I grew up attending a Christian Church. I always wanted to be baptized, thinking that if I was baptized and did “good” I would go to Heaven. As I got older the desire increased as I witnessed more baptisms in the church. Throughout high school I did not live a Christian life, doing things that did not please God. I then went to college and met the most wonderful man, Andy, which God planned for me to meet after only two days of being at college in Oskaloosa. He came from a Christian family, who encouraged my beliefs in God. I attended church with Andy’s family whenever we would visit them.

Andy then proposed to me in May 2001 and we were married in August 2001. During our summer engagement, we were required to do two counseling sessions with the Pastor, Brother Kirk, who would be performing our ceremony. During one of the meetings, Brother Kirk asked me if I had been saved and my reply was, “Well I have never been baptized” and he said ”I did not ask you if you have been baptized I asked you if you have ever been saved.” He then went on to tell me that to be saved I would have to believe in Jesus. And I said yes I believed in Jesus, not fully understanding what being saved really meant. I then talked to Andy a few days later about how I believed that God would speak to me sometimes and told him about situations when I had felt God‘s presence. He told me that God was working in my heart. We then got married and attended church with his parents when we visited them. We tried out a church in Oskaloosa, but not feeling it was a right fit.I then graduated from college and we moved to Des Moines where Andy was working. We eventually moved into a house and found out we were going to have a baby soon. This would be the largest part of God’s plan for my salvation.

We decided to look for a church to attend. Andy had noticed Willow Creek Baptist Church while golfing, so we decided to try it. We visited a couple times and felt comfortable that there were so many kind people and a lot of couples at the same point in life as we were. Willow Creek was great, but life became busy and I wasn’t making attending church a priority. We only attend church when we visited my in-laws.

My pregnancy went very well and our son, Alex, was born in late September 2003. I looked at him and said that he was perfect. Everything seemed fine with Alex in the beginning. He looked very healthy and was doing well. He then tried to nurse and was having trouble. I was told that he was tongue-tied. Then I noticed bumps on his tongue and the nurse told me that some babies have them and they will just go away. Next, he had his check-up before leaving the hospital and the doctor said he had a heart murmur which would have to be checked out. My thoughts at this point were that all newborns have something that has to be followed up with.

Andy and I then attended doctor appointments, almost on a weekly basis for the next couple months. The eye nose and throat doctor told us that Alex’s tongue surgery would have to wait until he was a little older, because the doctor did not think that could cause feeding problems. Alex’s heart murmur was just a functional. So we go on and Alex is feeding much better and everything seems to be looking up.
Alex then wakes up one morning when he is almost two months old and his eyes are matted shut. His eyes open up a little bit after I wipe them, but I go ahead and get Alex an appointment that day and the peditrician tells me that he has an eye infection, gives Alex a prescription and says to have his regular pediatrician check the next week at his two month check-up to make sure it is gone. So over the weekend I notice that Alex has a bump on the side of his eye and when I take Alex in I ask the pediatrician about it. Well when he looks at Alex’s eyes he notices that his red reflexes are cloudy and refers Alex to a children’s eye doctor to have it checked out, saying that it looks like glaucoma, but that would be very rare.

Alex then goes in 10 days later to the eye doctor and she knows it is glaucoma just by looking at him and refers us to a glaucoma specialist in IA City, who will do surgery when he confirms Alex has glaucoma. She then puts Alex on eye drops until we go to IA city in 5 days. We go to the car and I completely cry out saying why did God give Alex glaucoma and Andy’s response was “God only gives us what he thinks we can handle and we will do what God needs us to do.” We then go to IA city, the glaucoma is confirmed and Alex has his first eye surgery the next morning. I prayed and prayed that God would get Alex through the surgery and that he would not lose his eye sight. God did answer my prayer and he made it through great. We then had many check-ups afterward and his pressures spiked again and Alex had another surgery 2 months later. This surgery took care of the high pressures and they have been under control since.

After all of this we decided to start attending church again so we went back to Willow Creek. The second or third time we attended after having Alex was Easter and Andy was in the nursery with Alex, so I was sitting by myself in church. At the end of the service Pastor Pausley invited anyone who would be interested in accepting Jesus and knowing more about salvation to come down to the front. I was really
feeling pulled to go down, knowing that I needed to be saved, but just did not have enough courage to go, so that night I decided to talk to Andy about it and told him that I really wanted to talk to Bruce, his dad, about my feelings. He thought this was great, so the next weekend we went down to visit and I told Bruce that I wanted to be saved and he asked me if I believed that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and I said yes and Bruce then prayed for me and my salvation and during the pray I really felt the Holy Spirit alive in me and Jesus was in my heart. It was an absolutely awesome and amazing moment. I was truly saved at that very moment. Brother Kirk then came over the next day and talked to me and asked if I accepted Jesus as my personal savior and I said yes with complete confidence. The next day at church, when Brother Kirk asked for the invitation, I was practically running down the aisle, leaving Andy and Alex behind. They were going up with me so we could have Alex dedicated. My sister-in-law was also coming up with me because she wanted to be saved also. I left all of them behind because I was just so excited and ready. A few weeks later I was baptized, along with my sister-in-law and I just felt so renewed and ready to learn about God and his Word with a newly open heart.

I have had another child, Connor, who was born by cesarean, which I did not want to have to do. God told me the day Connor was born that I needed to choose to have him by cesarean so that is what I did and I know this was the right choice because I trusted in God. He is a healthy boy now because of the grace of God.

It has been 5 years now since my commitment to the Lord and I am learning something new everyday about God’s Word. I have a desire to read my Bible now and to be at Church. I am involved in Mops at Willow Creek and the Moppets Coordinator for childcare. I feel so much joy serving the Lord through this ministry and in other aspects of church and life. I am raising my children in a Christian home, teaching them about God. Alex is asking questions about Jesus and how to accept Him into his heart and I would never have thought to ask my parents. It is such an amazing journey being a Christian and the greatest decision I have ever made.