Another Special Life in Christ

These testimony lives are not stories of "role models". Jesus is the role model!
These are lives wonderfully touched & changed by Jesus!

a Stormie testimony:

After an interview by Candice McGarvey: "I began to see a light at the end of the dark tunnel in my life."

Candice had the opportunity to sit down with Stormie Omartian, who is an inspiration to all who hear her life story. Omartian's also the author of several books, including The Power of a Praying Husband, Lord I Want to be Whole, The Power of a Praying Wife, and her autobiography Stormie. We invite you to learn about her background in part 1 of our interview with her.

QUESTION: What were the circumstances that led to you accepting Christ?

"I would say being near death and wanting to die. I was so miserable, and there was no hope for my life. I tried drugs, and that didn't work. I tried alcohol, and that didn't work. I tried Eastern religions and the occult, and they didn't work. I had bad relationships, and that didn't work. Finally, a friend took me to visit Pastor Jack Hayford at the Church on the Way; and he told me about Jesus. Pastor Jack sent me home with three books to read, including The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis and the Gospel of John. I went back to see Pastor Jack the following week after reading those books, and I received the Lord in his office. For the first time I saw that there was another way after all these remedies I had tried that didn't work.

"Pastor Jack always talked about the Lord as a close friend, as opposed to the distant god described by all my Eastern religions and occult practices. The concept of God coming into your life seemed like it would be great if it worked. So I thought, 'I'll receive the Lord and see what happens'. I began to see a light at the end of the dark tunnel in my life. So I just kept going toward the light. I kept going to church and reading the Word and praying and doing what He said and trying to find the way. God wanted me to live, and the more I did that, the more the light became apparent in my life. As I walked with the Lord, the burdens that I had been carrying for so long were stripped away, one layer at a time.
QUESTION: So the transformation in you didn't take place overnight?

"Not overnight -- it was definitely one step at a time as I learned to be obedient and walk in God's ways. I began to have more and more freedom from fear, depression, anxiety, hopelessness and loneliness. When you arrive at that level of freedom, you can't believe you're getting rid of all that. On top of that, you find out that God has a plan for you! I was just in awe. Before, I had been just trying to find a reason to get through the next day; and then I find out that God not only wants to get me through the next day, but He has a purpose for my life. He'll use the pain of my past for good in my future, the one that He's bringing me into, you know? That was a profound revelation for me -- I was really shocked by that.

QUESTION: How did your accepting Christ affect your career in Hollywood?

"When I received the Lord, it turned my entire life upside down. I didn't just receive the Lord, I surrendered my life to Him. I said, 'God, I'm so tired of doing it my way - I want to do it your way. I just give my life to you - you take it and do it, I don't want to do it anymore.' And He did! He turned my life upside down and shook it! It's like when you're upside down and all the things in your pocket fall out. Everything in my life that wasn't supposed to be there fell out. The shows I was doing were one of the things that fell out.

"My career just completely folded because I was being offered parts in commercials that I could not do. One of them wanted me to smoke on camera, and I thought, 'I can't do that.' I refused to wear certain costumes. I kept turning things down, and finally my agent dropped me saying, 'If you're gonna turn down things, then we can't do anything for you!' One thing led to another, and the shows I was on were also cancelled. So I honestly thought my life had come to an end.

"My friends didn't want to have anything to do with me, because they certainly did not want to be converted. You know, they thought it was alright for me to be crazy, but they did not want me to bring them down with me. So all my friends left. Then God brought my husband into my life, and I made new friends, and I began to see a new purpose for my life. God took some of the pressure off for a little bit so I could just graze in His word and really grow in Him. He began to open up areas of ministry, like writing songs with my husband, doing exercise videos for Sparrow about a million years ago, and writing books and magazine articles. Step by step He started to open all these doors.

It's amazing how, when He's in your life, He'll turn it around and make it what it's supposed to be. Then you feel fulfilled in what you do. Otherwise, if you're not really moving with the Lord, you never have that joy. You always think, 'Gosh, it's not enough', or 'I didn't do that right'. You're always worried that you've failed or are going to fail. When you're with the Lord, the Lord's taking you step by step, so you don't worry about that as much.

QUESTION: Can you talk about how you met your husband?

"Well, it was an amazing coincidence that we met before I became a believer. We were at a Christian recording session, and I was the only non-Christian. These sessions went on for a whole week, and we were singing every day. I was really struck with Michael right away, actually I was struck with all of them (the other Christian singers). When you're not a believer and you're in a room with people who are really strong in the Lord, you see a real difference. I was really struck with - the only way I can describe it is - their "fullness." It was in sharp contrast to my emptiness. They had a simplicity about them, life wasn't complex and strange but instead it was very simple and very focused. They had a real humility that was unusual, and they were very loving. So I was drawn to what they had, and I was really drawn to Michael. But in my head I was thinking, "I really like these people, too bad they're Christians!"

It's amazing when I look back at the fact that I was chosen for this project. They had the courage to hire someone like me. All the rest of the singers were believers and then there was me. And yet their Christian influence was what drew me. The woman who hired me on that session was the same friend who took me to visit Pastor Jack.

So that was the first time I met Michael. I was going with somebody else at that time and I eventually married that guy. I was not a believer during that marriage and it was such a disaster, it lasted about a year and a half. After that marriage ended was when my friend took me to meet Pastor Jack. I started attending church with her every week and that's where I saw Michael again. He had been attending a different church and all of a sudden our paths crossed. God brought us together. We started dating and married a year later.

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[posted 3 Feb. 2002]

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You have just read a very brief example of the powerful, supernatural transformation of a person's life which is possible through the acceptance of Jesus as your savior. Are you tired of life as it now is for you? He will accept you just as you are right this second! Consider accepting Jesus now [check it out]!