Sabrina's Story
First of all, I want to say that when I began writing my testimony, I was very unsure about how much information to share with everyone. I think that
most people are probably pretty reluctant to reveal all the personal stuff about their lives and their journey. But what I have come to know is that God has a
plan for me and because of that, He has used my mistakes and my failures to write my story. He also calls us to share that with other people so they might
find comfort in knowing they are not alone in some of their dark places too. So above all, I hope by me telling my story, I can show to some other young people that your life doesn't have to be perfect to come to know Christ and even if you had the best influence of a loving Christian home, sometimes you stumble and fall, but God is always with you and will pick you up and dust you off, and get you back on the right path.....and sometimes that is a hard thing to go through. But you can do it! I did, and I know that you can too! So here goes...........this is My Story.
I was raised in a Christian home by my mom and dad, Merle and Marlene, who were once Mennonites. I knew who God was as a little girl. I went to church with
my family and heard his teachings from my Sunday school teacher and pastor. Every morning my family would sit around the table and listen to my daddy read
from a devotion book. My older sister, Daffney, use to read devotions to me at night before we would go to sleep. Our family spent a lot of time together.
Whether playing sports outside with my brothers, Dustin, Cameron, and Chandler or listening to my mom read storybooks about God, I was always surrounded by
the love of my family and best friend, growing up. From an early age, I understood I was to obey God. I understood that He sent his son to die for my
sins and that Jesus was my Lord and Savior. As a little girl, I prayed to Him all the time. My heart was full of love and joy and I guess, for the most part,
I felt protected from all the bad stuff in the world. However, when I was about five years old, my mom became pregnant with my little brother, Langdon.
From the time he was born, he was in and out of the hospital with health problems and within a year, God took him to heaven. We call him our "Little
Angel". During this terrible time, my older sister and babysitters had to take care of my brothers and me a lot. I believe that God used that difficult
situation to bring my family even closer together and that really anchored us in our faith and helped us see just how blessed we were to have each other.
I never really had to deal with the temptations of the world until I hit middle/ high school. I truly believe that Satan tempts all of us, especially
those that have a strong faith and know His Word. What a victory he has, when he can pull someone away from the safe and secure arms of God. It's funny how I
can look back on that now and see it for what it was. Satan pulled me towards ungodly music and an ungodly lifestyle; one that involved cursing, lying, bad
boys, and partying. When I was tempted with these worldly things I chose to handle them on my own. I saw that the people around me didn’t grow up the same
way I did and that's when Satan began filling my head with his lies. He is very deceptive and made it look like their way of living was so much more fun than
the way I grew up. The world taught me that I should live my life how I want to live it, and after a while that’s exactly what I did. The more I involved myself
with the temptations of the world, the more I pushed my family and my best friend away. Some days I would wake up and start the day out with a lie. My
whole life was a lie. I lied about where I was, who I was with, and what I was doing. I still went through all the motions of "doing the right things", like
going to church and attending youth events. But the whole time I was there I was thinking about other things, instead of focusing on God, who was right in
front of me. Living this double life made me angry and my heart became hardened. Eventually, all lies catch up to you and it takes that downward spiral of
events, for you to hit rock bottom. That's exactly what happened to me. I began to get caught in my lies and my parents soon began piecing together my secret
life. They became investigators and that made me even more angry and bitter. During this struggle, God would use my parent's faith and prayers and I would
try to go back to doing right and seeking God's love. But the temptations would follow me and I wasn't strong enough to face them and turn away, so I would fall back to the life I was living before. After a while sinning was not a big deal to me. Sometimes I would come home and my parents would ask me what I did the night before and I would tell them I was with friends and we just watched some movies, when really I was with people I wasn’t supposed to be with, doing
things I wasn’t supposed to be doing.
