I always said no.
I'm not sure why, but one day my good friend came over to invite me to church again, and my mom said "ya know monica, if you dont go to church with him hes going to stop asking" So I went, and I absolutely loved it! I had so much fun and it made me feel so good to be in church
again.
So my life was going good again, I was going to church, I had quit using drugs, everything was perfect. I started inviting my mom to church and after months of trying, finally got her to come, and she loved it too! So everything was just great, I'm going to church, my mom is going to church. Awesome!
So I guess a couple months after we started going to church I got invited to a church camp in North Carolina. Everyone said it was gonna be fun, so I decided to go. That summer we headed off to church camp. The preacher there was amazing and this is when I got saved. I was so happy.
When I got home I was on fire for God. I started handing out tracts to every1 I knew. I started telling every1 about how wonderful God was and how I had gotton saved. I was pumped. When school started I was handing out tracts to everyone. I was so enthusiastic about it I got in trouble for it.
They told me I couldnt tell others about God and I got very discouraged. I couldnt believe that it wasn't allowed! I pretty much lost my fire. I started loosing friends, and I was in high school now. I got really depressed and I
even stopped going to church.
My senior year in high school I started using drugs again and got really hooked this time. I smoked every chance I got. I would even get high before school. I never said I didnt believe in God, but I was definatly
pushing him away. I never listened to him anymore, I just did what I wanted to do.
I kept using drugs all the way through college. I met my idiot exboyfriend and we dated for a couple of years. I changed my major and went to a diff. college. This is when I decided I'm going to have to straighten
up. So I quit using drugs and I told myself I was going to have to grow up.
I graduated and recieved my Registered Dental Assistant cerificate. I was so proud of myself. I got a job shortly after I graduated and I was a completely different person. I grew up a lot and made a lot of changes. I dumped my boyfriend and got involved with a different church. And here I am.
I lost all of my old friends when I stopped using drugs, so the only friends I have are right here at oasis. I'm so happy that I am where I'm at. I have been through some tought times, but ultimatly my choice to believe in God prevailed and that is why I am at this place in my life today.
I give all the glory to God. And I hope that my story inspired you guys to live your life for God no matter what. Just remember that we all go through tough times and we all mess up, but it doesnt mean u cant get up and ask God to help u pickup the pieces.

[Tracy L]

AMEN to that testimony sister!

That was a great one. Praise God!

You will find many friends on here. I loveeee this place. It is so full of God's ppl and God's Love.

God Bless You,

Tracy

P.S. Nice to meet ya.

[AdriB]

Wow, sis!

What a testimony! Im so glad God came through for ya. He is faithful. And He obviously has a plan for you! See how many things the enemy tried to throw at ya to knock ya over, but God sustained ya. Wooohoo!

My prayer is that God will continue the good work that He has started. And that He will continue to heal ur heart and mind. Rom12:2. And that He will reveal His plan for ya, so that u will bless and help MANY other ppl (esp teens who go through the same things). And that u will find a bunch of healthy friendships close to u, with who u can have the most amazing fellowship!

Rev12:11 And they have OVERCOME the evil one by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their TESTIMONY.

May u be such an overcomer, sis!

Lots and lots of love!
Adri