At a revival in my hometown church, at the age of seven, I understood that I was a sinner and needed the forgiveness and mercy of Jesus Christ. I was saved that night and baptized a few years later.  I attended church and sung with my mother and sister for 11 years in a Southern Gospel Trio. Unfortunately, the reality of my home life was very difficult, and I was never a real disciple of God’s word until I moved to Atlanta, Georgia, following college. I left behind all I had ever known to start my career. I was seeking the leadership of the Lord and joined a local church. There I began to grow in my understanding of what it really meant to allow Jesus to not only be my Savior in time of trouble, but also the Lord of my life. When I surrendered to His lordship in every area of my life, I met Dan, who would become my future husband. We immediately began to lead praise and worship for youth services together. A year later we married. Not only did I fall in love with my husband, but I fell in love with God’s word. Through regular Bible study and seeking God’s guidance, I have come to understand just how much God really loves me and just how lost and alone I would be without Him.

In 1995, my father died suddenly without a legal will. This was the beginning of a long and painful journey for me and my family. In the midst of sorting through the legalities, I soon learned that there was a possibility that my dad might not have been my biological father. In a short time, I had lost my dad, the foundation of my family, and my identity. This journey lasted for almost seven years, yet through it all, the Lord was there every step of the way revealing His miraculous beauty and power at every turn. Finally, the day came when the Lord made it clear that the journey was ending and I should volunteer to take a DNA test to find out the true identity of my father. Just a day or two before I was scheduled to take the test, I opened a book called “The Gift” that I had been reading. The chapter was on Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before His crucifixion. For the first time in my life, the story became a reality to me. I caught a glimpse of how Jesus felt as he wrestled between his Father’s perfect will and the will of his flesh. I realized that It was in those moments in the garden that Jesus was cloaked in his humanity. He struggled against his flesh asking the Father to let his cup pass from him, and yet, in His holiness, he had to come to the place of surrender and say, “not my will, but thine be done”. It was as if I were in my own garden, and I could relate to what Jesus must have felt as he relinquished his life to the will of his Father. His identity would finally be revealed through his surrender to the Father’s plan, and so would mine.

On the morning of the DNA test, I grabbed that same book on my way out the door in hopes that the Lord would use it again to comfort me and teach me something. I hoped it would live up to it’s name, “The Gift”. We arrived early. As I sat down in the hallway, waiting for the test facility to open, I was full of fear and my mind raced with questions. Would I feel ashamed when they called my name? Would the test be painful?  What would the results reveal?  Would my life ever be the same? What would my future hold? I opened the book, and to my amazement, at the top of the page it read “BOUNTEOUS GRACE”. I thought to myself, “ Hmm, “grace”, I could certainly use some right now.” Then I saw it,  the Lord’s unmistakable, miraculous “gift” to me...

 “And you never again have to wonder who your father is--- for you have been adopted by God and are therefore an “heir of God through Christ,” Galatians 4:7.

At that very moment, all my fears were washed away. Suddenly the DNA test results meant nothing to me, because for the first time in my life I saw me as my Father saw me. My identity was confirmed. I am the daughter of a King, the heir to a royal throne, grafted into the family vine, wrapped in the nobility of His blood! My life was forever changed because of that journey, which led to the very foundation of our ministry. When people know who they are in Christ, it changes every relationship they have. I am thankful that I will never be the same. Wandering through that painful wilderness taught me how to hear the voice of my Father clearly, and to be obedient to His call regardless of what it costs me. I will forever love Him for every miracle that He has done in my life including adopting me as His own and saving me when I was so unworthy.