My downward spiral finally hit bottom and my parents figured out I was still lying to them and not seeking God in my life. It was then that my parents made
one of the hardest decisions of their lives. They withdrew me from High School. I was devastated! No more parties, no more dances, no more friends! All I
could focus on was ME and what I was NOT going to be able to do. I would never have the chance to walk across a stage and receive my diploma. My life was
over! This may seem harsh to those of you who are reading this, and believe me, at the time, I thought my parents had lost their minds and I was overcome with
anger and bitterness. THEY were ruining my life! But all the while, THEY knew things I did not. THEY were seeking God. THEY were praying. THEY were
believing in God's purpose and plan for me and they knew it did not involve any of the things I had surrounded myself with. THEY were not ruining my life.
I WAS!!
I didn't want to believe that God could make this right. I didn't want to believe that my parents actually knew best. I didn't want to listen. I had
shut my family out and I had shut God out. I remember it was Wednesday Youth Night at Cornerstone Church, and I didn’t want to go but my mom insisted.
Looking back on that night, I see now that God needed my attention and it was there, during our regular Wednesday night worship time, that God showed me there
was still hope and he loved me even if I had made some really poor decisions. I went home and cried out for my parents to forgive me for what I had put them
through. They did forgive me and I decided that I wanted to mend my relationship with my family. I thought things were going well, but there was
something still missing. Even though I was going through the motions of attending church, even praying to God, there remained a barrier I could not
understand. While in church one Sunday my youth pastor said something about a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. I didn't think much about it. But it was then, that God began planting the seeds that would take me to the place, the exact place, at the precise time, for Him to reveal His purpose and plan for my
healing, and for my life. In short, my parents encouraged me to go, saying it would be a good experience, but all the while, I fought it. But God knew all
along that the people of the Dominican Republic would change my life. What I found there was the love and joy of Christ, in the eyes of children and adults
that had essentially nothing. They lived in patchwork houses of tin and scrap boards. Some of the communities grew all the food they ate. One day we worked
in the garden of a local pastor. Her name was Esperanza, which means "Hope". We helped her weed this rocky, overgrown patch of land that seemed forgotten.
We helped her build a fence and a gate and plant banana trees and other vegetables. It was so hot! But I didn’t think about that. I thought about
the people we were helping. For the first time in my life God showed me that I can enjoy working and helping others through him. I remember the very first
community we visited. I got off the bus all hot and sweaty and saw all these smiling faces. This little boy ran up to me and grabbed my hand and took me into
the church. I felt like this was God pulling me into his love and saying come look what I have in store for you. There was so much love
surrounding us that day. I could feel the presence of the Lord there. I saw these children with dirty little faces, just looking at me like I was the
greatest thing they’ve seen in a long time. I looked deep into their eyes and I could tell they just wanted to be loved and cared for. It was in that church
when I said to God "your love is so amazing"! He had opened my eyes!
One day we were on the bus about to visit another community and one of our youth leaders was talking about the DTS (Discipleship Training School) to one of
the missionaries at YWAM. For some reason it caught my attention and I listened closely to what they were saying. I asked myself, "why am I so curious about
this"? That entire day I couldn’t stop thinking about it. That night, the leader of the YWAM base talked more about Discipliship Training School and asked
us to share what we enjoyed most about the trip and what we were taking home. I had no clue what I was going to say but when it was my turn to speak, I walked
up in front of our group and the most amazing thing happened! God began to speak through me and the words I could not earlier find, just came flowing out
of my mouth! Everything came together and I expressed what He wanted to do with me and my future. I was taking home more than just a great experience but a
promised future from God and the beginning of a true relationship with Him.
So......God took me out of my comfort zone, even out of the country, where it was hot and uncomfortable, where we couldn't drink the water, where we had to
sleep under mosquito nets so that we wouldn't catch a disease, and where the bathroom situation was not the best! But isn't that exactly where God places us
sometimes? He may not take you to another country to get your attention, like He did me. But He will take you away from everything in your life that draws
you away from Him. Then, in that moment, He speaks truth and light and love into your heart. Before this experience, I thought my life was over. After
this experience, I know without a shadow of a doubt, that my life has just begun!
