Christine: I have gone through a lot in my life; the abuses from my mentally ill dad, my uncle…the worst kind. A 6th grade teacher that physically assaulted me after school; a mom that also had mental issues and tried to commit suicide twice; a neighbor man that tried to abuse me; an aunt and uncle who treated me like dirt when I had to stay with them when my folks were both in the hospital for mental issues; my fiancé who I went with for 8 years and cheated on me. I had reached my emotional end.
On a bus one morning, I started planning in my mind how I was going to end it. God was sending someone to stop me, a lady named Dawn, who worked just a block from me. We would be going to work and home on the same bus. As we did, she told me about Jesus and invited me to church. Her parents came to my house with her and picked me up and took me to church, where I was saved and changed. A few months later, I met my husband on a blind date, and he got saved. We have had 47 years together.
Almost 2 years ago, we changed churches. This church has a food ministry outreach that my husband and I are a part of every Tuesday. Popwe, I had wondered many times why I had to go through so much, including 30 years of panic attacks. Now, I know why. Matthew’s song on his latest’s CD, My Story Your Glory, answered all those questions. One line really hit me, “My pain, Your purpose.”
At the Hope Center, I meet many who tell me their story, and many times, their story has some of my life experiences in it. Now I can tell them I have experienced it as well. I can tell them what God has done for me. Then I pray for them and tell them what Jesus can dofor them. I have shared with many about why forgiveness is so necessary to move on in life. And yes, I tell them how Matthew’s song freed me from anger. But now I share another song, “My Story Your Glory,” and tell them how God can use all that “stuff” for His glory. I took the lithograph, and had it framed because it ministered to me so much. I put it on a wall by my closet so I can see it.
Thank you, Matthew, for writing songs with your God-given talent to change lives, including mine!
