When I first became a christian I wanted to be close to God so I went to church, read my Bible and prayed every day. I wanted to know Him, to draw close to Him, to feel His presence.
But I still went to school and had to deal with some who didn't understand my new life. Some who wanted to make fun and pick on me. It wasn't easy and I would get mad or get my feelings hurt a lot. Finding a boyfriend who wasn't looking for "more" was hard and learning to trust God became a daily lesson. I was learning that the devil was using those boys to try and take my purity. The devil was using those other kids to make fun of me or tempt me with things and discourage me as a christian.
When we (as Christians) learn to see this as a spiritual battle it becomes easier to see the bigger picture. When we can realize that God needs us to spread the gospel but the devil wants to destroy our testimony, then we will learn how to forgive the person who hurts us. The devil uses people to do his work the same way God uses people to do His work. The Bible tells us in Matthew 5:44 "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you"
After being dumped by a few guys because I wanted to stay pure, I gave up on looking and chose to let God find my future husband. I started praying for God to send me who He wanted me to marry. At the age of 16 (June 1997) my friend from church brought a guy from her old High school to church and introduced us. We hung out together with the whole youth group a few times and I soon learned he would be going to Basic Training in the Army and so we exchanged addresses. We wrote letters back and forth the whole time he was gone. When he got home in Sept 97 we spent a lot of time together in church and going out to eat getting to know each other more. Then he told me he had to leave for Korea in October 97! My heart said "oh no!!! when will we get married?" but my brain was saying "why am I so upset? I barely know this guy".
So one night in a restaurant after we had already started eating he got down on one knee in front of a table full of college students and proposed to me and I said "YES!" but he had to stay in Korea ONE YEAR so after a tearful goodbye and a trip to the airport we wrote letters and I finished out my senior year in high school. He had a mid tour leave coming but wasn't able to come home for my senior prom (but really a christian has no business at prom anyway so I didn't miss much). He came home for mid tour leave and made it to my graduation but had to go back until October 1998. Then I married my husband Chris in December 1998. Looking back I feel like God sent him into my life and seeing where we are now in His will I just want to personally say...
TAKE THAT DEVIL!!!