Romans 12:2
Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
most people are probably pretty reluctant to reveal all the personal stuff about their lives and their journey. But what I have come to know is that God has a
plan for me and because of that, He has used my mistakes and my failures to write my story. He also calls us to share that with other people so they might
find comfort in knowing they are not alone in some of their dark places too. So above all, I hope by me telling my story, I can show to some other young people that your life doesn't have to be perfect to come to know Christ and even if you had the best influence of a loving Christian home, sometimes you stumble and fall, but God is always with you and will pick you up and dust you off, and get you back on the right path.....and sometimes that is a hard thing to go through. But you can do it! I did, and I know that you can too! So here goes...........this is My Story.
I was raised in a Christian home by my mom and dad, Merle and Marlene, who were once Mennonites. I knew who God was as a little girl. I went to church with
my family and heard his teachings from my Sunday school teacher and pastor. Every morning my family would sit around the table and listen to my daddy read
from a devotion book. My older sister, Daffney, use to read devotions to me at night before we would go to sleep. Our family spent a lot of time together.
Whether playing sports outside with my brothers, Dustin, Cameron, and Chandler or listening to my mom read storybooks about God, I was always surrounded by
the love of my family and best friend, growing up. From an early age, I understood I was to obey God. I understood that He sent his son to die for my
sins and that Jesus was my Lord and Savior. As a little girl, I prayed to Him all the time. My heart was full of love and joy and I guess, for the most part,
I felt protected from all the bad stuff in the world. However, when I was about five years old, my mom became pregnant with my little brother, Langdon.
From the time he was born, he was in and out of the hospital with health problems and within a year, God took him to heaven. We call him our "Little
Angel". During this terrible time, my older sister and babysitters had to take care of my brothers and me a lot. I believe that God used that difficult
situation to bring my family even closer together and that really anchored us in our faith and helped us see just how blessed we were to have each other.
I never really had to deal with the temptations of the world until I hit middle/ high school. I truly believe that Satan tempts all of us, especially
those that have a strong faith and know His Word. What a victory he has, when he can pull someone away from the safe and secure arms of God. It's funny how I
can look back on that now and see it for what it was. Satan pulled me towards ungodly music and an ungodly lifestyle; one that involved cursing, lying, bad
boys, and partying. When I was tempted with these worldly things I chose to handle them on my own. I saw that the people around me didn’t grow up the same
way I did and that's when Satan began filling my head with his lies. He is very deceptive and made it look like their way of living was so much more fun than
the way I grew up. The world taught me that I should live my life how I want to live it, and after a while that’s exactly what I did. The more I involved myself
with the temptations of the world, the more I pushed my family and my best friend away. Some days I would wake up and start the day out with a lie. My
whole life was a lie. I lied about where I was, who I was with, and what I was doing. I still went through all the motions of "doing the right things", like
going to church and attending youth events. But the whole time I was there I was thinking about other things, instead of focusing on God, who was right in
front of me. Living this double life made me angry and my heart became hardened. Eventually, all lies catch up to you and it takes that downward spiral of
events, for you to hit rock bottom. That's exactly what happened to me. I began to get caught in my lies and my parents soon began piecing together my secret
life. They became investigators and that made me even more angry and bitter. During this struggle, God would use my parent's faith and prayers and I would
try to go back to doing right and seeking God's love. But the temptations would follow me and I wasn't strong enough to face them and turn away, so I would fall back to the life I was living before. After a while sinning was not a big deal to me. Sometimes I would come home and my parents would ask me what I did the night before and I would tell them I was with friends and we just watched some movies, when really I was with people I wasn’t supposed to be with, doing
things I wasn’t supposed to be doing.
