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I was born and raised in Regina to a very warm and loving Catholic family, and was baptized as an infant. My family attended church rarely yet I felt a very special connection with God.
Somehow during my rebellious teen years I quit school at sixteen and joined the work force. Life was good, or so I thought, enjoying the ride. There was now no place for God in my life.
At 18 I married and a few short months later the marriage ended. I felt alone and deserted expecting my first child. I asked God "Why me?" I made the trip back to live with my parents and 11 months after my daughter was born I lost my father, yet a young man, to cancer. I was devastated and again I questioned "Why me?" I tried to fill the emptiness I felt with many different things but nothing worked.
I married again three years later; a marriage that lasted 13 very rocky and dysfunctional years. God gave me three more children during this time and in 1987 my marriage and almost my life came to an abrupt end through a painful disclosure from one of my children. We were alone again and picking up the pieces. I became bitter and worn and again I screamed "Why me?" I vowed I would never be hurt again.
About 3 years later I met my husband Ron, a kind and gentle person. We transferred to Saskatoon with his work, married and it has been 16 years since he took in that wounded woman with four children and provided them with love, strength and stability.
Happier than ever, I still carried that constant void. Taking a job in retail, I met a Christian woman, my manager. I saw something in her I wanted and feared and on July 17, 2001 I invited Jesus Christ into my life and became a Christian. My search was over. That same year in September, I was baptized as an outward sign of my faith.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new. (2 Cor. 5:17)
I no longer ask, "Why me?" I thank God for all He taught me. Those times have made me who I am today. God never once took His hand off me. I am here to fulfill His purposes. My responsibility as a Christian is to become a bright light for others, to plant seeds for Christ, and to spread the message of God.
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