Joanne’s Testimony

I am the middle child of six and grew up in a chaotic household mostly due to my father’s alcoholism. I longed for my parent’s attention and tried to win their love by “being good”, getting good grades, and being “popular”. I was voted “most likely to succeed” in high school, but I felt ugly and empty inside. I didn’t have a clue who I was and longed to fill the ache in my heart.

My main goal in life was to get away from home. I grew angry and rebellious and left home right after high school to “find myself.” I started drinking, got involved in drugs, and got involved in the anti war movement of the late 60’s. I met my first husband in a bar. He was a musician and after knowing him for two weeks, I left town to travel with him. My life was spinning out of control and at twenty-two I was losing hope that anything or anyone could bring wholeness to my life.

In 1971, I came to Iowa with my husband to “settle down”. I thought finally I could find some purpose and meaning to it all. I was still heavily involved in the drug culture. However, I went back to school and worked hard to get a degree and find a good career. I got involved in the women’s movement and was well known as a feminist and advocate of abortion and women’s rights. I hated those so called Christians who were trying to take my rights away. I also got involved in the New Age movement and dabbled in the occult and holistic lifestyle.

By 1985, I was divorced and had lost all hope that there was any real purpose to life. I had seemingly tried it all and came up empty. Nothing satisfied.

I met my second husband the same way I met the first. God was bringing us both to a crossroads. We were immediately attracted to each other for the wrong reasons, but God had other plans. John’s friends told me that he “used to be very religious”, and I questioned him on this. We shared openly about our past and one day he told me that Jesus was who I had been looking for all my life. He said he knew what the truth was but had walked away from it. He said that Jesus was a real person who had walked this earth and died an ugly death on a cross to pay for my sins. I had no problem admitting I was a sinner. I had made such a mess of my life! He also said that Jesus was alive and that He had risen from the dead so that I could live again eternally. I could be born anew because of Jesus. This was pretty exciting news to me because I certainly felt dead inside.

He said what I needed to do was open the door to my heart and let Jesus in and He would change my life! After all the searching I had done (I was thirty-eight) I somehow knew that this was the truth. I opened my heart to Jesus and I surely am a new creation! John and I got married and he began to follow Jesus again. Our meeting was not a random event. It was just the way God had planned it.

We started attending Trinity in 1987. I was so afraid to go the first time we went, but they loved and embraced me as if I was part of the family. They helped me begin to explore the Bible and get to know Jesus. They supported me through trials and encouraged me to use the “gifts” God had given me to serve Him.

I opened the door to Jesus almost twenty years ago, and the more I know Him the more I love Him. He has given my life meaning, healed the wounds, and brought forgiveness and restoration to my family. It certainly has not been without struggles, but I’ve found His promises to be true.

A promise from Jesus from Revelation 3:20 (New Living Translation) says, “Look, here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends.”