Prepare-for-War

made a covenant with .the Lord. They promised Him that if He would give them another child that they would under stand that that child was brought into the world for one reason only - to serve the Lord all of its life. They also told the Lord that they would understand that the child did not belong to them, but to the Lord, and that they would teach it the terms of the covenant. They kept their word, and the Lord kept His word. I was the child He gave to them. Satan tried to kill me from the start. My parents were told that I wouldn't live to my first birthday, but God kept the covenant. I do not ever remem ber feeling well once in my whole life. The battle was on from the start as Satan was determined to kill me. I spent most of my childhood years in and out of the hospital. I don't know how my mother ever put up with a child who was so continuously ill, but my parents simply trusted the Lord to keep His side of the covenant, and He did. I lived. Some of my earliest memories involve my mother very soberly telling me about the covenant they had made with the Lord for me. So many, many times she held me by the shoulders and looking straight into ·my eyes said, "Daughter, you do not belong to us, you belong to God. You were brought into this world for one reason only, that is to serve the Lord God all of your life. Don't you ever forget that." They presented the gospel to me from my earliest memories. I remember anguishing over my sins at the age of four as the Holy Spirit convicted me of my need of a Savior. I clearly remember spending evenings in my bedroom on my knees· in tears over my sins until finally, one day, the Lord confirmed to me that He was real, that Jesus Christ was real, and that He had died on the cross to wash away my sins. What a day of joy and rejoicing it was for me and my parents when the Lord finally gave me peace that Jesus had become my Savior. That was just before my fifth birthday.

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