Crown Of Beauty...Beautiful Light

crown of beauty has graciously allowed me to put the story of how she was saved in a post and i will not say anything more, other than that this dear christian lady from philippines is a dear friend to many.
her name is lidia[lidj] and it means, "beautiful light".
you can find her at, http://mla-crownofglory.blogspot.com
this, then is her testimony.

"I was 12 years old, and on the threshold of my thirteenth year in the mid 1960's. I was about to go to bed one night and I heard myself asking God a few questions. These were some of the specific things I asked Him:

God, if you really are the God I believe in, I want to know You more.

I want You to show me if the things I believe in are true.

I ask You to show me the truth.

Please, God, somehow I feel that there is something lacking in my understanding, but I don't know where to get the answers...or if there is even someone who knows the answers to my questions.

Before I go any further, I have to make some things clear. I was not a heretic, and I certainly was not about to turn my back on my religious upbringing.

But even as a young girl, I was hungry for God, and would even go to bed with my Missal, my Book of Prayers, my precious collection of stampitas - lovely gilt edged picture cards of Jesus, Mama Mary, St. Theresa of Avila, St. Peter, St. Christopher, and many other saints - under my pillow.

I would often pray, asking Jesus to help me be a good girl, and help me keep my heart pure.

My frustration was that it always seemed so easy to fall into sin. Nothing major - a cross look, a lie, an unkind thought... nevertheless, I knew it was sin.

It seemed like I was never good enough, that my actions were always being weighed, and somehow, they always fell short.

If someone asked me what my idea of God was back then, here's my reply: to me He was like a tally-keeper up in heaven...some kind of a heavenly policeman.

However, those thoughts did not really bother me so much. As I progressed into my teen years, those questions got pushed underneath. After all I was just so busy with more exciting things, like school, friends, weekend parties and going out on dates...

I was enjoying life... the way any normal teenager would enjoy life.

And my growing up years were memorable, happy ones. I came from a small family where our parents faithfully looked after me and my sister's well-being; we were loved, we were nurtured, we were valued, and appreciated. Our needs were met. We celebrated birthdays, and anniversaries, graduation days, Christmas, New Year, Easter. I felt secure and confident in my parents' love.

It was only when I was a freshman at the University of the Philippines that those questions re-surfaced, and the answers came...in a miraculous way.

To be honest, I had actually forgotten those questions.

But God did honor my desire, after all, and revealed Himself to me, when I least expected Him to.

One day in 1972, when I was a second year university student, a classmate gave a speech to convince in our speech class. It was entitled "The Man You Cannot Ignore." Though she only spoke for a few minutes, her words had a deep impact on me. Much of what she said were answers to many questions in my heart, some dating back to when I was still a child.

The next week, I joined a small group that met weekly to study what the Bible had to say. It was a year later, in December 1973 that I came to know Jesus as my true Lord.

After taking this step of faith, one of the things that really changed in my life was how I regarded the Bible. From just being another book it became, The Book... and began to hold a very special place not just on my desk, but most importantly, in my heart.

There was a growing spiritual hunger to read it; each morning I couldn't wait to discover the gold between its lines and pages. There were days when I'd wake up before dawn, sit at my desk and begin reading.
And that was the best thing that ever happened to me - when I began to understand that my going to heaven was not something that I had to work for, or earn.

For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God— not by works,
so that no one can boast.
- Ephesians 2:8-9


Thus began a long journey of soul searching... studying the Bible, knowing that this Book was written by men under the inspiration of the God the Holy Spirit, and could therefore be trusted.

After a long period of evaluating and carefully looking at the evidences of the Scripture, accompanied by much prayer for enlightenment, the day came when I could hold back no longer.

I couldn't be a fence sitter, wavering between two opinions. I knew I had to turn the reins of my life over to the One who created me, my God, my King, my Redeemer.

As soon as that decision was made, it felt like a heavy burden was lifted off my back. It was the beginning of my spiritual journey, an exciting journey of knowing what God my Father was really like, and a brand new life of freedom and grace!

There may have been many rough roads on this journey, but the light of a million mornings has dawned in me...

Definitely, there is no turning back!"