Here I go, again.
these are the words I heard that changed my heart, life, and eternal destination.
spoken to me by my then boyfriend, now husband, on a beach in
Daytona, Fla.
The is my testimony of how Jesus saved me........
I grew up not a churchgoer, and had visited church's and held a high regard for God. Yet, not understanding His ways or purposes for my life.
My teenage years were full of partying and my young adult years spilled over to abusing my self and allowing others to do so. I was miserable, yet optimistic that somehow my life could change and I could get out of my self infective cycle.
When I meet Mike I was in process of divorce at age 20, and feeling low about my predicament. He was also in a low place in his life, and somehow we were attracted to one another despite seeing each other's failures.
We started partying together and living together.
My first recollection of discussing God with Mike, was on a summer night when we had been smoking some hard core drugs. His friend was over that night, and on a whim Mike placed his head in my lap and asked "Do you know what I know"? All I could think of was the Christmas song, "Do you hear what I hear?"
With that Mike's friend stormed out, because how could Mike bring up God, and make himself so venerable to me?
After, that small discussion Mike decide we needed to go to church every Sunday.So, we went to the Baptist church his H.S. buddy's dad pastored at. We didn't hear a word he said, but that could have been due to our hangovers.
But, we continued in sober moments to talk of what our lives would be if we could stop partying.
Then we were invited to another of Mike's H.S. buddy's wedding in Fla.
We drove down there with everything we own packing an old cedar chest, and a baggie.
We embarrassed ppl at the wedding with our drunkenness, and went back to the hotel to "sleep it off". That morning Mike woke me up wanting to go watch the sunrise on the beach, he is very persiant so finally I agreed and he found the beach chairs.
The sun rose and I was flooded with a warmth I'd never experienced. And, in the next spilt second was convinced of ALL my sins. I really didn't understand what was happening, and turned to Mike and said " Wow, I've been really bad!"
"What are you talking about?" was his reply.
"..Well remember how I told you I've done such and such?"
"Yeah?"
"Well I feel so bad about it right now."
"Oh Holly those are your sins and that's why Jesus died on the cross, and He wants to forgive you."
" But, Mike I've done other things, too."
" Holly, Jesus died for ALL that".
And, with hearing this I put my head in my knees right there in the beach chair and said, " I want that."
Mike then told me, "I could take you out into the ocean and baptise you".
"Really, let's go".
Out into the early morning waves we went, and he said, "Holly Marie Butler, I baptise you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." Down I went, tronched by a wave, back up I came, headed out of the ocean, my feet hit the sand, and I saw sin for the first time in my life. A defined choice between bad and good, and I was "freaked out".
I keep telling Mike ppl are really bad here in Fla, we need to go back home, lol.
This was a miracle, because what I hadn't told anyone was that I hoped Mike and I could stay in Fla. and start a "new life", thus the cedar chest of everything we had.
So, we came home, and I stopped partying. Mike had lost his drinking Buddie, to a girl who now wanted to pray and read the Bible,(although I didn't understand a single word of it). And, we fought, for a month, then came Halloween, and Mike wanted to have a party at our cabin on the lake, because he was building a house with a band, and they wanted to be showcase to our friends.
This was a dark night, I went back to my old ways and was passed out, before the party started.
What I post now is Mike's rendition of what happened,...........to be continued......
