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(By: Hope King)
I was born January 19, 1960. When I was three years old our home was split apart. My mother became mentally ill and my father was an alcoholic.
The caseworker from the Dept. of Social Services came in and took me, my five sisters, and brother away from my mom and dad. From that point on until I was 19 years old I was in foster homes, which was not so great because I kept moving from home to home.
From age three to five years old, a friend told me I moved every two weeks between three families. One family would take me for a couple of weeks and then the other family would take me for two weeks. Finally, the third family would take me for two more weeks, and then the cycle would start all over again.
When I was five years old the court found me a temporary foster home to stay in until they found me a permanent home, which they did at age seven. I stayed for six years in that home until the age of 13. After that I moved every year until 16 years of age. At age 16, I moved again and stayed in another home until I was 18 years old. At age 18 1/2, I decided I did not like where I lived and moved in with a lady who smoked pot and drank and got high a lot.
My whole childhood had an adverse effect on my life as I grew into adulthood. In kindergarten I was put in a Special Ed class because I had trouble learning. Since I moved around so much I would get behind in my schooling. On top of that, I was put in homes where I had been sexually abused.
My childhood caused a lot of fear in me. I was afraid to be alone in a house by myself. My parents would leave me alone and I would be terrified. I'd check under all of the beds and in every closet for a robber or a bad person who I thought might jump out at me and kill me. After I got done doing this, I'd binge on sweets until my foster parents came home.
I also had a lot of emotional problems and did not trust anyone. I also felt rejected by people as I was growing up. The kids at school teased me and called me very nasty names. Finally at age 19, my life began to turn around. I went to this revival meeting in a spirit-filled church. I got saved two weeks later in my aunt's car. I asked Jesus Christ in my heart to be my Savior and my Lord.
My life slowly came together - I was being emotionally healed. Even though I was saved I went to an adult foster care home with a very loving Christian couple who loved people with problems. I got a chance to raise leader-dog puppies which then would go to blind people after they were trained, and I found out I loved animals! I also got to work in a little store that the foster care home ran.
I stayed there until age 27, at which time I then moved in with my aunt and uncle who were going to try to get me some help so I could live on my own. I became so afraid of that idea of living on my own, that fear took a hold of me and I took off and went to live with the same people who were running a smaller foster home in Kalamazoo until I was 36 years old.
At age 34, I started attending a Pentecostal church. I thought I would never be able to live on my own because of my fear and poor upbringing. As a result of going to this church, this lady from the church showed me how to clean house. We became very good friends and I started to trust her. She encouraged me to be more independent. She thought I'd be able to live on my own, and of course, I thought she was bluffing me!
But as I kept going to this church, I would hear the word preached and the verse in Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" would keep going through my head. Finally, the Lord enabled me to have my own apartment and I am doing wonderful!
Another miracle has happened that I want to share with you - I now have a driver's license. I kept going for my driver's test (about three or four times) and each time I would fail, until one day I finally passed it! A couple of people from my church helped me to drive and they actually made sure I would practice driving. Again, that verse in Philippians 4:13 kept coming to mind for me.
I am so happy I have Jesus, which I believe is the most important thing to have in my life. I have a lovely apartment, two cats, a car, a job and I know I can do anything I set my mind to because God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind. (II Timothy 1:7) I am healed!
God is healing my life and He can heal yours too if you want Him to. All you have to do is ask Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord and watch how He moves in your life. As the scriptures tell me, our God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8) and He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). What He did for me He can and will do for you. Will you trust Him? Let Jesus be Lord of your life too!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my testimony. My prayer for you will be that you will turn your life over to the One who made you. Your life will never be the same and you won't ever be sorry you let Him in. God bless you now as you begin to seek Him with your whole heart!
UPDATE: Hope King has recently gone to be with Jesus in heaven on August 24, 2023. At age 63, her life seemed pretty short here, but she is now living for eternity in the presence of God. We are so thankful that we were able to be a positive influence in her life helping her to rededicate her life to Christ at age 27, and then be
Dear Reader - are you at peace with God? If not, you can be. Do you know what awaits you when you die? You can have the assurance from God that heaven will be your home, if you would like to be certain. You can even have that assurance RIGHT NOW! Either Jesus Christ died for your sins, or He didn't (He did!). Are you prepared to stand before God on the Judgment Day and tell Him that you didn't need the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross to have your sins forgiven and get in right-standing with God? We plead with you...please don't make such a tragic mistake.
To get to know God, to be at peace with God, to have your sins forgiven, to make certain heaven will be your home for eternity, to make certain that you are in right-standing with God right now ... please click here to help you understand the importance of being reconciled to God. What you do about being reconciled to God will determine where you will spend eternity, precious one. Your decision to be reconciled to God is the most important decision you'll ever make in this life, because in Christ, it is impossible to put a value on the worth of your soul in light of eternity.
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Remember: All that we do in this life comes back to our God-given purpose which is to serve and glorify God. The money and assets we accumulate, the fame and power we've attained or seek to attain - all of the things of this nature will one day pass away, but those lives of others we impact for Jesus Christ will last for eternity, and we will be rewarded for the part we helped play by impacting those lives ... for eternity. (Matthew 6:19-21 is our assurance)
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