A Wonderful Savior is Jesus My Lord

There is a story I have been thinking about telling for a while. I guess I have just been waiting for the right time. I am not sure what makes this the right time but here it goes...
In May of 2007 my dad got a phone call from a lady wanting to ask some questions about our church. She and her husband had found our church listed on the Family Integrated Church site through Vision Forum.
When my dad told us about this family I found out that their oldest daughter was my age. I was excited because there has never been a girl my age in our church.
They attended our church that Sunday. Only the two youngest girls were with them though. I found out that the one who was my age wasn't a Christian.
During that week they came over for supper to discuss some more things about our church. During that visit we found out more about the family background. The parents had been saved less than ten years and had some rough road behind them.
They decided to keep attending their church for a while and continue to pray about the Lord's leading.
The last Sunday in June, which was our first Sunday in our new building, they came to stay. I was very excited because Shelley (the wife/mother) and I had hit it off from the beginning.
This family lives right down the street from my violin teacher so during my sisters' lessons every week I would go down and visit Shelley. During one of these visits Shelley told me that Courtney, her oldest daughter, was going to have a baby. Shelley just told me that they had decided to just embrace it as a new life and pray that God would use this to work in Courtney's heart. At this point I still hadn't met Courtney but I was beginning to have a burden for her. I wanted her first of all to know Christ and secondly I wanted to be her friend.
I think it was sometime in July when Courtney came to church the first time. When I tried to befriend her she was always very civil but she kept guard up and kept me at arms length.
This went on for months. All the while we were praying for her but I think, much to my shame, I didn't really believe that there would be a change.
In December my family went to visit them for an evening. While we were there I noticed that Courtney was totally different! She was open and friendly to us all. I didn't even know what to think. She told me that she wasn't going to be able to be at church that Sunday because she had to work. But she promised to be there the next.
That coming Sunday as soon as I got to church Shelley asked me if I had checked my email that morning. I told her I had but I was very curious why she would ask me that because I hadn't had anything of importance. She told me that Courtney had emailed me that morning. I was so excited I was ready to burst. That was the Sunday before Christmas and we were leaving for Illinois right after services. That would mean that I would have to wait hours before I got to read it! I remembered that I could check my email at the library so as soon as dinner was over I ran across the street to check. There was an email from Courtney telling me that God had been changing her heart! I sat there and cried as I read it and replied.
It has been a wonderful joy to watch Courtney grow in Christ. Her baby was born in January. She will be six months old in a few days. Courtney has a strong desire to be a godly mother to her little baby. She has worked so hard to be able to support her baby and still be able to stay with her.
I don't think I have ever been around anyone in my life who has changed so much. Courtney has changed down to the way she sounds when she talks. I few weeks ago I listened to her voice mail recording that she had on her phone for a long time and she sounds so different! She told me the other day that even her taste in colors has changed since she has been saved. :)
Courtney was baptized on Resurrection Sunday along with two other people.
I thank God for the blessing of her friendship and watching her grow in Christ.
Her father has just accepted a job over an hour away from here so they will be moving. I am very happy for them in this wonderful opportunity. I will miss seeing them during the week but they will still be attending our church. I am very grateful for that!