My Testimony

Over the past year, God has allowed me to have several new and pleasant experiences. In order to be a better husband and father, I endeavored to further develop my relationship with God, in order to be the Minister over my household. After I took a few steps towards a closer relationship with God, He handled the rest. My hunger for The Word and relationships with others who were also seeking God truthfully increased ten-fold. I began to wake up on Sunday mornings ready to attend church, instead of debating within myself whether or not to go. Rashaunda didn't have to ask if I was going to church anymore, but asked if I wanted to do anything special after services.

When situations were not ideal or heading in a negative direction, I began to pray and plead The Blood of Jesus over them. I began to speak to my friends and family in a different manner. When asked for advice, I didn't say, "Well, this is what I think", or "This is what I would do" anymore.
Instead, I would tell them to pray and ask God for resolution, comfort, and guidance. I also began to rebuke anything said to me that was not positive or that I did not want to manifest in my life. I am sure that these changes within me were noticed by Rashaunda, and led to the beginnings of an even stronger bond between us. We gradually began to increase the occurrence of praying together as a family, and began to take more time to due little kind things for one another. Now, these little kind things were in the form of NOT speaking to each other in sarcastic tones, or in a manner which made the other person feel insulted or small. We love each other tremendously, but had a bad habit of sticking to our old trusty tactics in order to get our way. Over the past year, I believe God has revealed to us that we are now one, and do not have to battle against ourselves.

The next step in my development was God breaking the yoke that holding back my praises to Him regardless of who was around. This occurred while attending the Prayer Convocation this year. This was the first time I had ever attended services of this type, and God made sure that I did not miss this event. As the services progressed, I found myself more focused on the messages and worshipping God for all He has done in my life. The one thought that continually came to my mind was from December of 2000:

While travelling home from NCCU with Isaac in the Oldsmobile during an icy winter night, we were saved by nothing short of the hand of God. We were going over a bridge when an 18 wheeler passed us going a little faster than we were at the time. Apparently we must have hit a patch of black ice, and then time slowed to a snail's pace in my mind. I remember looking out the front windshield and seeing the car slowly sliding towards the edge of the bridge. Then I remember the car coming to a complete 90 angle to the side of the bridge meaning we were about to slide off of it onto the highway below. I remember say, "Oh my God! Oh Jesus!!" in my head, as I was to frozen with shock at what was going on. Think I remember blinking, and we were across the bridge and continuing down the road towards our destination. Now, Isaac didn't turn the steering wheel, touch the brakes, or anything per our conversation afterwards. We both sat there for a moment, and then I said,"Forgive me if I don't say anything for the rest of the ride, but I think we were just saved by God. I think I'll just be over here thanking Him even if I only imagined it." The funny thing is that the 18 wheeler was nowhere to be seen after that. We should have at least been able to see its tail lights.

In my mind, the Devil was trying to kill Isaac and myself, because he knew that God had set us aside to be strong soldiers in His army. This is the first time I have ever told this to anyone other than my closest of friends over the past 9 years, but it is an integral part of my testimony which I can hold no longer. As the Convocation progressed, I could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in The Chapel. When my praise yoke was lifted, I felt as if I was floating in the air, and felt a peace and calm like never before. I opened my mouth and just shouted, "Glory!!!!". I shouted it until I could not shout anymore. I was overcome with joy, and began to cry because I could finally completely express my thanks to God for saving Isaac and myself that night, and never leaving us both since. Now when I enter The Chapel, I praise God as if I am the only person in The Chapel, and leave knowing that I came with the right heart and mind to praise, and have left with more reasons to praise Him.

Finally, God has performed a miracle and continued blessing in terms of my career advancements. I asked Him to allow me to enter into a Career field which would allow me to sufficiently provide for my family, and enjoy the fruits of my labor while doing so. This prayer was answered with my current position. Over the past year, God has blessed with invaluable travel experiences, career opportunities, favor within my company, and the ability to actually take time off to spend with my family, in order to have a relatively decent balance in my life. God has truly favored me this past year, and I thank Him continually.

Well, I didn't finish yesterday as I had hoped because I had to finish a project for work. I didn't want to rush and just post something because God deserves more than a rush job when you are giving your testimony about how great He has been to you. I love you all, and thank you for taking the time to read this. I trust and know that God will use my testimony to minister to someone else, and for this I give thanks.

Have a blessed day!!