One Teenager's Testimony (Elaine)...
I live on the island of Puerto Rico and I attend the New Testament Church in Manati. I’m sharing my testimony with the desire to touch many mothers and children who have been left alone with the daily struggle to survive and day to day are looking for an answer.
I am 17 years old, along with my three sisters, I was born into a Pastor’s family. When I was two years old, my father who had been pastoring for many years and had always given us the highest example of integrity, decided to abandon us and to start a new life and a new family. We were left alone and desperate. Because of this, I grew up being a witness to the suffering that is felt in a home when it is destroyed by the enemy, even though we tried to hide it.
My mother did all that she could to try and maintain the household: economically and emotionally—even though it involved much sacrifice on her part. I could see that she had a relationship with God that was real, and to me she was an example of strength, determination, loyalty, and unconditional love. We went through many difficult situations: from sicknesses, physical needs, having to sleep on the floor, even to the point of having to wait for a miracle each time we needed to eat because there was nothing in the house to eat. With all of this, my mom never lost her faith in God and she always spoke to us about Him. She raised us depending upon His Word and we grew up believing that if we called out to Him, He would always answer us as a Father who would never leave us.
A childhood without a father is very sad, as I watched other kids attend school events, holidays and other special activities with their fathers. My mom always found herself alone---as did we. The worst part was getting to be a teenager—all the resentment that had accumulated in my heart for years began to come out. I went through the greatest trial of my life--but then God showed me that He loved me and I could then forgive my father.
God showed me a table with four legs; if you remove one of those legs we know that the table will wobble and be unstable. God spoke to my heart that I was that table and the emptiness that caused instability in my life due to my father leaving us would be filled by His presence. God would make my life secure and solid—giving me self-assuarance in His love.He would be that fourth leg of the table. When I was going through this difficult time in my life, words cannot explain how God’s presence helped me through. He was my only security and the only one whom I could trust in.
I took refuge in God’s love and I accepted Christ as my personal savior in a youth camp—I also received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and this has changed my life.
God has shown Himself to me as a Father. I would like to encourage those mothers who are suffering in a divided home, with children who don’t cooperate with them—don’t lose hope. Put your trust in God and give your kids into His hands. Trust in His love—He is a true Father and will never fail you.
Several other teens stood up and gave testimonies. They spoke with a childlike faith telling of the days that there was no food in the house, or the nights that they had slept on the floor. One young man told us how he had prayed for food the night before because he had to go on a field trip the next day and had nothing to put in his lunch box. Early the next morning, a person from church came to the door with several bags of groceries. The teen smiled as he recalled that his favorite brand of peanut butter and his favorite type of chocolate candy was included in the groceries! He beamed as he spoke of a Father who always took care of him and of his mom.
There was not a dry eye in the room as these teens gave testimony of God’s care for them and their deep love and respect for the mom’s faith that had carried the family through. All the while, the mothers had felt desparate, lonely and inadequate in the job of keeping the home together. But God…He was there all along. The children had observed what she had done and were being taught, first hand, of God’s love and care for them.
Each one of these teens finished their testimonies by thanking their moms and telling them how much they loved them. One teen looked at her mom with tears in her eyes and said: “Mom, you are my Super Hero!”
“She has done what she could”.