Shelia Holcomb:
(Shelia sent me this testimony in a 21 March 2003 e-mail, and her story
reminds me of two others [#1]
[#2])
Before Jesus
Before I begin my testimony I feel it is important to give you some information
on my childhood, so you will be better able to understand some of the decisions
I made in my life, however stupid they may have been. But every decision I
have made during my lifetime, good or bad, is what has brought me to where I am
now; and I am very thankful for the mountains and the valleys.
When I was born, my mother was only fifteen years old. And now, years later and
after I went through the process of forgiving her and working through many
things, I am now able to look at her life through her eyes to try to better
understand how she must have felt. Someone gave me this advice when I was really
struggling with all of this: I was told that maybe I could forgive easier if I
try to see her life through her eyes and not the eyes of a hurt child. You know
what...it worked! I can understand her more clearly now. She
was not mature enough to take care of herself, much less a baby. So, she
would send me here and there to whomever would be willing to take me at that
particular time. Most of the time it was my grandmother. Several times
throughout my life she would decide that she wanted me back, and she would come
and uproot me again. I never really knew any stability in my life, and I
always felt as if no one really loved me or wanted me.
Then, at the age of nine, she came and got me and took me away from my grandmother
which, really at this point of my life, was the only mother I had ever known; and
I was very attached to her. Anyway, my mother came and took me to Illinois,
where she lived. By this time she had remarried, and she had two more children by
her new husband. He hated me, and the only reason I could figure out was
simply that I was not his child. Now this was not my fault, although I did
blame myself for many years. He started out just physically abusing me; but, at
the age of nine, that changed. He raped me, and this abuse went on until I was
thirteen; and I finally told my mother. She didn’t believe me; actually, no one
believed me. Finally I just let it drop, and I buried all of those feelings
of anger and hate for years. That has now all been dealt with and forgiven; and
now it is all under the precious blood of Jesus, Praise God! I told my
mother that I wanted to go back to Memphis to live with my grandmother, and she
consented just because she felt I was causing so much trouble (and she did not
want to be bothered).
By then, my grandmother was now also remarried; and I resented him for taking her away
from me too. You must remember: I was only a child, and I felt like she was
all I had; and now I had lost her too. I was very hateful to him and caused
so many problems. But he was very kind and loving to me; but I just could not accept
what he was offering to me. My grandmother...finally after a long struggle...went to the courts and told the judge that I was out of control and
that they just
could not handle me any longer. So they removed me and placed me in a foster
home. The home I went to was wonderful; but, at that time, I could not see things
clearly. All I could see was that the only person who really should love me had now
turned her back on me, as well. I just wanted my grandmother; so, I ran away.
The courts then really called my bluff! So, as a ward of the State of Tennessee, I
was placed in a Catholic all-girls reform school for three and a half years.
Now, as I look back, I can honestly say it was one of the best things that ever
happened to me. But, at that time, all I could see was that I was totally
alone, unloved, and unwanted in this great big world.
Now I will jump ahead some. In 1987, I lost my three children to their
father; and I totally lost it. I turned heavily to alcohol; and, eventually,
that turned into crack and cocaine. By this time I had lost everything,
including my dignity...as I had turned to prostitution to support my drug habit.
I was arrested several times on various charges, but I was never convicted; and I
never served any time. I know that God was taking care of me. Even back then in
my sin, He saw what I would be one day in Him. I give GOD all the PRAISE,
HONOR AND GLORY for all that I am today...and all that I will be.
Jesus comes onto the scene
The drugs and my roaming had taken me to many places. But, on December 20, 1990, I
came across a man that told me about Jesus and how He could deliver me and make
my life an example to others. I had not eaten in a couple of days, and he
asked me if I was hungry. So he took me to a restaurant and bought me something
to eat. The entire time he shared about Jesus Christ with me. He
told me Christ could and would set me free if I was willing, and how He (Jesus)
would give me a new life without all the pain and turmoil I was living in.
Of course, being a Christian does not eliminate us from pain, trials, and
tribulation; but, with Christ in our hearts, He will give us the strength to
overcome and withstand even in the worst times. I began sharing my life
story with this man, and he still said Jesus is the answer; and boy was he
right!
Right then & there I gave my heart to the Lord, and I decided to live for Him and serve
Him for the rest of my life.
