The First Letter: A Testimony of Faith

Revelation 12:11

They overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony

At Christmas we send cards to our family and friends wishing them the peace and joy of the season. Over the years many have taken it a step further by adding a short testimony of their family news. In 1996, my Christmas letter was late so it ended up becoming a "New Years" Letter. It was a letter inspired by God. It was a testimony not of our family at present, ie. just me an Mark. It was a letter telling of my family to be. It was a prophetic testimony of the future. When God shared His promise with me he instructed me to share it with 100 of my friends. God was up to something and all I could do was believe, trust and obey. This came after the "bath tub" scene from an earlier blog.

My letter:

God Bless and Keep You in 1996

Dearest Friends and Family,

Mark and I wanted to take the chance to thank you for all your love, Christmas cards, and birthday/Christmas gifts. Yes, I am now 35 and Mark is still 34 till May 31st, 1996. I have to live with older woman jokes till then. It is an annual thing.

We feel so blessed to have you as family and friends. I always use to hate to write letters because all you can do is talk about yourself, ask questions that won't get answered. I did until my wise Aunt Betty told me her story. She would write her mother Grace, letters. Grace, my grandmother, would tell her she treasured getting letters because she would read them over and over again.

Do not fret, I do not expect you to read this letter again and again. I will just be pleased if you finish it! And thrilled if you write back. Now that I have gotten this far and said absolutely nothing, I can't think of a thing to say, pause for a rare moment! It won't last long.

The real reason I am writing this letter is to honor God. I want to tell you what He did for me one day. As most of you know Mark and I have been trying to have a baby. Many times over the last three years I have looked to God for some kind of confirmation, promise or sign, to affirm me He was going to allow me to have a child. For three years He has said nothing. I knew I had no guarantee. Life is just that way sometimes. Things happen or don't happen and you just do not understand why. Over these three years I have truly trusted God with my life, children or no children. If no children then I knew He had something uique for Mark and me.

I had real peace with this baby issue. I still do but now I have a promise! God has finally promised me a child. I can't explain in this letter how He told and touched me. The fact is He did! He is a personal God and if we will sit still long enough to listen to His still soft voice I can't even dream of how much more abundant our lives would be. Don't you agree? Maybe you could get back to me on this question...

Faith is the substance of things hoped for but not seen yet. I am sharing this with you for no reason than to prove once again God is a personal God. He does what He promises! There is no sign of a child in my body. Yet God has made his promise and I believe HIm. Mark and I have learned to trust God and He has always been faithful, ALWAYS.

I know what you are thinking. Poor Melissa what if she does not have a baby. She will feel all kinds of pressure. Let me put your mind to rest. God made the promise!

The scripture God has put on my heart is Romans 12:12. We can as Christians be always joyful in hope. We should have the strength to be patient in affliction because we know God's faithfulness! And last but not least we should be faithful in prayer. Please pray for us this year and we promise to pray for you also. God bless you!

Melissa and Mark

In His steps we can...

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Romans 12:12

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A year later I wrote another letter to the same 100 people, my earthly circumstances had changed quite a bit. Read letter two, as Paul Harvey would say, for the "rest of the story".

If this letter is a little over the top for you with me "hearing from God" please refer to my reference page for instruction ideas for learning more.