PJ's and coffee

12.28.13

      On Saturday morning, Alex dropped me off at my grandparent's house for coffee and chit chat while I was still in my PJ's. I bought these pink plaid pajamas for Christmas for myself and rightfully called them my "Christmas Jammies", Alex said they make me look like a grandma. Neat.

     Anyways, my Mom and Dad had stayed the night at my grandparent's house like we usually would, and my Mom had texted me that she was up sitting on the sunporch waiting for me to get there. Not long after I got there, my grandma got up and came out to sit with us. 

     "Ames, you have a real talent for writing," she said. "The way you tell stories engages people. And I'm really, really proud of you for being open about your experience with Kaitlyn to share with other people what God can do with a horrible situation." 

      We started talking about religion and sharing Christ with others. Since I can remember, my grandma has emphasized that our actions show Christ's love more than our words. One of the coolest stories she has ever told me is that one of her dear friends from early in life called her 20 or 30 years later and told her that she had become a Christian because of my grandma's example in her early years. That's a pretty awesome testimony. 

       We talked some about theology, and that's when my grandma said something really profound. She said to me, "Ames (she always calls me that), Satan can't take your salvation away, but he can take your testimony." 

        Satan can't take away our salvation, but he can take away our testimony.

        That took a few minutes to sink in. Of course, we talked about that for a little while after she said it, but what she was saying is that no matter how distant we become from God after becoming a believer in Christ, we are always saved. Once those sincere words are spoken from our lips, we become part of the body of Christ and can never be removed. BUT there are still choices to be made. We can chose to draw close to God, giving him complete rule and say over our lives and letting Him use us to show His glory, or we can chose to be distant, never fully engaging in the perfect plan He has laid out for us. If we are a "distant" Christian, we are letting Satan take away our testimony. We are missing out on the awesomeness that is a personal relationship with God through Christ Jesus and The Holy Spirit. We miss out on feeling the power of God moving through our lives, we miss out on having our eyes opened to see His love for us in all the details of our lives, and we miss out on fulfilling our true destiny on this earth.