Testimony...is it ongoing?

Last Thursday night I was at Bible study with a group of my favorite sisters in Christ and I had an "ah-ha" moment. One lady was sharing about a time long ago when she was listening to others give their testimonies about coming to know Christ and how it affected her. To be quite honest, my mind wondered from her story at that point as I considered my own testimony. Up to this point, if someone was to ask me about my testimony it would go a little something like this:

"When I was 7 years old, I remember watching others go forward during the invitation at the end of our church service. I wanted to know more, so I asked my mom and dad what it was all about. They explained that in order to spend eternity in heaven with God, we must accept the free gift of salvation through Christ's death on the cross and commit to living our lives for him. My parents took me to the preacher's house to further talk with him and I decided that was the choice I was making! Pastor Olen Evans walked me through the sinner's prayer and told me that the next week I could go forward in church! I was so excited! I found myself itchy with anticipation through the whole service and FINALLY it was time for the invitation. I walked my tiny little second grade self up the isle of the country church and proclaimed, 'I want to be advertised!' Laughter rolled across the congregation as my mom wanted to crawl under the pew with embarrassment. Turns out, I really wanted to be baptized. So, the next week I wore my ruffly neon striped dress (cut me some slack...it was the early 90's!) and Pastor Olen dunked me in ordinary water to show the world that I was now a daughter of God! My life continued on as a normal kid and when I was 16, I accepted a call into the ministry, but didn't really know the details. A handful of years later, I understood my call to the ministry a little better when I married a young pastor. The rest is history!"

But that was until last Thursday. What if...could it be? Have you ever thought that your testimony was still being written? Could it be that what I'm going through today is part of God's grander plan for my tomorrow? What about you? Do you think that maybe God is teaching you, molding you, disciplining you so that in the future your story might connect you with another person who needs to hear about God's saving grace?

Anyway, that might not seem that "ah-ha"-ish to you, but it was for me. It encouraged me to see beyond the here-and-now and to keep my focus on the bigger picture, which is a reminder I seem to need daily! If you're having a stinky day, just remember that God makes Lysol to make stinky days not-so-stinky. And His Lysol comes in many forms: scripture passages, good friends, and chocolate, just to name a few.