Today has been gifted to me when I opened my eyes this morning. Thanking God for the pain in my body and trying so hard to understand how I would make it through my day dealing with the pain. It is then that I realize that when things seem to be falling apart.....they are really falling at the feet of Jesus...He is still seated on the throne! Exalted! No one is higher than He.
Enjoy this day and know that God is still there waiting for you to reach out, reach up, reach across and reach around. To touch others lives with your contagious smile and your loving heart.
Joy is always here in the morning. God Bless you all as you go through this upcoming week.
Love you all, Kath
My Testimony Picture in 1998
Monday, December 5, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
ADDICTED TO GODS AMAZING LOVE! - Pt 2 of 2 - By: Michelle Otero
I want to begin this blogspot by sharing testimony of others that have chosen King Jesus to be there all.
www.reentryaftercare.org
I serve as a member of the board for ReentryAftercare and we are a closely connected community of followers that are committed to helping those coming out of incarceration or treatment programs or both. I continue to pray with those that are out there in the streets and will pray for them also. Please follow me on my blogspot as I continue to go out into the streets and minister to others about the grace and mercy that Jesus Christ offers to all
My Testimony
This is a beginning for my first blogspot. I have never done this before but have a desire and compassion to carry forth the message of what Jesus Christ has done in my life.
To begin with I was born a sinner on March 1st, 1953. I was born to a mom that rejected me all of my life. She hated me due to an act of violence that she suffered from that resulted in her pregnancy with me. She let my grandparents raise me until I was ten years of age when she married for the first time and then brought me to live with her and my new stepfather.
My stepfather then abused me for six years in any way possible and it continued throughout my adolescent years. I went to Sunday school for many years until I was not allowed to go anymore. But I never forgot that Jesus loved me. However, it didn't change how my life took a turn for the worse every year until I was the age of 49. It was at that time that my mom and I were reconciled through the constant prayer and support from my sister. She was 15 yrs younger than me but didn't understand why my mom hated me. Not sure if she really even realized that she did when she was young. I also had a brother that was 13 years younger and we were very close in the beginning but drifted apart throughout the years.
To begin with I reached out and seeked love from anyone and anything I could; including men, drugs, alcohol, and the lifestyle of prostitution. I continued on this road for 32 yrs of my life. It was at that final moment in my life when God touched me and brought me into my 7th treatment program. I struggled to continue to stay clean all of those following years until I finally ended it by staying in three programs until I was off probation for my 4th felony arrest.
Living on the streets in Grand Rapids, Michigan; I began to run into ministry teams out there that would pray for me and walk and talk with me from time to time. One person inparticular that kept seeking me when she was doing street ministry work was Sister Denise. She was passionate to help the ladies on the streets. I would even try to duck from her but couldn't as she would find me. Other ministries would give me gifts of gloves, scarves and New Testament Bibles....They never left me alone. I thought about God all the time but didn't have the courage nor the gutts to walk away. After all, my drugs were my love and they were my God at that time in my life. I even set them up as part of a ritual when getting high. I knew that God was there but also knew that He was waiting for me to respond to His calling on my life.
After reconciliation with my mom, she passed to be with Jesus just seven months later. I was angry and I didn't know what to do with it but was able to stay clean but couldn't give up the lifestyle. So I continued working out in the streets until I was arrested for the last time.
The judge gave me a chance to get myself together as he sentenced me to West Michigan Teen Challenge program in Muskegon, Michigan. After doing 5 and a half months there I became very needy. I was struggling but knew that God had His hand on me. I seeked His love from that moment on but I still didn't know how to live the way He needed me to live. I continued to struggle and was released from WMTC and the judge then sentenced me to serve 10 months in Michigan Department of Corrections. It was there that I began to stay on my knees and submit my life to God. I worked close with the chaplain and remained faithful since that time. I finished my parole on December 17th of 2005. I work closely with http://www.reentryaftercare.org/ program helping set up teams around those that come out of incarceration and not having anyone on the outside to mentor and give moral support to. A wonderful program. I also began to work with the jail ministry at my church until they closed that ministry due to no one making a commitment to stick with it. I was devastated by this decison and then decided to move on with the ReentryAfter program. I also enrolled in Liberty University DLP classes and am currently studying to be a Christian Counselor. My passion is to be able to go in and work with young women that are out in the streets with no one to help them.
Please keep in touch as I will be continuing to add to my blog and share with all of you what Jesus Christ is doing in my life today.
I love serving Jesus with my whole heart.
To begin with I was born a sinner on March 1st, 1953. I was born to a mom that rejected me all of my life. She hated me due to an act of violence that she suffered from that resulted in her pregnancy with me. She let my grandparents raise me until I was ten years of age when she married for the first time and then brought me to live with her and my new stepfather.
My stepfather then abused me for six years in any way possible and it continued throughout my adolescent years. I went to Sunday school for many years until I was not allowed to go anymore. But I never forgot that Jesus loved me. However, it didn't change how my life took a turn for the worse every year until I was the age of 49. It was at that time that my mom and I were reconciled through the constant prayer and support from my sister. She was 15 yrs younger than me but didn't understand why my mom hated me. Not sure if she really even realized that she did when she was young. I also had a brother that was 13 years younger and we were very close in the beginning but drifted apart throughout the years.
To begin with I reached out and seeked love from anyone and anything I could; including men, drugs, alcohol, and the lifestyle of prostitution. I continued on this road for 32 yrs of my life. It was at that final moment in my life when God touched me and brought me into my 7th treatment program. I struggled to continue to stay clean all of those following years until I finally ended it by staying in three programs until I was off probation for my 4th felony arrest.
Living on the streets in Grand Rapids, Michigan; I began to run into ministry teams out there that would pray for me and walk and talk with me from time to time. One person inparticular that kept seeking me when she was doing street ministry work was Sister Denise. She was passionate to help the ladies on the streets. I would even try to duck from her but couldn't as she would find me. Other ministries would give me gifts of gloves, scarves and New Testament Bibles....They never left me alone. I thought about God all the time but didn't have the courage nor the gutts to walk away. After all, my drugs were my love and they were my God at that time in my life. I even set them up as part of a ritual when getting high. I knew that God was there but also knew that He was waiting for me to respond to His calling on my life.
After reconciliation with my mom, she passed to be with Jesus just seven months later. I was angry and I didn't know what to do with it but was able to stay clean but couldn't give up the lifestyle. So I continued working out in the streets until I was arrested for the last time.
The judge gave me a chance to get myself together as he sentenced me to West Michigan Teen Challenge program in Muskegon, Michigan. After doing 5 and a half months there I became very needy. I was struggling but knew that God had His hand on me. I seeked His love from that moment on but I still didn't know how to live the way He needed me to live. I continued to struggle and was released from WMTC and the judge then sentenced me to serve 10 months in Michigan Department of Corrections. It was there that I began to stay on my knees and submit my life to God. I worked close with the chaplain and remained faithful since that time. I finished my parole on December 17th of 2005. I work closely with http://www.reentryaftercare.org/ program helping set up teams around those that come out of incarceration and not having anyone on the outside to mentor and give moral support to. A wonderful program. I also began to work with the jail ministry at my church until they closed that ministry due to no one making a commitment to stick with it. I was devastated by this decison and then decided to move on with the ReentryAfter program. I also enrolled in Liberty University DLP classes and am currently studying to be a Christian Counselor. My passion is to be able to go in and work with young women that are out in the streets with no one to help them.
Please keep in touch as I will be continuing to add to my blog and share with all of you what Jesus Christ is doing in my life today.
I love serving Jesus with my whole heart.
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