Miriam

I was born the tenth out of twelve children in an Old Order Mennonite family. Though being devoutly religious, the Old Order sect puts their focus on adhering to the church's strict rules and traditions. As a child I was taught that only God knows your eternal destiny and my part was to follow the church's ways. The plainer and more strictly you lived the more righteous your standing before God. Bible reading was considered as a beneficial exercise, but studying the Bible was pretty much a foreign concept.

I was always an inquisitive child and as an adolescent I began to question the reasons for the church's traditions. My questions were either dismissed or deemed as rebellion against authority. My insatiable desire for learning and education caused me to read, observe and evaluate everything. I tried to repress my questions but was not very successful.

My mother, who was the family disciplinarian, died when I was twelve years old. After her death I seriously began to question the ideas and inconsistencies I had been taught. Teachings such as you can't know if you are going to heaven, yet so many people said that was where my mother was, how did they know? And it is wrong to own and operate a car but ok to pay some one to drive you somewhere. These things continued to plague my mind for several years.

At age sixteen my older brother, who had left "the church" invited me and my sisters to go to a revival meeting at the church he was attending. The gospel of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ by His death & resurrection was clearly presented by the speaker and I accepted Christ's payment for my sin. That night I became a redeemed child of God.

I struggled through my teenage years as I left the "Old Order" ways and struck out on a new path. I had little guidance and the absence of the strict rules I was accustomed to caused me to swing the pendulum too far in the other direction, but God was watching over me and gently guiding me to a close relationship with Him.

In my early twenties, God led me to a group of believers who taught me to study God's word and set me on a path of following Him. It was through this time I met my husband and the rest they say is history. We have endeavored to show our devotion and love for Christ through service to Him wherever He leads us. We stumble and fail but God is gracious and loves us in spite of our failures.

My prayer is that our devotion to Christ will be an example for our four sons to follow and pass on to their children.

My life verse is II Timothy 1:12.