Testimony of Karen Greene

Given during July 18 & 25, 2004 Worship Services

Hi, I'm Karen Greene. My Family and I have been attending SGC for nearly five years, and I would like to share with you, my church family, God's wonderful intervention in my life, which resulted in my coming to faith in Him.

My parents were divorced in my preschool years after having six children, of which I am the fifth. I only have two memories of my parents together, one very good and one very hostile. My father left when I as around five, he returned months later with a new wife and new baby.

My mother's health has always been extremely fragile. She has bad lungs, a bad heart and a very fragile body. Her health and emotional state did not lend itself to raising six children on her own. One way she coped was by "sending" us to church so she could have a few hours to herself on Sunday mornings. I can remember at these young ages asking my Mother a lot of questions about spiritual things and the answer always came back, "you'll understand when your older." I really don't remember anyone telling me about Jesus at the church we attended. I do know that even this early in my life there was something big missing in our home besides a father.

I began to lay awake at night and "pray" to the best of my ability. I told God I didn't know where He was or how to get to Him but if He could just let me know what to do I sure would like to know Him. I literally remember many nights just staring at the ceiling and praying.

At age six, shortly after Christmas, I was up early and alone, and I tried to light a Christmas candle with a match and dropped it on my pajamas. I recall vividly the horror of fire sweeping up my body, screaming for help and yet running in terror. Mom and my older sister caught me, wrapped me in a blanket and put the fire out. Again, I prayed,

God don't let me die,
is there a heaven,
are you there,
will I wake up when they put me to sleep
I'm so scared.

This was in the early days of burn graft therapy, and Mom was told I would probably not live. The doctors recommended I be sent to Chicago, which was 100 miles away, but she knew it would be impossible for her to help me and be a mother to my five siblings. She chose to stay in Rockford, our hometown where the first burn specialist in the area had just opened his practice. Thankfully, he was a brilliant determined young surgeon who did all he could to see me recover. This is another important time to me because I was in a Catholic hospital for a full month having several surgeries and I cannot recollect one person talking to me about Jesus. I was literally surrounded by nuns and priests but don't recall any spiritual input from anyone.

God was so gracious to give me full and complete healing in the next few months. I was grateful for life, but still confused about what I was supposed to do with this second chance I had been given. I still "prayed" into the darkness, I attended church with anyone who asked me, neighbors or friends, but still no answers. I witnessed "emotional" religion, and read the material the cults brought by but by God's grace was never "pulled" in.

Finally, two years later, a girlfriend asked me to attend Vacation Bible School with her. I naturally agreed and the theme of the week was the life of this man called Jesus Christ. From Monday's lesson on the birth of this man who was God on earth, through the rest of the week studying His life, His miracles, His love of children, I became convinced that this teacher really "knew" this Jesus and that he was the answer I had been searching for. Friday finally came, and as the teacher began to explain what Jesus had done for me on the cross and that He rose from the dead and was living with the Father now so that he could save me from my sin I began to weep. She invited anyone who wanted to know this Jesus to stay and pray with her. I don't remember what I prayed, but I do remember turning my life over to God. I also remember walking home that day and praying, "okay God, now what do we do. I remember also a new conviction, I knew something was very different now and I wanted to live a life that would please Him though I really didn't yet understand what that looked like.

Things returned to "normal" for a couple of more years except that Mom's health continued to deteriorate. She was often in bed, and unable to care for us. I now understand that she was fearful of the 'state' taking us and splitting us up so she decided to do it herself. She sent us by two's to different aunts and uncles who were willing to take us in. However, when we went, we were told it would only be for the summer, it ended up being the next six years. Somehow my heart knew from the moment my younger brother and I arrived in Carlton, Michigan, a very small suburb of Detroit, we were there to stay.

Though being pulled from our family was extremely hard, I began to see very quickly that God had a hand in all this. My Aunt and Uncle were Christians, who attended church regularly, where the Bible was taught as God's wonderful word, that even I could read. I began to devour the Word, followed Christ in baptism, and "prayed" diligently for my unsaved family who I ached for daily. I also knew that God's hand had protected and provided for me and now I wanted an opportunity to share Him with all my family.

I sent letters to my Mom sharing Christ and begging her to know him but to no avail, she would write me that she was "very happy for me." God's protective hand again was evident when my younger brother who was with me also came to Christ. This was an incredible gift because five years after we had moved there, he was visiting a friend one day and they went to the corner gas station. The station was having the gas tanks filled on one sultry humid July Midwest days and the gas leaked around the tanks and ignited, he was severely burned, and went to be with Jesus ten days later. My parents and siblings all heard the gospel at his funeral.

One year later I graduated and moved to Orlando, Florida where by this time my Mom and my new stepfather were.

There I met and married and man whom I thought was a believer, we had a beautiful son. Six years later he left. I found myself in the very position my mother had been and quite honestly thought that I had failed God. Christians just shouldn't be divorced. I soon realized that divorce was another type of death and just as God had carried me through the first one, he would be my Comforter, my husband and father to my child at this most painful time.

Two things seemed to speak to my mother. My pastor once shared with her that God willingly gave his son, so he knew her pain of losing her child, the second that my own faith was real, tangible, and sustaining through my own heartache of a failed marriage. Mom watched and waited, became friends with many of my Christian friends, and finally gave her life to Christ in 1983.

