How Everyday People Live Out Their Christian Faith

Illustrating how men and women display their love for Jesus in their day-to-day lives.
Little things that may have an eternal impact. Might these stories motivate you to use your talents?
  • Labor Overcoming Obstacles

    EPILEPSY CHANGED HER LIFE

    My life changed dramatically five years ago. I woke up in the middle of the night to a room filled with emergency medical personnel. My husband lovingly told me that I had a seizure and we were going to the hospital. After being admitted, doctors determined I had experienced a grand mal seizure, or what is medically known as a tonic-clonic seizure. Over the next few months, I had some recurring impaired awareness seizures, and I was diagnosed with epilepsy. I was the mom of a six-month old baby and worked full time in a career that I loved. Now because of the seizures, I couldn’t drive. I needed to step away from my job so the medical personnel could determine the best course of action for me. I felt alone and wondered how I would navigate all this. The fear of having another seizure was always on my mind. It turns out this is a very common concern for those with epilepsy. Sometimes you’re reluctant to do certain things because of that fear. For example, kids who have epilepsy may not want to go to their church’s youth group because of all the flashing lights that are sometimes used. But that was not all that was happening. A few months later, my husband experienced some headaches and underwent a sinus surgery right before an anniversary trip we had planned. We went on the trip but he started to feel bad and had some numbness in his arms and then his face. We flew back immediately. After two ER visits, he was placed in the… Read More

  • Loving Your Neighbor Overcoming Obstacles

    MINISTERING TO WOMEN

    I was raised Catholic but became a believer in the 1970s. I then became distracted by the world and married a nonbeliever. However, God’s grace brought me back to Him when my first child was born. Becoming a mom pushed me to seek God’s help. Unfortunately as our family grew, my husband struggled with prescription drug addiction and abuse. Due to that and my upbringing, I strived to be perfect and attempted to fix and enable people. The more I did for my husband, the less he did for us. I lost myself being both mom and dad to our kids. We ended up divorcing. Following the divorce, the Lord was faithful to bring me healing. He also used a woman's Christ-centered recovery program to help heal me, and I attended it for five years. Hearing other women’s testimonies renewed my strength and hope. They showed me it was okay to be vulnerable. Later on, the Lord called me to become a leader in that same program and help other women. I didn’t try to fix them, I just loved and encouraged them. God allowed me to serve there for seven years. That experience showed me that Jesus has given me a heart for ministering to women. Now, the Lord has called me to lead a women’s Bible study. I have the blessing of getting to intentionally know the ladies in my group. I lead the study, pray with the women, listen to them, and get to know them personally. And the Lord has given me many chances to welcome and include… Read More

  • Children Hospital Overcoming Obstacles

    OUR CHERISHED GIFT FROM GOD

    “Your baby is missing his left eye.” With that one sentence, my life was forever changed. This was supposed to be a routine ultrasound where I would have the chance to finally see my precious baby and perhaps take home a picture. My husband and I had previously welcomed a little boy into our life and were looking forward to our second child. This news completely blindsided us but we prayed. Our family prayed. Our friends and their friends prayed for a miracle, that God would heal our baby, but sometimes God’s answer is “no” as it was for us. Our son William was born without his left eye as well as his left ear. I was able to cradle him for just a moment before he was rushed to the neonatal ICU. Even though I had prayed for God to heal him, I knew that William could be born with this condition, yet nothing can ever truly prepare you for that reality. My heart sank into despair as I listened to the nurse share her concerns about my son. It was a lot to process! I could only be grateful for the support of my family and friends. The ensuing days and months felt like a run-away roller coaster ride. William remained in the NICU for three months, and for weeks we could not hold him because of the danger of dislodging the breathing tube inserted into his throat. Since I could not cradle him in the traditional way, I had to be creative in letting my baby know I was there… Read More

  • Children Overcoming Obstacles

    OUR MIRACLE DAUGHTERS

    When my former husband left me and the church to pursue what he thought to be higher truth, I could never imagine God redeeming that low point of my life and the shame that my former husband had heaped upon me. My God didn’t just bring me out of that dark place to the life I had wanted. He brought me to a life I never knew I could have asked for. I met a man whose whole family left Cuba as refugees. They immigrated to America to worship God freely and serve Him with their whole lives; not just in secret, but as the main focal point of their lives. He and I met and were married, both having come from broken marriages. My husband and I were ecstatic to pursue parenthood, and our whole church family stood behind us in anticipation. I became pregnant and after visiting the doctor and seeing the little apple seed on the ultrasound and hearing his heart, my own heart was filled with a million little fantasies about motherhood and raising this child. A month later, I heard the words that doctors hate to deliver. I heard the words that will stop a woman’s heart cold in her chest. “There is no detectable heartbeat.” With the help of IUI treatments, we became pregnant again. And again, I lost the baby. One time again after, I heard those words and felt my heart grow colder. And then I began to truly seek God’s voice in my life. I knew that He wanted me to become a mother, but I… Read More

  • Overcoming Obstacles Recovery

    BATTLING LYME DISEASE

    This is the story of how God brought me through a difficult Lyme diagnosis. I had an ideal childhood, it was wonderful. But life was difficult, too. I experienced migraines, digestive issues, and more. I didn’t know what was wrong, but the Lord did. Finally, I took a Lyme test, which showed that I tested positive for Lyme. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection either from a tick which invades your body, or it’s passed down from one of your parents. It takes over your body and causes severe symptoms such as numbness, fatigue, joint pain, and headaches. Following my diagnosis at age 17, I was relieved to finally have an answer to all my symptoms. I felt nervous too, but God gave me peace. Following high school graduation, someone invited me to work at my church. I agreed, and life stabilized. Unfortunately, some injuries and illnesses weakened my body in the summer of 2021. My Lyme flared up horrifyingly fast. I couldn’t work because I developed a heart condition from the Lyme. Insomnia and autonomic dysfunction filled my days and nights. I couldn’t eat and thought I was dying. Then miraculously, God healed my heart condition after receiving prayer! I then tried to return to work multiple times, but I was still too weak. So I quit. But God was faithful to bring even more healing after I quit. My body then calmed down, but shortly after, things went south. In March of 2022, my insomnia was triggered. I couldn’t sleep. One day, I prayed for God’s will to be done. After… Read More

  • Homeless Loss Of Loved One Mission Work

    HONORING OUR SON’S MEMORY

    To honor the memory of our six-year-old son who passed away, we started a ministry that builds houses for the impoverished and homeless in Honduras. How we became involved in this is truly the work of the Lord. In March 2020, our son, John Luke had an ATV accident. He was a healthy, happy, beautiful boy. My husband, a paramedic, worked on him and got his heart beating, and we were able to med flight him to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham. He was put on a ventilator to sustain him, but the doctors prepared us for what was to come. He lived for four days and as I look back, I know the Lord knew I needed that time with John Luke to say goodbye. My husband was a huge advocate of organ donation and bringing life to others in the midst of our heartbreak. There was a six-year-old boy in Texas that needed a perfect match for a liver. And there were two adults in Birmingham that each needed a kidney. So John Luke was able to help save the lives of three people. This horrible tragedy made me want to share my faith and to do so in a bold way. I grew up as a Christian but I never had a deep connection with Jesus until that fateful day. That’s when I needed Him, and he was right there for me, just like He had always been. He truly carried me through this awful experience. There were days that were so difficult, and I could feel His presence. God is… Read More

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