For is Glory

Hi everyone, It's kinda late but just want to say that God is so good to me.
Every day is so full of the goodness of God. I just finished writing to our two boys that we have through compassion International. One is from Haiti and the other is from San Salvador. They are so thankful for our support and we just love hearing from them. John is twelve now and is growing in the Lord. He tells of the terrible storms that the Lord has protected him and his family from this last year. It's such a blessing to read his letters and to watch what God is doing in his life. Wilber is only 6, but he and his mother attend a Church of God in their country. His mother has been very sick for such a long time,with terrible headache's. We have been praying for her for a couple of years. In his last letter, the Lord had completely healed her. His letters,written by either his mother or an aunt are always filled with their love of Jesus Christ. We are so blessed to be apart of their lives. Can you even imagine what our reunion will be like in the hereafter. Do you think that we will recognise them and they us? I just know that God will see that we are all joined together in all of our earthly relationships because that's just the way HE is. Sometimes I can hardly wait. I find the older I get, the more I find myself contemplating these things. Thanks for reading my note's Love ya, Roberta Romans 12:10

For His Glory

Hi just had to put something on here, even if it's only to say Hi. I've been praying and believing that the Lord will give me some real great revelation to blog about. So far it ain't happened. We got to take Brody our 3 year old grandson with us for the first time on a shopping trip today. He was so good and had such a fun time with us. Grandchildren are so much fun. I think when you are the parents you just don't have the time or the energy to really enjoy them. Honestly, they come out with the funniest and the most intelligent wisdom ever. Today we had a family of ten over for dinner, our 6 yr. old grandson came out to tell us that this family really likes grapes, so we just felt we must go to Sam's and get them some for their enjoyment. Amazingly he was right,he had observed them at the church dinners and knew exactly what would please them. Who would think a 6 yr. old would be so observing? Anyone got any grandkid stories??? I love them. Love In Him, Roberta

For His Glory Feb. 25th

Hi all, Busy,Busy Day,
I'm wanting to do it all. This blogging is so much fun.
Today I'm just trying to get it all together, but it's just not working.
Did I mention that I'm trying to learn the guitar. It's harder then it looks.
Maybe not for some people but I'm just not one of them.
I struggle and pray, not always in that order. At 73 it's not so easy,but I an determined
to keep going . I try to spend at least an hour at it. Especially since my sweetie got me a beautiful guitar for my birthday. Did I tell you all that we have been married for 55 years. It doesn't seem like that many years. I love hearing from you all, I'm trying to read and make comments with someone new each day. See you tomorrow, Roberta

For His Glory

Hi, Seems funny not blogging my testimony after so many day's. Thanks for being so faithful to read it. Today has been busy watching the children while Kim took Kelsey to the library for books. Then calling up Sky Angel to sign up for their new programing.
I,m going to try to be faithful to blogging every day. I love hearing from you all. Going to try to read a new blogger's story every day. Hugs to you all, Roberta

My testimony Part 18

While we can,t say that there have been no trials along the way, we are reminded often that He never said that we would never face hard times. Rather ,He promised to make a way and deliver us out of them all.

My Mom passed away in 2001, at the ripe old age of 94 after living with us for many years. She never had any loss of her memory but her house just wore out. Even at the end of her life she still trusted Jesus to take her home. Even at the time of her death she could still be found lying with her hands raised to the Lord in total surrender to His will. The attendants would say to her, Mrs. Rice, " Put your hands down" and we would have to tell them that she was worshiping the Lord. I felt no sadness at her passing because I was so sure of her walk with God. She was a wonderful mother and mentor to me and my children.

Many of these testimony,s have been passed out over the years. When the Lord impressed upon me to start a blog, because it would be another way to Bless others and tell of Mom,s experience.

It was my Mother,s and my sincere desire that every reader of this testimony might be blessed by it,s message, proclaiming salvation and victory through Jesus Christ.
We want only to honor God with this story of faith, power and love.

If you do not know Him, our prayer is that you might be willing to pray from your heart a simple prayer like this:

Dear heavenly Father, I don,t even know if I believe in you, let alone in this testimony. But if You are real and if You do enter into the affairs of men,
Please come into my heart and life. I want to know you.
I know that I have sinned. We have all sinned.
So please send your HOLY SPIRIT with the free gift of salvation for me.
I receive it now. In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, I receive You as my Savior,my Lord and my coming King. Amen.