I always kept in contact with my father, and my siblings. My brothers and sisters endured difficult childhoods, and each one eventually ended up on their own at a very young age. My father and brothers all migrated to Denver, entering the car business during the years I was in Florida. We remained in touch and saw each other as much as possible. My Father passed away in 1987, I was told he had made a profession of faith, but he and I never spoke of it.

During this time I met my dear and godly husband Mark. We were married seventeen years ago and God mightily blessed us with three more children. We had twelve wonderful years in Florida during which time we were able to learn from godly mentors whose children were strong in their faith and knew and loved God's Word. They challenged us to break the generational bondage of our families and begin a new cord of righteousness starting in our own small family. However, my oldest son rejected the love of my new husband, chose to go against our authority and ended up a very young father at the age of 19, bringing into our world a precious baby boy named Thomas.

In the summer of 1999, Mark was offered a great career change and opportunity here in the Denver area by one of my brothers. We had visited here enough to know we loved this area and I had always desired to be near my now growing extended family, so we moved "west" in the fall of 99. Our one heartache was leaving Thomas, yet God seemed to make this move here so very clear to be his will, we knew the story was not yet finished with him.

We are so grateful God led us to Southern Gables Church very quickly after our relocation. I remember how refreshing it was to visit a church here where Bibles were carried in! We quickly found a wonderful Adult Community who welcomed us with open arms, and Pastor Nelson's sermons challenged us to a deeper walk.

We settled in to our "first school year", tried to find our place at church and just "reconnect" with my family as much as possible. I prayed God would use us now that he had allowed us to finally be near my family after so many years of being apart. We also continued to pray for our precious Thomas and the difficult situations his parents continued to place him in.

In short time I began to get phone calls from one sister, who was having great marital difficulty. I would give her counsel from God's Word and she then shared with me of her coming to Christ when her daughter was born. She was a thirsty sponge absorbing any truth introduced to her.

Next, my niece, who was just beginning her new family, allowed us to keep her newborn baby girl, as she finished her degree. It was through that one act of kindness, we were able to share why our lives were so different from the rest of the extended family. She asked a million questions, but she was a ripe fruit waiting to be picked and quickly gave her heart to the Lord.

Soon, another sister who had made a profession of faith several years ago began to ask for counsel and help. I now knew God had brought us here for his purposes.

I am a home school Mom, and my time, like all Moms is stretched, but I prayed for a way to disciple these willing hearts. Since the summer is my most flexible time, I decided to "try" a summer Bible Study. To my wonderful surprise, two sisters and two nieces began attending. Our first summer, we studied I, II and III John. We visited the salvation message, reiterating their experiences and learning that the believer was to be a separated holy people We also began praying together weekly for our Thomas' protection, as well as spiritual growth in each of their families.

The next summer we began a study of the Life of Christ in the book of Luke. How delightful to just watch them discover and truly fall in love with the "whole life story" of our Lord. Our prayers for Thomas were answered that August when I received a call giving me permission to go to Florida and bring Thomas back here to live with us.

Last summer, we studied the Life of David. We saw how David loved God with his whole heart, yet failed to pass his faith to the majority of his children. We began to pray for each of our families, and are holding each other to a godly standard. It was during this time, another one of my sister's husband was diagnosed with liver cancer. Though he was never willing to come away from his Catholic roots, he assured me he was trusting Jesus Christ alone for salvation, he went to our Lord last November. Through this great time of loss my sister's faith grew incredibly strong. She is now a growing believer and beginning her walk with the Lord in Illinois.

The beginning of our summer this year started with a wonderful celebration, a court date, May 24, in which Thomas became our son, now Thomas Douglas Greene. My family witnessed great miracles over the last three years to see that day finally come about in our life. It is definitely a God thing.

This year our study is in Isaiah. We have seen that the children of Israel's captivity was a result of idol worship in their lives. We are inspecting our own lives for anything that comes between us, and our Lord. We are currently discussing and giving to God our "generational sin", THE common bond in our lives. We have a new "niece" joining us this year, who to my knowledge is not yet a believer, as well as my own daughters and a young cousin.

Even as I have recounted this to you, I am truly in awe that God has allowed me to witness this spiritual fruit in my family. I now have a mother, three sisters, and two nieces who are believers, and are worshipping today at various churches and who are committed to bringing up their families in the faith. My heartaches, and my prayers are lifted daily for my dear brothers who as of yet have not come to Christ. We do see great softening in them, as they are more willing to bring up and discuss spiritual matters. I would ask you to remember that the people you encounter each day is someone's loved one who may need Jesus.

Please pray with me for courage, opportunity, strength, and patience with those that need him. Pray for the believer's children to stand strong against the examples before and around them. I truly have been blessed to see generational change begin within my lifetime. Our children have witnessed the pain of wrong choices all around them, and we pray they will be there for the generations to follow as well.

There have been many times in my life when I have wondered why things were working out in the way they were. I have been privileged to see God's hand in and through sometimes very painful situations. It has truly "all worked together for good" in my life. All things have drawn me to the Savior who has enabled me to share Him with those around me. I identify with Joseph in the Scriptures. God has used the most painful times of family abandonment and loss to draw me close to him. I praise him for all of it and I feel so privileged to be here today and give HIM THE PRAISE AND GLORY FOR IT ALL.