There have been four defining moments in my life, three good ones and one that was bad.  Let me start with the bad one since it took place when I was only seven years old.  What made it even worse, this event took place the day after Christmas.  As a result, every Christmas during my childhood, teenage years and even as an adult, brought back a bad memory.  I was the middle child in a family of six siblings.  That particular Christmas in 1950 will be etched in my memory forever. 

As a poor family, we never traveled out of town.  So to our surprise, my Mom and Dad decided that we would all go to Cushing, Oklahoma for the Christmas holiday and visit my aunt Nora (my Dad’s sister).  After returning home, on December 26th, my Dad abandoned my Mom, my brothers and sisters and me.  My siblings ranged in age from two years old to 16 years old.  He just drove off and left us with nothing – no means of support.  I never saw him again.  I received one postcard and one Christmas gift from him after he left the family.  But even that gift really hurt my feelings – it was a pink sweater that was at least 2-3 sizes too large for me.  I thought, “My own dad doesn’t know how small I am.”

However, through the years God used this bad experience and turned it to good.  My Mother, who was a Christian, cleaned houses and ironed for different people to support our large family.  I can remember on one or two occasions when there was no food in the house, so we gathered together and prayed for food.  One particular time, I remember a man knocked on our door with a huge bag of groceries in his arms.  Through all of these experiences, I learned to trust God for all of my basic needs and I’ve found Him to be faithful in every circumstance of my life.

Now, on to the good defining moments of my life.  I gave my heart to Jesus when I was fifteen years old.  I sometimes think, “I don’t really have a personal testimony.  I was never involved with drugs, alcohol, etc.”  Then, I am reminded of God’s marvelous grace in keeping me from all these things.  No, I’m not perfect.  I’ve failed to live up to God’s grace many times, but He has kept me from a lot of heartache because of my decision to follow Him at such a young age.

I read a statement many years ago which said, “A woman’s destiny is determined by the man she marries.”  That is so true in my life.  Almost 43 years ago, it was a defining moment in my life when I married Bob.  Because my father was a “womanizer” and unfaithful (I learned later that he had another family with children who were the same age as two of my sisters), I needed a husband whom I could trust to be faithful to me.  God answered my prayer in Bob.  He has been my one true love.

Ok, that takes care of three of the four defining moments – what could possibly be the fourth?  You guessed it – the birth of my children and grandchildren.  As “icing on the cake”, God has blessed me with two wonderful children (and their spouses) and five precious grandchildren.  What more could one person ask for?

So…even if you’ve never openly rebelled against God and gone deeply into sin, He can still transform your heart and fill your life with joy and blessings!