Thanks so much for reading my testimony. Love and Blessings to all. See you tomorrow, Roberta

My testimony Part 17

At first I was afraid of being hurt again,fearing that she might to reach sixteen and be taken from us. As we thought about all the promises of God, however, we once again became excited about the arrival of a new baby.

I will never forget the day that we went to pick up our new baby girl. I had envisioned a tiny infant all pink and cuddly..
My friends and our church family had given me a huge baby shower, so there were at least thirty little dresses hanging in the nursery. All that we were told was that she was available and that we didn,t have to take her if we didn,t want to.
When we saw her, we understood why they had spoken to us in such a way.
She was covered with red sores and blotches over her face and body. At seven weeks of age, she weighed in at a whopping seventeen pounds.
They assured us that we didn,t have to take her. But If we decided to, they were sure a low-fat diet would clear up her complexion and normalize her weight.

Placed into a foster home for a short while after birth, she had simply enjoyed too rich a diet.
All I could think of at the moment was those beautiful little dresses that she would never be able to wear,if we decided to take her.

Looking at Milt,Andy Chris and me, our welfare worker suggested," Why don,t you go out for coffee and decide between yourselves?"
After a few more moments with the baby,we left.

Shortly after huddled around a small table in a lunchroom. I remember asking,"Honey what do you think?"

Before Milt could answer Andy spoke up calmly . " why don,t we take a vote?"
Then Milt expressed himself. "She is the baby girl God has given us."
We all knew then we,d be taking her home.
Today we still treasure the little pink stretch suit that she so neatly filled. After bundling her up,we headed home with our new little God given treasure.

Kim never did get to wear any of the pretty little dresses,but it has been a wonderful blessing for us to have had her, to lead her to Jesus and to see Him working so mightily in her life.
Surely she has payed a very important part in our lives.WE ARE SO BLESSED!!!!!!

As you probably have guessed by now, she is your friend and mine and you hear from her about every day. As the Homesteader in Progress. I thank God everyday for all the wonderful gifts He has bestowed on her and how He is blessing her life.

To be continued, God bless till Monday,Roberta

My testimony part 16

About this time some of the couples in our church were adopting children. Since we had three boys , we were hoping that a baby girl might come our way. We had applied a couple of years earlier and had been told that baby girls were not often available in our area. Still, we were trusting God to bring it to pass.
Giving ones self to raise a special child for Jesus seemed like a wonderful idea. We were all excited when our application was approved by the state. Through there were no available babies at the time, we decided that since we wern,t in any hurray, we,d pick out a name for her, then settle down to wait. We decided to call her Kimberly.

Little did we know that by the time she arrived, Jeff would have already gone home to be with the Lord.
In the meantime we had become acquainted with an eight-year- old girl who had been brought into our church by a family which often boarded foster children.
She had had a very rough start in life. Sadly abused and extremely shy, she seemed in dire need of a permanent home and someone to love her.
She was so sweet,and we started bringing her home with us on Sunday afternoons and during school vacations. She soon fit not only into our home but also into our hearts.
For more than a year, she visited with us at those special times and we all loved her.
We had been praying about what we should do, as our social worker had informed us that Maxie had once again become available for adoption.
We were already having a hard time thinking of her being uprooted again.Perhaps we would never see her again, and she would be torn from what little love and security she had known.
We asked God for a sign to help us to do the right thing about adopting her.
One year to the day of Jeff,s accident, God moved Maxie into our home.
Skeptics would say it was coincidence. We knew that it was God,s love for us,placing His seal of approval and once again proving Himself to us.

Finally came the day when we received a phone call from the state, telling us there was a baby girl available.
To be continued, God Bless, Roberta

My testimony part 15

A full page tribute to Jeff appeared in his school yearbook, including a smiling photograph of him: It read

In memory of Jeffrey Bernard Kelley.
We the class of 1972 dedicate this log in loving memory of Jeffrey B. Kelley, who passed away April 17th 1970. God took him home, it was His will.
But in our hearts we love him still; his memory is as dear today as in the hour he passed away. We often sit and think of him when we are all alone, for memory is the only friend that grief can call it,s own.
" For me to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21,) 1954 to 1970.
Sadly missed by all his classmates and everyone that knew him.

