Joy shared her testimony at our 100th board "birthday party" Feb 15, 2002 I can remember being in church, in some form or another, for the majority of my life. When I was just a baby, my great-grandmother would pick me up and take me, every sunday with out fail. She definately instilled a love for church in me in a young age. My parents divorced when I was a baby, I don't remember them every being together. I lived with my mom until I was about 7. She has always had addiction problems and when I was 7 she went to live with a man she was dating in another state and took me to live with my dad. I never really got along with my step mom. I think I blamed her for my parents not being together, but I know it wasn't her fault. Also, my father and step mother were really abusive. Probably they would be considered physically abusive but definately emotionally and verbally abusive. When I was 8 or 9 I had problems with my neck. At first they couldn't find anything wrong with me and they thought it was just a pulled muscle I wasn't working out. My step mom treated me really horribly durring this time. We later found out I had a slipped disk between my first and second vertebrate and I had to have a halo cast put on and a fusion. A halo cast is a cast that puts traction on your neck. It has 4 screws that go into your head and stop at your skull. You may have seen them on a couple of foot ball pros that have gotten hurt. Anyway...to make a long story longer, that was a tough time in my life. My step mom put a note on my back that said remind me to turn my head and sent me to school like that. She tied me in a chair once and turned me neck. Looking back, I know it was God's hand of protection that she didn't break my neck and paralyze me, or worse, kill me. On her behalf, she had no idea how serious it was. After this, I ended up moving out of my dad's house. My mother was in no position to care for me, so I lived with my grandma from my 5th grade year until my 8th grade year. During this time I went to church just about every Sunday by myself. I was saved at church camp when I was 9. I was baptized when I got home and continued to go to that church very regularly until I moved in with my dad when I was about 12. Then I attended another church that my dad would drive me to and drop me off at for a while. In 8th grade though, I met the person that to this day is still my best friend. Her dad was a pastor and I went to church pretty regularly with them throughout Jr. high and the beginning of high school. In fact, when I was 15 I moved in with them for about 9 months. At this time I met the man who would one day be my husband. I was 16, and when I met him he was 19. (He turned 20 2 weeks later and that sounded a whole lot worse than 19.) I met him when I was visiting my cousin. We were at one of her friend's houses and he and a friend came over too. Everyone was drinking, except me and he and I started talking. He had been raised in church but he had strayed, especially when he moved out onto his own. He told me later that a couple of weeks earlier he had prayed that God would send someone to him that would help get him back on track. He told me that he believes God sent me to him. (Yep, that officially melted my heart and was the icing on the cake...I was in love!) Well, my friend's parents did not approve of him thinking he was too old for me. I was visiting my mom on a weekend and I told him that I could not see him because they did not approve. He was upset but understood and was going to leave a rose he'd gotten me at my cousins...but my mom wanted to meet him...so she had him come over for dinner. She liked him and we both talked to my friend's parents about him. (They had never met him) They still did not approve but said that i could see him and talk to him when I was at my mom's but not during the week at their house. Later they changed their minds and packed up my things and left them out on the porch and told me to come pick them up. After that I did and went to live with another friend of mine. This was the biggest mistake of my life. Her parents were pretty much non-existant and didn't care what I did. I was angry at God (because my friend's dad had been a pastor and I didn't understand how he could do what he did). I ended up practiacally living with Kyle..not good I know. I finally decided I had to try to get things back the way they were supposed to be so I moved back in with my dad and step mom. This wasn't much better. I didn't have a lot of boundaries there either, but I wasn't spending nights over at Kyle's. Soon after that he moved to be closer to me and my step mom told me "don't worry, I'm getting your dad ready for when you move in with him." I was a jr in high school!!! This is the same woman who told me to come tell her when I was ready to sleep with my first boyfriend at 14, and she would get me some birth control!!! I would have a cow if my 14 yo daughter told me that. Anyway, another story...and to be clear...I DID NOT sleep with my first boyfriend!) Unfortunaelty though, I did live up to my parent's expectations and eventually moved in with Kyle right before my sr year in highschool after we got engaged. We both knew we were living in sin, while trying to live right and go to church. You just can't live like that. We had a hard time carring on and going to church like that. Finally, after we were married, we felt like we could really buckle down and start serving God again. We had felt like we had to get our lives together before we could come back to God, but we all know that's not how it works. God is the one who puts our lives back together again. Anyway, we were doing our best to put them together and serve God and walk with him in our own way. In July of 1999 we went with the youth group as sponsors to NYC (Nazarene Youth Confress) and one night, I stayed up late talking with our pastor's wife. There, in the Royal York Tea Room in Toronto, Canada...I totally rededicated my life to God. I put Jesus Christ in the driver seat of my heart...I asked him to not just be my savior, but my Lord! It was an amazing expereince and I felt such freedom and release from guilt and shame of how I had lived my life. It has not been easy. I still find myself slipping away from God, but it's so wonderful...he is always there waiting for me to come back to him. Just like the prodigial son's father...as soon as I take that step back towards him...he is running to meet me! Isn't that amazing...that God, the creator and sustainer of the whole universe would run after me...that he longs for me and desires a relationship with me! It's hard to fathom it all and take it all in, it's so overwhelming. But praise God, he wants that with each and every one of us, individually! He sent his son for all of us, but would have done it for one of us! I'm just getting all excited typing this...my heart is swelling with joy and love for Him, my Saviour, my Lord, my Comforter, my Creator, my Love!!! He is so awesome and with out him, i have no idea where i would be. Honestly...I could not have made it this far with out him, my marriage, my children, my life, I owe it all to him. And one day, I will lay it all at his feet, literally, I will lay my crown at his feet. Can't wait to meet you all there!!! Love you guys, Joy