Category: Claiming the More Abundant Life

I began to think about killing myself when I was eighteen years old. My number one concern was to have a plan for my life. I had two objectives: (1) find God, and (2) fly airplanes. After a lot of sincere, dedicated, practical effort, I had totally failed with both. I felt as Ephesians 2:12 says, “…having no hope, and without God in the world.” I felt profoundly lost and severely depressed, and I had no reason to continue.

Then God planted a man squarely in my path—my trainer for a new job as a stocker at a lumber yard. He had a quality of light about him that I had never seen. When I came to his Way Ministry fellowship, I met many more people with the same light! They were all deeply excited about the Bible, which I slowly came to realize was in reality the Word of God. I took all the classes available. God reached in and lightened my oppressed heart, through His Word and via the love of the household of The Way.

Fast forward forty years. I am still here! I have been happily married for twenty-eight years, and we have two wonderful children. I have a peaceful, engaging, abundant life. God is still reaching into my heart as I read His Word. It is an amazing, ongoing adventure of sweetness and light, growth and service, as I give of my abilities and resources. I never got my pilot’s license, but I can wait until I get my new body! It will be more reliable than a plane.

God knows how to bless those who seek Him, and He never stops watching over His children.

I’m so deeply thankful to God and to the ministry of The Way International for the forty years of accurate teachings from God’s Word that I have enjoyed and for how they have enabled me to live a more than abundant life! God’s Word is the anchor of my soul—and my anchor holds!

Forty years ago I took the Foundational Class. It was an amazing class. The week before, I had attended a meeting and watched the ministry’s film called Changed. I greatly needed change in my life, so I signed up for this class the next day. I was due to give birth in just over a month, and I was scared and very alone. I had no resources and didn’t know what to do with my life or how to raise the child I would soon be responsible for. I had nearly given up.

The following weekend I attended a statewide ministry campout, and I “insisted” that this class start immediately—I needed answers right away! I had finally started to see a glimmer of hope for my life, and I believed that this was my last shot at making my life work. God met my need, and that same day the final person we needed to have enough students to start the class signed up to take it with me.

That week, on Tuesday, July 4, 1978, our class started. I was made comfortable throughout the class, and all my needs were met daily. Midway through my class, my dear mother and my support died—though not unexpectedly. I was surrounded by love and care and protection by the believers, and my questions were answered from God’s Word with compassion. All details were handled with wonderful understanding and love. I was able to complete the Foundational Class with great victory and healing.

During the class a huge question I had had for fourteen years (How do you get faith?) was answered in one verse (Romans 10:17). I had previously pursued the answer to this question with, among many others, a top religious leader who was the head of a huge church in the Bible Belt. But I had not gotten any answers that made any sense to me. When I spoke in tongues during the last session of our Foundational Class, I said out loud (to stomach and my baby), “We will be OK now.” The next month I went to the Rock of Ages with the believers and found more deliverance than I could have imagined possible. I even said that this must be what heaven is like! Five days after returning from the Rock, I gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

My journey for the next forty years would bring many experiences, both joyous and difficult; but I have always triumphed with my God and with my ministry. God has never failed me, and The Way Ministry has always held forth the truth of God’s Word that has guided me in the way that I needed to go—God’s way. Now I am seventy-three and still very convinced that God works mightily in this ministry and in me to will and to do of His good pleasure. The Seventy-fifth Anniversary year of The Way International has been a year for me to reflect on my own growth, learning, accomplishments, and victories through the years. Forty years ago I chose LIFE, and thanks to God and this ministry, I have had a good understanding of the way God has wanted me to travel. I will continue in God’s way for as long as I live!