During the next few years I spent hours in the Word. One day as I knelt by my bed in prayer, The Lord spoke to my heart about what it truly means to know Him in His fullness. As I thought about His bruised body,my spiritual eyes were opened and I was able to see that following Jesus was more than just getting saved.
To really know Him, I must walk in obedience , being careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit, I have not been the same since.I wept as I began to realize that our calling goes far beyond receiving Jesus as Savior. We must also know Him as Lord.

To be continued, Roberta

My Testimony Part 14

Later, Rosie,s sister told of a neighbor who had come to their home,some forty miles away. and related a dream with almost the same message from Rosie. Our God is no respecter of persons. He would not bless one family without blessing the other.

We have been told that Jeff also stood at the bedside of a friend he had led to Christ and told him that he would be waiting for him. I praise God for the beautiful manifestations at that time. They brought comfort and assurance to the body of Christ at that time.
This was the second time that our family had been blessed in such a manner. My grandmother on my mother,s side, told about the death of her nine year daughter.
On the day of her death, as my grandparents sat at her bedside,she told them about angels and the beautiful music she was experiencing. " Can,t you hear the music?" she asked her mother repeatedly. A few hours later, she drifted off to the strains of that music especially created for her, a special gift from God that no one else could hear.
We were reminded that God never promised to deliver us from trials and tribulations we would encounter on this earth; only to deliver us in and through them.
He has a plan for each of our lives that is especially designed for us.
Though He never sends disaster to His children,He uses every circumstance,large and small, to mold each of us to fit into His eternal plan.
What Satan meant for evil,God meant for good.

Only eternity will reveal the converts and blessings resulting from Mom,s testimony. She had been a believer since childhood.
God has honored her faithfulness and has truly blessed us through her testimony.

Looking back over Jeff,s post-death message revealed even more exciting blessings and revelations.
1. Jeff said that they were both very happy-an impossibility after such an accident had they not already entered into the presence of the Lord.
"To be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord" ( 2 Corinthians 5:8)

2. Had they seen Jesus? Oh, Yes they had seen Him.
Where is He now? He is everywhere, proving that Jesus is omnipresent- able to be everywhere at all times.

3. Have you seen Abraham,Isaac and Jacob?
No Mamie,but their are so many people here....I have seen your mother and father,proving that when a born-again christian goes home he is gathered unto his own,just like the Bible say,s. Abraham,Isaac and Jacob died and were" gathered unto their own. Jeff also died and was gathered unto his own.
Jeff couldn,t have possibly known his great grandfather, a devout Christian who had passed away long before Jeff was born. His great grandmother died only a few months after his birth.

Because Jeff was always so faithful to call home and let us know where he was.,Jesus allowed him to call one last time before we meet again in heaven.
Jeff was always calling home,saying, " Hi Mom " or " Hi Dad." This is Jeff" Dad would respond," Jeff Who?" then they would both laugh. Whether He was to be 15 minutes or two hours late, he always let us know in advance.

Jeff,s first words to my mother were, " Hi, Mamie, this is Jeff."
Coincidence? Perhaps. But the reality of God is ever present in our lives if we will only be sensitive to His Holy Spirit.

To be continued. Thanks for being so patient and reading my blog. Roberta

My testimony Part 13

The testimony of Mrs. Velma Rice.

The maternal Grandmother of Jeffrey Kelley on Monday April 27,1970, around 10:20 in the morning, Mrs Rice testifies that she was standing alone in her living room when all at once the most perfect sense of peace came over her.
She paused in the midst of her morning,s work,and she discovered that the living room had become strangely quiet. Then she heard a voice speaking to her which she immediately recognized to be the voice of her deceased grandson.

" Hello, Mamie, this is Jeff. Tell Mama not to feel bad,
The air was very still,very clear.
" Hi, Jeff she replied. Where are you?"
" I,m here " And she immediately knew what what he meant.
" Is Rosie there with you? She asked. " Yes she,s here.
We,re both very happy".
Have you seen Jesus?" " Yes we,ve seen Him."
"Where is He now?"
" Oh, He,s everywhere"
Then not knowing what else to say, she felt prompted to ask,
"Have you seen Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?"
"No not yet. There are a lot of people here. But I have seen your
Father and Mother."
" Did they know you?"
"Oh,Yes" Then he added, "I,ve got to go now,Mamie."

And all at once he was gone again.
He was always faithful in calling home to report where he was. So she believes that the Lord honored this quality in him, and for the benefit of his family and the corporate body He allowed him to report in to them in this way for the last time till we all meet again in the hereafter.