Though I had sung for many years, I had destroyed my voice through drug abuse...I just abused the gifts that God had given me. So I prayed and told
the Lord that, if He would heal and restore my voice, I would use this gift for
His glory for the rest of my life. Now, God has done exceedingly and
abundantly above all that I could ask or think. The songs that I sing (and
others that I have written) are all His; I am only an instrument holding the
pen. It does not matter where you are, Christ will come to you and meet
you, if you are willing to let your life go and let Him be God of (and in) your
life.
I have had so many miracles in my Christian life! I am a walking miracle
myself. One of these miracles really stands out to me, and I would like to
share this with you as well.
Medical miracle healing: About four or five years ago, I was diagnosed
with an incurable bowel condition. The doctors were not real sure what it was
exactly, but they had come to the conclusion that, with ulcers all through my
body and many in my bowel system, they said they wanted to do surgery and remove
some of the bowel. My reply was that I wanted to get prayer for this and
that I believed that God was going to heal me and that I would not need the surgery at
all. They went ahead and scheduled me for another scope the following
week, just a few days after Christmas. Then, on Christmas Eve, I placed a
long distance call to a minister friend of mine and asked him to pray for me. He
said, "No problem" (but that he would need to call me back in a few
minutes). While
waiting for him to call back, I got about ten bibles and placed them opened on
the floor in a circle and with one opened in the middle of the circle. When he
called me back, I knelt on the bible in the middle and said, "Pray!”
When he prayed for me, the fire of God hit me and went through me. I had such a
peace come over me. I went over to my bed and fell asleep (now Adam was
put into a deep sleep...according to Genesis...when God removed the rib to create woman).
In a sense, God
did something similar for me. As I lay there sleeping, He performed surgery on me to heal
my body. I slept for seventeen hours; and, when I woke, the bleeding had
stopped and so had the pain. I knew without a doubt that I was healed by the
precious hand of the Master. I was on about $400.00 worth of medicine a
month, and I went into the kitchen and threw it all in the trash. I did go
back for the scope when I was scheduled, and the doctors were amazed there were
no ulcers anywhere, and I just praised God for His healing power. See other
faith & health information [here].
I am now an ordained minister, and I am married to a wonderful man who is also a
minister. We know God has put us together for a ministry, and we are
enjoying serving the Lord together. I am now a southern gospel
singer\songwriter. The Lord has blessed me, and I will continue on this
road He has placed me on; for my desire is only to serve Him. I will travel
anywhere I am invited to give my testimony or to sing or both. God is
wonderful, and it is to His glory that I am writing this. If one soul is reached
in any way, then this is worth everything.
Again, I cannot stress enough that this is for the glory of God that I am here
and that my life is what it is today; for, without Christ, we are nothing. But,
through Him, we are joint heirs with Him. He is our Deliverer, Savior,
Helper, and Healer; and any problem we may have is never too great for Him to help
us. We just have to take it to Him and leave it at His feet and in His care.
I thank God for His power is still healing...still saving and still delivering.
He is good all the time. I have made my mistakes, but His grace is
sufficient. God loves us; and, if we truly repent and confess our sins, He
is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we can help anyone out there, please contact us at the information provided
below; and we will do our best to help in any way we can. If you have
questions about loved ones who may be on drugs or other addictions, we will try
to answer your questions. If we do not know, we will do our best to find the
answer for you. If you have loved ones that you need prayer for, we will
gladly join you in agreeing to pray for that person for the Kingdom. Please always
remember that we are all human, and we will all make mistakes. But just confess to God those
mistakes and get them under the blood of Jesus as soon as possible. God still
loves us, and He will help us in all of our situations.
So many have asked
me about my children: they are all very close to me, now...even though they live
far from me. My oldest daughter is in Canada with her husband and their son. My
baby girl is in Memphis, Tenn.; and she has two little girls that are beautiful.
And my son is in Miss. with his wife, and they have a son and another one on the
way. My husband and I also have several adopted children, and one lives
here in Texas by us and plans to marry (she does have a 6 year old son who keeps
us all on our toes). I just wanted to let everyone know that when God restores He
does a great job.
GOD BLESS AND KEEP YOU ALL. I GIVE FULL PERMISSION TO ANYONE WHO CAN USE
THIS TESTIMONY TO COPY IT AND GIVE IT OUT OR TO SHARE IT PUBLICLY, BUT PLEASE
GIVE ALL THE GLORY AND PRAISE TO GOD. THANK-YOU. WE ARE YOUR BROTHER
AND SISTER IN CHRIST JESUS.
Jerry & Shelia Holcomb, Palestine, Texas
Feel free to email us at:
rainbow1@imws.net
http://rainbowoftexas.org
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(posted 26 March 2003)