Testimonials

I was talking to my daughter Samantha the other day and she asked me, “What do you want for your Birthday?”  I have to tell you, I was stumped.  Then I realized, I don’t need anything, and I really don’t want for anything.

God has always blessed my life.  I grew up with wonderful parents who gave me a spiritual basis in my early years and taught me right from wrong.  I never went without, and probably always had more than I needed.  I met and married the love of my life very young, and we’ve been together over 30 years.  We have had some lean times, but once again, I never went without.  My parents put me through college, so I have been able to support my family for 25 years.  God has protected my job over many layoffs and reorganizations. 

I have two beautiful daughters that I am very proud of, and 1 wonderful grandson.

We have had our tests and trials.  Steve and I have both lost our parents and had to take care of them through some pretty grueling illnesses and deaths.  We had accidents and mishaps that could have easily killed us.  We have some health issues (however, most are of our own doing.)  But, during these and many other problems, we have always had God to turn to.  We know where our hope lies, and we realized we are stronger than we thought.

I have known God from a very early age, but it took quite a while to find God’s true church.  I am so glad that I did.  Finding the Church of God, and its teachings just made sense to me.  I tend to analyze things, and I could never figure out what Santa Clause had to do with Christ, what Easter bunnies had to do with Christ, why certain foods would make me feel sick and why was I different from other people? 

I am so glad I found God’s laws and statutes.  They are the foundation to the life that I live and with Christ as my cornerstone, what more could a girl want or need?

Written by Teresa Hicks

Testimonial

Written by Samantha Hicks

Alone, in my bed, late one night, fear over took me.  Tears soaked my pillow and the feeling of total loss of control overwhelmed me.

I could do nothing for my dad.  Earlier that morning, my dad was going to have major surgery on his neck due to an accident he had suffered.  A disc in his neck had been crushed and there were so many things that could go wrong with a surgery like this. 

What if he died during the surgery or was left paralyzed? Anytime a doctor works close to the spine, there are risks.

Every scenario that could run through a person’s mind, were running through mine.  I was really scared for him.

 I knew that controlling this situation and the fear that I was feeling, were out of my hands, so I put it in God’s hands.  I began to pray.  I don’t remember the exact words that I prayed that night, but I do remember telling God, “I’m scared.”

In the darkness, I reached my hand up towards Him and said, “God, I need your strength, take care of my dad.”

Suddenly, it felt as if someone grabbed my hand and a peace came over me.  At that moment I knew that my dad was going to be fine.  The fear I had been feeling was gone.

That next day was a long one as we waited for the surgery to be completed. When the doctor finally came out after several hours and told us we could see him, I was glad. 

Dad came out alright, just as God had shown me the night before. In fact, he was better than alright. His recovery time was quicker than most.  He was supposed to have physical therapy for several days before they would release him.  He did so well the next day when they got him up, that the therapist released him from anymore. It was a miracle. God is great!

 HOW GOD HAS BLESSED ME

By Bettie Yeary

God has richly blessed me all through my life.  First of all, He gave me wonderful parents.  They worked hard to provide food, clothes and schooling.  My dad worked on a farm and it was a hard life but, with God’s help we survived. 

Then God blessed me by giving me a wonderful husband.  He is a wonderful man who isn’t afraid to show emotions.  Many people think that to be a man you can’t cry.  Well, I beg to differ with that, as I’ve seen mine laugh and cry at times.  And he has worked hard to provide for us.  We’ve now been together, soon will be 41 years.

Then, God gave us 3 wonderful sons.  And now we have 7 grandchildren ranging from age 15 to 1 years old.  I’m proud of every one of them.

 God also blessed me in that in 1993 I had to have open heart surgery.  They operated on me on a Tuesday and I came home that Sabbath.  I kept telling them that, even if I had to walk home, I was leaving.  Now, this was in Evansville Indiana and I live in Harrisburg Illinois.  So, they let me come home and the next Sabbath I was in Church.

 There are so many ways that I’ve been blessed by God it would take a book to write them all down and then I’d probably miss something.