At first she wasn,t going to tell anyone of her encounter with her grandson,Jeff
.After considering the content of his message,however she decided to write down exactly as it happened and call me.
I was at home,still busy writing cards and letters of thanks and appreciation to each one for all their acts of kindness when the phone rang that morning.
My Mom exploded with the news. " I,ve just heard from Jeff" she proceeded to tell me the words that he had spoken to her. I could hardly believe my ears,but one thing assured me that it was true. I knew that ,in all my 34 years, I,d never known my Mother to lie-not to me or to anyone else.
We agreed she would give her testimony at the prayer meeting,which would be held on the following Thursday night.

To be continued. Roberta

My testimony Part 12

Some of our friends assured us that our faith in God would carry us through this testing time. Others felt that we would turn against God because of our loss. But helping us through those many days and weeks was Jesus Christ Himself; knowing the reality of Christ in us, our hope of glory, day by day.

To this day, I still marvel that not once has God allowed me to be bitter toward the man that was responsible for their deaths. I felt only remorse for Him and his family. They, too, must have suffered at his passing. I pray that they have found the Lord.

God had been more than enough. We would have been satisfied just for the assurance of Jeff,s salvation and to know that he was now in heaven with Jesus. That wasn,t Gods plan, however, as He added another remarkable plan to our lives.

Just ten days after Jeff and Rosie,s death, my mother, Velma Rice a christian since the age of eight, was standing in her living room. As she was about to turn on her vacuum cleaner , she suddenly noticed that the room had become strangely quiet. This was certainly out of the ordinary, for her home is located just above and between two very active boatyards and the noise of their chipping and pounding on iron carries through the neighborhood loud and clear. As she stood their quietly in the stillness, She recognized Jeff,s voice speaking to her. It startled her to say the least. Not ever having experienced anything of this nature before, she was rather frightened.

Here is how the testimony of Mrs. Velma Rice was introduced " To the Corporate Body of the Woolwich-Wiscasset Baptist Church.

We are printing this not for the sake of idle curiosity but for the benefit of those who knew Jeff and Rosie and loved them and will be comforted by this testimony and wish to have a copy in their possession.
As Pastor Stevens has rightly taught us , we are not to seek for this sort of communication deliberately, but if God for His own glory and to build up His corporate body and to strengthen their faith sees fit to permit thoes who have gone home to be with the Lord to say a few words of comfort to thoes left behind, this is His sovereign right.
And who can say Him nay?

Mrs Rice is a born again believer of unreproachable character and unquestionable honesty who sincerely loves the Lord with all her heart. As she herself is the first to admit, she is ordinarily not in the least subject to having visions or auditions or experiences of this sort.
Though her real name is Velma, Jeff had called her Mamie ever since he was a child. And as for her own parents,they had passed away before Jeff could possibly know them.
Jeff togather with his friend Rosie Brawn were killed in an automobile accident on the night of Friday, April17th 1970.

So how true this testimony is we will now leave the Holy Spirit of God free to bear witness to you in your own heart.

To be continued, Each time I read or share moms testimony, I again am in awe and so Blessed of God. Roberta

my testimony part 11

The next few hour,s were full. Our pastor, my folks and many of the body of believers gathered around us. It all seemed like a bad dream and soon,and soon we would be waking up. I remember walking to the edge of the woods behind the house. I felt numb all over and wondered if those terrible sobs, the gut-wrenching sounds, were really coming from me.
My hurt went so deep that it was far beyond anything that I had even heard about, let alone experienced. I felt if the Lord didn,t do something for me, my heart would burst.

Around 3 AM., everyone left. After checking the children one more time, we went in to lie down, maybe try to sleep a little. It didn,t seem to matter anymore.
Climbing into bed, I felt indescribable sadness. Suddenly I felt a definite presence in the room.
I lay very still, hardly daring to move. Soon I felt the arms of Jesus encircling me in such a warm embrace that everything else faded away. I slept in the arms of Jesus till I awakened at 7:am.

God,s promise that His grace is sufficient for all our needs lifted Milt and me to a higher plane, and for the next few days we drifted above all the circumstances and arrangements that were going on around us.
Meanwhile, our friends and relatives were wonderful, cooking and sending gifts,cards and flowers. We will be forever grateful to everyone that was so kind to us during those days.



