When I was saved

Don't forget, I'm having a contest! Tomorrow afternoon I will be announcing the winners! Share your birth story with me! Here's a link to the Birth Story Contest!

I was asked a great question in my comments on Devon's birth story.
yofed said...
Just by curiosity... you said you were
not christian, then you found God...
How did your husband reacted to the
change? Was it a difficult adaptation,
or was he on the same page?
Donnie and I were both raised Lutheran all the way through graduating high school, in little Minnesota towns. We both left the church when we moved to Germany. Neither of us realized that we needed to be saved, that we needed to actually, personally accept Jesus's gift of salvation. We both believed we were saved just because of grace, because Jesus died for everyone, then we were saved, because we believed that Jesus probably was real and probably did die on the cross and rise from the dead.
But because we had no relationship with Jesus, we felt nothing, so leaving was easy. We decided that God was a crutch that weak people used to get through life. And that was fine, but we didn't need it. (we were 18 and 20 when we decided that)
But, through a series of things we were really getting stressed out. Really bad. Donnie had to take a second job to the Army, because I couldn't work with two little kids, I had lost a twin in a pregnancy and that had me on constant bed rest with a 2 year old, I had a TWO YEAR old, plus I was having a 3rd child that I just did not want, nor did I have the energy for with the work that Kaytlin was. She was difficult because she missed her twin, so she screamed non-stop unless I was nursing her. I was stressed. I had no family and no help.
So, when I conceived Devon I said "If there is a God, this is His sick, cruel joke way of telling me I need Him." I'm 20 years old at this point, 3 kids, no family support, husband working 2 jobs, it was tough.
Soon after Devon was born I was so stressed I was afraid I was going to become a child abuser. Drew was pretty rotten, Kaytlin was screamy and clingy, and I had a baby to nurse and change, and tons of laundry calling my name. One time I had to lock myself outside the door until Donnie got home because Drew had bit a chunk out of the back of my elbow and I wanted to backhand the brat through a wall.
A friend of mine suggested starting to go to church. They'd probably be able to give me some support. So I found a Lutheran church and started going. Not one person said a word to me. I'm there without Donnie, dealing with the kids, and not one person said "Hi." Not the church for me. Eventually I went to a church my neighbor went to. It was a Baptist church. They were very friendly and supportive.
Later, my kids got chicken pox, so I went to tell a neighbor that I had had a sort of "falling out" with, because she had a daycare in the stairwell, so they needed to know about airborne sicknesses. Anyways, she invited me to come over later, so I agreed.
Within 5 minutes of being there she said "God has a plan for your life." And I immediately started crying. She told me how to accept Christ as my Savior, and I did. She armed me with some advice, too. She said that satan doesn't want me to be a Christian and would attack me, so if I felt the room getting darker in a way that wasn't about "light" then I should say Jesus's name, the demons have to flee.
That night, it happened. Donnie was working, of course. All the lights were out and I was going to bed and the room just got these even darker shade than dark, and I felt it. So I started saying Jesus over and over. And a brass coat rack came slamming down on my head. It wasn't loaded with clothes, there were no pets in the house, it fell on me with force. I laughed and said that they can't have me, I belong to Jesus and I sang Jesus loves me. The room got lighter and all was well.
The next morning I started telling Donnie about it, he didn't know about me being saved the day before or anything. He went to work with a normal wife and came home to a demon expelling "christian". He was freaked out! He thought about divorce, and he has always been against divorce. He went to his Army job and asked a co-worker who was a deacon in a different Baptist church to come over and see if I was in a cult! LOL We had done things with them as couples in the past, so they kind of knew me. They came over and Linda told me that as soon as she saw me she could see it in my eyes that I knew the Lord, and she was so excited!
Donnie pretty much wanted nothing to do with God. If I tried telling him the exciting things I was finding in the Bible he'd get all macho and already "know" these things. So God led me to "win him over with silence" so I shut my mouth. I just invited him to church with me every Sunday, and he refused. I'd see him watching me and the kids leave from the window. He wanted to come, but he couldn't give up his pride. When I was baptised, I asked to do it during a more casual evening service because Donnie believes you wear suits to church and we just couldn't afford that. He liked the pastor and started coming. I still kept silent.
He came to the Lord about 6 months after I did. Now its been 13 years, almost 14. With all the things I've been through since that time, I am so glad God told me I needed Him, because I don't know how I would be where I am today otherwise.