100-Word Stories

My grandson Hudson asked me, “Papa, please come to church with us.” So I said yes, and for the first time in my 65 years, I started going to Austin Ridge. Right after I started attending in July 2022, we went to Alaska for a cruise.

One day while beach combing I looked down and and found a perfectly made cross from the sea of driftwood! Stunned, I picked it up and marveled as I held it to the sky. I said to myself, “This is a sign from God and Jesus to attend Austin Ridge!” I love our church; so thankful my grandson helped me find Jesus and faith!

It happened in Guatemala; I was 18.
I got kidnaped in my own house. I had a gun to my head all those hours and several threats of pulling the trigger. I just prayed to Our Father steadily.
But the last threat sounded real, so I stopped praying and let myself go. I saw a few images of my childhood, and then, there He was. There was Jesus; a magnificent light and peace. When I opened my eyes, the men were gone, and I was alive. During the most horrific time of my life, I felt Jesus holding me tight. At the edge of death, Jesus kept me alive.

God saved my life. I became very sick while delivering my daughter and I hemorrhaged, causing me to code. I was being ripped from my body by a very nefarious force and I was being dragged to hell, which I did not believe existed as a new age follower. I cried out to God to let me stay with my husband and daughters, and He sent two angels to either side of my bed. They anchored me here, and I did not know what hit me. At each sunrise the week after, Jesus spoke to me. At my most broken, He held me in perfect mercy, grace, and love.

JESUS saved me from my worst enemy: myself. A pastor’s kid born to a prominent evangelical pastor in Mexico City. Good life, good education, successful career as a stock broker, making lots of money. I was living the “Christian blessed life,” yet, not knowing GOD, slave to sin, and worse–slave to false Christian religion. How? False prosperity Gospel that teaches people to ask GOD to bless more, as if surrendering His Son is not enough. How blasphemous. As for me, I’m not going back to old slave-trading Egypt. I’m delighted to be called to know GOD, enjoy Him, and serve Him forever. Adios love of cheap money. I prefer riches in Heaven.

My 4-year-old son started having an autoimmune response to some recent infections he had the previous week, resulting in a rash with huge welts all over his body. The doctor said that the response would get worse before it got better and would only resolve by itself in 2-4 weeks. She specifically said that no medicine would help. We prayed that night over him, and the next morning the entire rash was gone. My son said that he saw God in his dreams, and God put His hand on him to heal him.

My brother and I were born into chaos. I was abused by my biological dad and previous stepdad who were deeply involved with their churches. We were abandoned by our mom and “dealt” with those hurts in horrible ways, which opened us up to demonic encounters. One night, the Lord told me I could NOT progress in my relationship with Him if I harbored unforgiveness. The reality of my sin sunk in, and I felt God’s forgiveness and unwavering love towards us like a wave going from my head to my toes. Later, I started following Christ wholeheartedly and I now strive to live in His grace. Thank you, Lord!

I’m praying Austin Ridge becomes known in the community as a place where Jesus is powerfully transforming lives. I pray it will become common on Sunday to hear from first-time visitors, that they came because they have a friend whose life was undeniably transformed by their relationship with Jesus at the Ridge, as he or she faced the most broken thing in their life. Whether it’s addiction, a broken marriage, or the impact of abuse and trauma, we’ll hear people say: “My friend is not the same, and I had to come and see what’s going on at Austin Ridge.”

After 2+ years of countless fertility procedures, medications, and visits, we were finally successful in getting pregnant…and then I miscarried twice back-to-back in fall 2021. We knew God had a plan, but we were struggling to understand the “why” behind receiving such joyful news and then finding out we lost our babies. We continually gave it to God – if we weren’t meant to have a child, then I knew He would give peace. While waiting for a surgery date in January, I found out that I was unexpectedly pregnant, and now we’re expecting a baby girl in 7 weeks.

God used to seem painfully silent when I needed Him most, especially as I watched drug addiction consume my sister and morph her into something unrecognizable. I so desperately wanted to believe God could restore her, but after years of unanswered prayers and failed attempts to catch her before she’d fall, I began to accept there was no coming back from this. After two years passed of no contact or knowing if she was alive, my sister re-entered our lives – clean, sober, full of the Holy Spirit, and once again, completely unrecognizable from the monster addiction had previously turned her into. Only God could’ve pulled this one off.