It was a beautiful graduation service for Jeff and Rosie. Some came forward to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Many of our young people rededicated their lives to Jesus.
It was wonderful to see them so full of God and eager to serve Him with all their hearts.
It was like a revival, especially designed by the Lord just for our youth.
Later on, during the summer, I rejoiced as the young people introduced many others to Christ.
I visited the youth campground and saw signs posted at the entrance to the boys and girls sections: " Jeffwood" and "Rosewood" in memory of our children. It was a special blessing for me.

As we learned all of the details of the accident,the different responses to Jeff,s and Rosie,s homegoing were amazing. The man responsible for the accident was so drunk that a fellow at a service station, where he had stopped, had taken his keys away from him, returning them to him him when the man became very angry.
He had then proceeded to enter I-95 on the wrong side of the highway. After bouncing off one car, he had passed the truck in front of Jeff and slammed head on into Jeff and Rosie.

Thank God for that resurrection power that carried them away - that same power that raised Jesus from the dead. Such wonderful power has been placed into Christians by Jesus Himself.

To be continued, Blessings, roberta

My testimony part 10

Spring came with it,s warming trend that everyone looks forward to in Maine after the long, cold winter. On the morning of April 17th, I got the children off to school . It was Friday and I had many errands to run. After cleaning up the house, I left for Wiscasset where Milt operated a service station. He was busy so I went on to Brunswick to do my shopping and get my hair done.

It was about 3pm when I finally arrived back at the service station. Milt told me that a couple of our christian friends had invited us to go out and eat with them. I called my mother to see if she would care for the children. Yes,She and Dad would feed them supper,take them home and put Chris to bed. After that, Andy could baby sit until we arrived home before nine.

Jeffrey would be going to Brunswick,picking up his friend Rosie and bringing her back to the Dog House, a small restaurant in Wiscasset. After they had eaten, they would return to Brunswick where Rosie lived. This would be his first real date,even though he and Rosie had sat togather in church and we would bring her home on Sunday afternoons.
Rosie was such a sweet girl, and we all enjoyed her company. Jeff would play his guitar, and they would rehearse songs to use at the youth group meetings. We were proud of them because they seemed to be really trying to be good examples for the other young people.

They were not perfect of course, but were always encouraging others who had problums that they didn,t seem to be able to handle. Most of all they were always ready to pray for others. Jeff never seemed to lose his happy spirit, even when things didn,t seem to be going as well as he would like.

About 5:30 pM , we left to go out with our friends, returning to Wiscasset about 7:30. We stopped at the parents of our friends, who told us that Jeff had been involved in a terrible accident back in Brunswick.
As Milt wheeled the car around and we started back, I remember praying," O Lord , Please don,t let them be dead."
My mind raced with thoughts of hospitals and pain. Suddenly as I prayed , I knew in my heart that Jeff was gone. My heart turned cold.

As we arrived at the scene, police cars blocked both sides of I-95. An ambulance was just pulling away. God in His mercy and perfect timing knew that we wouldn,t be able to look upon thoes two precious shells that were now well on their way to Glory.

I remember leaning over the car, with my face pressed into that cold, hard , metal and praying.
" Lord I don,t know why, but I know that You do. Praise Your Name."
Then I turned to Milt and said, " Lets go home".

It gets better, blessings Roberta

My Testimony Part 9

My testimony part 9

Jeff had been asked to speak at a Sunday night service. He had decided that he would share thoughts from 1st Peter 1: 6,7 ( " In this ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold trials, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth , though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.") As I listened to his remarks on the text, I was again reminded of Gods call on his life. It was all very exciting, to him and to me. He was very sincere, and I couldn,t help remembering two short years earlier when I was so downhearted because I couldn,t seem to shake off smoking, he had prayed for me, and the Lord had gloriously delivered me . Several times in the past I had quit, only to return to it,s bondage.Jeff would tease me about my problem. " Mom will be sitting out back of the church, bound, smoking up a storm and I will be inside, free, preaching up a storm. I knew that he was only fooling, but sometimes I hated to admit that perhaps he was right.

A few weeks later,I was invited to go to a smoking clinic. After attending only a week, I asked the Lord to deliver me from the habit. " Lord, I have to trust you to do it. I can,t do it on my own." Immediately I was set free and have not wanted to smoke since.

