This is Your Life

Penned by Guest Writer, Nola Passmore

Thought for the Day: Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

As mentioned previously, I will be taking a few short breaks from writing on my Devotional Thought link this summer. Due to vacation and special writing projects, several talented writers have agreed to share their thoughts during my time of refreshment. However, I will be carrying a pad of paper and my laptop to document any noteworthy stories that I’m sure the Holy Spirit will send my way!

While I’m on the subject of the Holy Spirit, here’s a real “God Story.” I have written devotionals for a publication, Penned From the Heart for the past several years. This year I received an uplifting message from a reader of Penned who also happens to be a contributor. To be perfectly honest, I had to go back to the publication and refresh my memory on what I had written. As a result of that contact, Nola Passmore and I have become internet friends. The amazing part of this friendship is the fact Nola’s residence is in Australia! This Christian sister, living half way across the world, has truly blessed me with her writings and her heart.

Nola’s bio follows her writing that has been featured in Footprints Magazine, an publication in Australia. My sincere thanks to Nola for agreeing to step in a guest writer this week. Enjoy!

A few years ago, I did some courses with Youth With a Mission. One of the courses had about 20 students in it and the leader decided that sharing our testimonies would be a good way to get to know each other. By testimonies, he didn’t just mean the stories of how we became Christians, but our life stories. One person was allocated to share each day and I was number three.

The first day, a girl got up and shared how she had been heavily involved in Satanism and the occult. It was a really dramatic testimony of how God had literally snatched her from the fire and drawn her to Himself. The next day, another girl shared how she had gone off the rails and led a promiscuous lifestyle. When she reached her lowest point, she even took a job as a stripper. To look at this girl, you would never expect that she’d had that sort of background. She was pretty, had a sweet personality, and was a devoted Christian. Her story told of God’s grace in bringing her out of that lifestyle and turning her life around for Him.

I was starting to worry. I had to go next, but my story was really “boring”. My parents sent me off to Sunday School at the age of three and I’ve believed in God and Jesus ever since. Certainly there have been ups and downs and different

milestones in my Christian walk, but I really have been a Christian since I was young. If only I’d been a stripper who’d been involved in the occult! Well, I didn’t really want that, but I did wish I had something more interesting to share.

The next day, I gave my “boring” testimony, and I’ll never forget what happened afterwards. The girl who’d been involved in the occult told me that she loved my testimony because it showed how God could be faithful to someone throughout a lifetime. She hadn’t experienced that and wished she had my testimony. I felt so humbled by that comment and realized that I’d had the wrong perspective. Here I was wishing I had something more interesting to say, when I should have been thanking God that He’d brought me to faith when I was little and had protected me from the difficult experiences many others have had to face.

We can’t all be like Billy Graham or Joyce Meyer, but that’s okay. God created each of us just the way He wanted, with our own unique gifts, talents, personalities, and experiences. Each of our stories is important to God and can touch the lives of others for His glory. So step out and share your story with someone today. You might be surprised at the results.

© Nola Passmore

This story was originally published in Footprints Magazine, Autumn 2010, Issue 49 pp. 14-15, Australia, edited by Janet Camilleri (www.footprintsaustralia.com).

Nola Passmore is an academic by trade, but has a passion for sharing God’s love with others through her writing. Her poetry, devotional writings and inspirational true stories have appeared in various magazines, journals and anthologies including The Upper Room, Penned from the Heart, Footprints magazine (Australia), Queensland Baptist magazine, Time of Singing, and the Australian Stories series. She has been on short-term mission trips to India, New Zealand, the United States, and Mexico with Campus Crusade for Christ and Youth With a Mission. She and her husband live in Queensland, Australia.

Father God, how amazing your networking abilities! Lord, thank you for Nola’s friendship and her passion to use her talents and gifting to share the love of Jesus with others. I am so grateful for times of refreshment for our bodies, minds and souls and for those, like Aaron and Hur, who came alongside of Moses to lift up his arms when he found himself tired and weary in doing the work you had for him to do. This week, Lord, Nola has come alongside of me and I pray you will bless her and the ministry work you have for her to do. To God be the glory, great things He has done! In Jesus’ name, Amen!