My downward spiral finally hit bottom and my parents figured out I was still lying to them and not seeking God in my life. It was then that my parents made
one of the hardest decisions of their lives. They withdrew me from High School. I was devastated! No more parties, no more dances, no more friends! All I
could focus on was ME and what I was NOT going to be able to do. I would never have the chance to walk across a stage and receive my diploma. My life was
over! This may seem harsh to those of you who are reading this, and believe me, at the time, I thought my parents had lost their minds and I was overcome with
anger and bitterness. THEY were ruining my life! But all the while, THEY knew things I did not. THEY were seeking God. THEY were praying. THEY were
believing in God's purpose and plan for me and they knew it did not involve any of the things I had surrounded myself with. THEY were not ruining my life.
I WAS!!
I didn't want to believe that God could make this right. I didn't want to believe that my parents actually knew best. I didn't want to listen. I had
shut my family out and I had shut God out. I remember it was Wednesday Youth Night at Cornerstone Church, and I didn’t want to go but my mom insisted.
Looking back on that night, I see now that God needed my attention and it was there, during our regular Wednesday night worship time, that God showed me there
was still hope and he loved me even if I had made some really poor decisions. I went home and cried out for my parents to forgive me for what I had put them
through. They did forgive me and I decided that I wanted to mend my relationship with my family. I thought things were going well, but there was
something still missing. Even though I was going through the motions of attending church, even praying to God, there remained a barrier I could not
understand. While in church one Sunday my youth pastor said something about a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. I didn't think much about it. But it was then, that God began planting the seeds that would take me to the place, the exact place, at the precise time, for Him to reveal His purpose and plan for my
healing, and for my life. In short, my parents encouraged me to go, saying it would be a good experience, but all the while, I fought it. But God knew all
along that the people of the Dominican Republic would change my life. What I found there was the love and joy of Christ, in the eyes of children and adults
that had essentially nothing. They lived in patchwork houses of tin and scrap boards. Some of the communities grew all the food they ate. One day we worked
in the garden of a local pastor. Her name was Esperanza, which means "Hope". We helped her weed this rocky, overgrown patch of land that seemed forgotten.
We helped her build a fence and a gate and plant banana trees and other vegetables. It was so hot! But I didn’t think about that. I thought about
the people we were helping. For the first time in my life God showed me that I can enjoy working and helping others through him. I remember the very first
community we visited. I got off the bus all hot and sweaty and saw all these smiling faces. This little boy ran up to me and grabbed my hand and took me into
the church. I felt like this was God pulling me into his love and saying come look what I have in store for you. There was so much love
surrounding us that day. I could feel the presence of the Lord there. I saw these children with dirty little faces, just looking at me like I was the
greatest thing they’ve seen in a long time. I looked deep into their eyes and I could tell they just wanted to be loved and cared for. It was in that church
when I said to God "your love is so amazing"! He had opened my eyes!
One day we were on the bus about to visit another community and one of our youth leaders was talking about the DTS (Discipleship Training School) to one of
the missionaries at YWAM. For some reason it caught my attention and I listened closely to what they were saying. I asked myself, "why am I so curious about
this"? That entire day I couldn’t stop thinking about it. That night, the leader of the YWAM base talked more about Discipliship Training School and asked
us to share what we enjoyed most about the trip and what we were taking home. I had no clue what I was going to say but when it was my turn to speak, I walked
up in front of our group and the most amazing thing happened! God began to speak through me and the words I could not earlier find, just came flowing out
of my mouth! Everything came together and I expressed what He wanted to do with me and my future. I was taking home more than just a great experience but a
promised future from God and the beginning of a true relationship with Him.
So......God took me out of my comfort zone, even out of the country, where it was hot and uncomfortable, where we couldn't drink the water, where we had to
sleep under mosquito nets so that we wouldn't catch a disease, and where the bathroom situation was not the best! But isn't that exactly where God places us
sometimes? He may not take you to another country to get your attention, like He did me. But He will take you away from everything in your life that draws
you away from Him. Then, in that moment, He speaks truth and light and love into your heart. Before this experience, I thought my life was over. After
this experience, I know without a shadow of a doubt, that my life has just begun!
Romans 12:2
Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.