Anyone bound by any such addiction- drugs, alcohol, smoking-need only call on Jesus. He,s always there to help. By His mighty love and power, He is able to set us free from the bondage of sin.

Meanwhile, I had a strong desire to tell others about Jesus Christ and His deliverance from sin. It seemed almost imposable to tell others while I was still bound myself. Smoking had been my crutch. Only after I had gotten into the word of God and it was revealed to me that my body was the temple of the Holy Spirit was I able to see that He must have a clean home to dwell in if He is to abide in me and me in Him.

In 1968, I was set free, and my whole family rejoiced with me in the spiritual victory. With a renewed vigor, I began to serve the Lord. It was so much fun and we were so busy that I hardly noticed that we weren,t seeing many of our old friends anymore. I did miss them and we still pray that many of them might find the Lord. That God might reveal Himself to them as He has to us.

A few of our old friends have come to Christ, but many are still unsaved. Satan makes it seem so hard, but it,s really not. We have come to know, through the Word of God , that no one who seeks Him will ever be turned away , no matter what they have done. Jesus loves a repentant heart and longs to prove His love toward everyone.

To be continued, God Bless, Roberta

My Tesimony Part8

We were happier then we had ever been before. We had found the answer to life,s true meaning in Christ. It wasn,t long before our second son,Andy, was asking questions. "Mom," he said to me one morning as we sat alone in our family room, " everyone else here is going to heaven. I want to get saved too. It was so wonderful leading him to the one who had made my life complete. We prayed together and sealed with God the promise of salvation to all who would receive Him.

Andy continued to grow in the Lord, and we had many happy times together singing and praising the Lord. We all loved music- Andy on the drums, Jeff on the guitar and me with the accordion.We spent many of our evenings playing songs that we had learned though the years at the church.

Jeff and Andy had joined up with our pastor,s two boys, Steve and Paul, and they had formed a quartet. They called themselves the "Starlets" taken from Daniel 12:3("And they that be wise shall shine as the the brightness of the firmament: and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." The quartet became quite popular in many churches throughout New England. They traveled nearly every weekend with the pastor, playing and singing at his services.

Several years later Andy went on to play his drums for the Campbell family, as they lead many to Christ with their beautiful blend of Gospel music. Their records and tape,s have ministered to many across this country. Later, Andy played with the Eastwind,cutting records in Nashville. It was all very exciting for him. Since returning to Maine ,he lives and works as a finish carpenter in our home town.

In the spring of 1970, Jeff had just enjoyed his 16th birthday on March 4th. Andy was now 13 and Chris was 4. We were all heavily involved with the various duties of home and church. Little did we know what lay ahead and how much our faith would be tested.

We had built a beautiful new church, and I was busy helping out with children's church and the nursery. In less then four years, our church had grown to be quite large, with new people receiving Christ every week. It must have been one of the largest revivals the state of Maine had ever seen.

To be continued, Blessings , Roberta

My Tesimony Part7

(continued)

Upon arriving home, I quickly prepared myself for bed and went upstairs to wake myself bed and went upstairs to wake my husband. I wanted to tell him about the wonderful experience I'd just had with Jesus. I had to tell someone or I would burst. My husband had been asleep for several hours, so you can imagine how receptive he was.
"Honey," I said, laughing and crying at the same time, "I'm so happy; I've been saved!" Rather disgusted he looked at me as I broke into tears of joy. "Woman," he said, "where have you been? How come, if your so damned happy, your bawling?"

That upset me a bit, but I was so filled with joy, I just passed it off as due to being rudely awakened. I'd deal with him in the morning. Quickly turning out the light, I continued to bask in my new-found love.

The next morning found me up early, singing and praising God. I felt so different and tried to convey it to my children. All of them were oblivious to my exuberant joy, except Jeff. He understood perfectly, and we sang and shared until he was ready to leave for school.
I was so anxious to tell everyone, that I rushed right out to friends and neighbors. Many of them were not at all impressed, and some probably thought I had lost my marbles. They were polite, but not impressed.

At the end of my first week, I began to realize that not everyone wants to be saved. Though I prayed many times for their salvation, many of them still haven't come to Christ. Thank God, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit opened my eyes and allowed my family and me the privilege of knowing Him in His fullness. It wasn't long before my husband, Milt, and my sister, Ruth, responded to the call of God.

