Testimony!

Last Sunday Michael and I (Well really I...since I'm the talker in the family, he did stand up on stage with me though) had the opportunity to speak in front of our church and give our testimony of God's faithfulness in our lives...especially all the craziness that has been our lives the last year and a half. The Business Administrator Al at the church had asked us to speak later on in April, but due to someone being ill he called me on Saturday and wondered if we would be willing to step in and take their place the following morning. I actually really felt like God was wanting me to do this and I felt like it was perfect timing since we had such good news to share all around. I was only supposed to talk for about 90 secs and if you know me that's not really possible...so I decided to be prepared so I wouldn't ramble and I wrote out what I was going to say. Of course it got varied a little bit when I got up on stage, but the message was still the same. It was so wonderful to stand up there and proclaim God's faithfulness...I mean I know it, I've seen it, I've lived it, but what a testimony we have for Jesus! I always felt like my testimony wasn't really that good growing up....not enough drama or excitment, but now I know it doesn't have to be that way. It's your story and God's working through YOUR story and it's a good story and just maybe one day you'll get the chance to share it and touch lives.

Here's what I wrote....

My name is Lyndsay and this is my husband Michael…we’re the Martin’s. We’ve been attending CBSR since the summer of 1998 about a year before we got married. In the beginning of our marriage we both worked until I had our first son Owen in January of 2007 then we felt like my place was staying home and raising him. During this time Michael worked for a small painting company and God was providing for us so I could stay home. In the summer of 2008 we added to our family again with our second son Jack and then in the summer of 2009 we found out that God was blessing us again with our third child. In November of 2009 Michael came home with the unexpected news that he was now unemployed. As you can imagine it was hard for a small painting company to stay busy during this recession and so necessary cuts had to be made. So here we are a young family of 4 with another on the way and no employment. During this time I was forced to come out of my comfort zone and ask for help. We ended up having to go on state assistance and I applied for WIC. This is something that I never saw myself doing, but it was a humbling experience and I think God taught me a lot through it. Michael was also collecting unemployment during this time and since he was a painter he did some side work during the summer months to help out. God was SO faithful during this time. Michael was busy almost the entire summer and we did very little advertising. In the midst of this I remember a sermon that Pastor preached about how it’s not IF we are going to go through trials it’s WHEN. He also talked about how God knows the beginning and the end and there IS an expiration date to your suffering. This completely spoke to me….by this time I felt very unsure about our future and what God had in store for us. After 15 months of unemployment we reached our expiration date and our prayers were answered when God provided Michael with a job. He’s just finished his first month of employment and really likes it. He works at the KC Water District with Dan Mello. Looking back at those 15 months it really was a blessed time in our lives. God provide for all our needs. We welcomed our third child Ella. We got to spend SO much quality time together as a family. We never once missed paying any of our bills and we were taken care of and blessed in so many ways. With that being said we still have to trust in God. As with a lot of people that got laid off and found new jobs usually the job you find doesn’t pay you what you used to make and that is the case with us as well. We are still trying to be good stewards of God’s money because that’s what it is….God’s money. He’s entrusted us to use it and we know from experience that He has in the pass and He will continue to provide for us in the future. We also have a little announcement, just after Michael found out that God provided a job for him we also found out that we are expecting another child due this October. You might not know our story of infertility, but we never thought we would even have children and to think that in 5 short years through God’s timing and faithfulness we have welcomed 3 soon to be 4 beautiful blessings into our lives is just amazing. God is good and God is faithful!