But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
Calvin, my husband, Morgan, my son, and I moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in November 2006 due to a job transfer from Birmingham, Alabama.
I was raised in a Christian home and have been sheltered in a lot of ways of life. My husband of 6 years had a hard life as a child and growing up. We struggled as a family with my Christian views and his worldly thinking.
I prayed to find a church that God wanted me to attend and prayed that Calvin would be saved. In 2007, teenagers were out soul-winning for Christ, and a teenage girl walked up to Calvin. He said that he knew that there was a God, but pointed the girl in my direction and said that she's the religious one. The girl came over to me and handed me a salvation track with the church's address. I found a church that I knew that God wanted my family and me to be at.
At first I wasn't able to go very often because of Calvin. but every once in a while Calvin would come with me. Faith Baptist Church had a addictions program for Calvin that I have been praying about...RU (Reformers Unanimous).
If you knew my husband before he was saved, you probably would have been scared of him. He was loud, mean, and full of hate; loaded down with abuse in every direction and trying to drown out the images of pain and hurt with alcohol and drugs. He pushed people away and pushed God away even more.
God had a plan for Calvin and even I couldn't have imagined. On December 2008, I told Calvin to leave because I couldn't keep being his "savior," and God was showing me that Calvin needed more than just a band-aid of me trying to make things better.
Calvin lived his life from one place to another...trying to be good and trying different rehabs, all the time being angry that I took his family away. Calvin fell ill with liver problems due to his life style, and still his will would not break.
Then on Memorial weekend in 2009, our son was diagnosed with cancer. Morgan had his left kidney removed and had chemotherapy for 6 months. I believe with all of my heart that this is one of the main reasons that Calvin's heart was broken so that he could be saved by God.
On July 9, 2009, Calvin went to the RU men's home in Rockford, Illinois to get the help he desperately needed. God took the broken man who hated life and transformed him into a miracle himself. Calvin was a man who lived after his flesh and did whatever he wanted not caring who he hurt. When God received control of his life, Calvin was indeed a different person. He no longer drinks or does any other drugs. He is not loud and boisterous. He is gentle and talks things out with his family. I now know that he loves Morgan and I, and I know without a doubt that he loves the Lord. God healed Calvin from his liver problems, and God healed our son from cancer.
Without that teenage girl from Faith Baptist Church witnessing that fall day, I doubt that our lives would have turned out the way it did. God has given us a renewed marriage, a healthy son, a strong relationship and a great church family. Faith Baptist Church will be our church for as long as we live in Wisconsin. The people here are our family.