I will never forget leaving the church on a Sunday night, shortly after my husband had given his heart to the Lord. He got into the car and removed the cigarettes from his pocket. Then he proceeded to tell my sister and me that the Lord had delivered him for drinking, smoking, and cursing. We laughed in disbelief, but to this day - 42 years later- he has not even had the slightest desire to do any of these things.

My sister and I were still smoking and we knew Milt had an explosive vocabulary, so the drastic change we saw in him seemed unbelievable. It was wonderful having him to share with, even though he didn't seem to share my unspeakable joy and bubbly relationship with Jesus, his own relationship with the Lord was strong and steady.
(to be continued)

God bless,
Roberta

My Tesimony Part6

About two miles from the church, as we approached the old wooden bridge in the small town of Wiscasset, an impression appeared so vivid to my mind and to my ear that it startled me. :If you cross the bridge, you will never receive me," it seemed to say. I,ll never forget that warning. At that moment, I knew that I must make a decision. " I have to go back" I told my friend Betty. I didn ,t understand why, but I turned the car around in the middle of that hill. Without a word, I headed back to that little white church on the mountain road. I just had to respond to to the tugging of my heart.

As we drove into the church yard, all of my earlier embarrassment and timidity seemed to just melt away. No light shone in the church and the pastor was just locking the door. I quickly got out of the car,followed by my friend. Somehow, the pastor seemed to know why I had come back.We went into the church and down front, where the three of us knelt. There I poured my heart out to a God I thought I knew, but in reality had only heard about.

As I prayed and began to seek His Son Jesus, a release engulfed me such as I have never known before. As I continued to pray and confess to God, His Holy Spirit filled every part of my being. It was all so wonderful that I seemed to be walking in the clouds. It was late when we left the church, I was too happy to mind. I just couldn't,t seem to explain, even to myself, the joy that I was feeling.

To be continued, Blessings, Roberta.

My testimony part 5

Soon the music quieted down and the pastor walked to the podium. "Study it carefully,ponder it it prayerfully, deep in your heart let it,s oracles dwell" he said as he shared scriptural truth. Those
words will be forever be imprinted upon my heart and mind. At the end of the service he asked if anyone would like to receive Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Several people went forward,greatly suprising me. To me, it seemed rather belittling to admit that you didn,t know the Lord, especially in front of all those people.

Several times I was drawn back to the revival meetings, each time being reminded that knowing about Jesus Christ and actually belonging to Him were two different things. Meanwhile, Jeff was growing in the Lord by leaps and bounds. His Bible was showing signs of wear as he marked passages with red ink. I couldn,t quite understand why he was marking up his Bible like that until he suddenly announced one day that he would be speaking at church that evening. As I stood there wondering what in the world he intended to speak on, the thought suddenly dawned on me: he has the call of God on his life.

On a memorable Thursday night, I could hardly sit in my seat. The air of expectancy could hardly be explained. As soon as the message was over, the pastor ask if anyone would like to come forward. Though many came I sat glued to my seat- unable to move. I wanted to respond but something held me back. One of my best friends,already a christian, leaned over and said to me, " Do you want to go down front ?" "No" I answered with a feeling of sadness. " I just can,t"
As we started home that evening, I felt very sad. wanted to cry but couldn,t. My heart was so heavy, it seemed like the end of the world for me. Why was I acting like this? It was all so strange.

My Tesimony Part4

(continued)

A week later, I was surprised to find him outside smashing all his Beatle records. Trying to reason with him I said, "Young man, I don't know what your doing, but don't expect us to buy any more Beatle records for you." His quick reply was, "Mom, I've changed. I'm all new, and I don't need those any more."

Day after day, I watched this change in his life. He studied his Bible and talked to his friends about his new-found friend, Jesus. Little did I know the impression he was making upon them. He was in constant prayer for one boy in particular, often going to his house to share the things of the Lord.
Jeff never missed a meeting or a service at the church if he could possibly go. His life was clearly changed into the likeness of Christ. Although I watched him closely and wondered where this new-found religion would lead him, it was quite a few weeks before I agreed to go along.

On my first evening enroute to church, they all began to sing as soon as we got into the car - songs of salvation and God's love. When we arrived, the church was fast filling up and it surprised me that the people weren't all dressed up as I was accustomed to. They seemed happy, and many of them were obviously not rich.

An air of excitement prevailed. I couldn't quite explain it, but it began to stir me as well to a feeling of expectancy. They didn't seem to notice the building was badly in need of repair, with a large sag in the floor. The singing had already begun, and it seemed that the roof might lift off as the quartet burst forth in song, "Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul." As for the people began to clap their hands, I had a feeling of belonging, even though I was not very well known here. I know now it was God's Holy Spirit, for it was the same feeling I had experienced earlier at my own church during communion.
(will be continued)

God Bless you!!!!!
Roberta

My Testimony Part3

(continued)

He,s such a good boy,I thought as I watched them leave,always faithful to call home and let us know where he is. We are most fortunate to have him. I was still suprised at his willingness to go with her, as he had recieved a guitar for a birthday gift a few weeks earlier and had started lessons. He was so anxious to learn to play that he had devoted most evenings to practice. Augmenting his performance on the guitar, he had a nice mellow voice and had sung in a couple of country shows in the community.

When he arrived from the meeting around 9:3o, he was unusually quiet. Going to his guitar, he began to pick out a song that I had never heard. It was called " Do You Know my Jesus?." It was really beautiful, and I wondered how he had learned it so quickly.

A short while later he put down his guitar and looked at me with a huge grin on his face. Then he announced emphatically," mom I got saved tonight" He seemed so elated that I remember thinking, I sure hope his ballon never bursts. Though I really didn,t understand what he was saying , if it made him this happy and it happened at the church, it must be alright. Having never experienced anything even close to what he said he was feeling, I felt at a loss for words to enter into his new found joy.
(To be continued.)

Blessings,
Roberta

My Tesimony Part2

(continued)

By this time, we had two beautiful little boys whom we loved dearly. When Jeff, the older boy, took first prize as the cutest baby in town, we were thrilled!
Meanwhile, in retrospect, I can see God's hand of protection over all my young married life. Years passed by with the usual cuts and scrapes, along with the everyday struggles to make ends meet plus the thrill and excitement of just being young. After family and job, I had little for God.

Finally, after 13 years of marriage, something strange and wonderful began to unfold in my life. A couple we were close to attended revival meeting in a nearby town. At first I made fun of them, joking about their new-found religion. After a few weeks, however, it was plain that something special had happened to them.
The wife kept sharing with me patiently about Jesus. Who was able to love people unconditionally. She told that I could know Him; He would answer my prayers in a very personal way. I needed only to trust Him to save me and I would be saved.
WHY couldn't she understand that I already knew about Jesus? Hadn't I gone to church and even taught Sunday school in my teen years? She didn't have to tell me about God and His son Jesus. I already knew a whole lot about them. Yet there was still a tugging and pulling on my heart I couldn't understand. Patiently, she kept inviting me to the revival meetings.

Finally I ran out of excuses. By this time, we had been blessed with three beautiful boys Jeff 12, Andy 9, and little Chris 5 months. Mid-afternoon on a Thursday, she arrived with a fresh invitation to the meeting.
After much pleading, we finally agreed that if I couldn't go she would take Jeff. He seemed so excited to go, even though he had been having a struggle about singing in the boy's church choir. He had been in it for several years; now he felt he had outgrown it.
(continued tomorrow)

God bless you!
Roberta

My Testimony Part1

His Grace is Sufficient!

Born in a small coastal town in Maine on a cold January day just before World War 2, right after the depression, I somehow managed to bring a decree of happiness to my family.

My dad had a small boatyard/hardware store which kept us going financially. Later, he went to work for the US Government in the Department of Civil Service for the United States Navy as a Government Ship Hull Inspector.

My two sisters, one older and one younger, and I caused the usual family squabbles. Mom and Dad often had their hands full trying to find out who was right and who was wrong. Nevertheless, we were pretty happy kids and really adored our parents.

Mom always made sure we were in Sunday school and church every week. We learned much about the Bible and its historical value, but somehow it didn't affect my life significantly. Full of pride and self-will, I went my merry way, fully enjoying all the world had to offer.

I married young, and I found myself straying further and further away from the Lord. Apparently, when one is young and has everything going for her, it is easy to forget God. Many times in a tight spot, however, I would stop and pray and ask the Lord to forgive me of my latest sin.
One of the rare visits to church, I could hardly restrain myself from going up and taking communion. The Spirit of God so strongly impressed me that I felt as if I might burst. Still, I wasn't ready to make a move toward anything spiritual.
(will be continued)

Have a blessed day!
Roberta