3 posts tagged “testimony”

Well, I just got home from a very long, very full, but very good two weeks on the West Coast.  I got to meet some incredible people along the way and view some amazing scenery.

I started out in Southern California at the Exodus Freedom Conference in Irvine, and then worked my way up the coast with a couple friends to do some gigs in Washington and Oregon.  I have to say, we learned a lot about ourselves and our friendships on that trip!  It's just good to know that you have relationships in your life that you can hash out the hard stuff with and still survive! :)

Before the trip up the coast, though, we were at the Exodus Freedom Conference in Irvine, CA.  I'm so grateful for the oppotuntity to have been a part of this event.  On the first night of the conference, I was asked by the conference staff if I would be willing to speak to the press that came to cover the conference.  To say that I was nervous and a bit freaked out by this, would be a slight understatement, but in my heart I couldn't get past the fact that God has given me freedom and hope, and that I was being given another opportunity to share that with the world.   So I agreed.

On Tuesday evening, I was interviewed by a FOX News affiliate, and then on Saturday morning, Ryan Pearson from the Associated Press chatted with me for a while.  He even asked me if I would be willing to sing one of my songs!  I just found the article/video of this interview HERE.  The last interview was with a woman from a university in California.  It seemed like she clearly had an agenda and I could sense her disapproval of my answers.  However, in each interview, I simply prayed that the Lord Jesus would be clearly seen in my life and in the words that I spoke.  I can't tell you how important those interviews were for me personally.  I had no idea going into this conference that I would be doing that, but the Lord used those times to deepen my conviction and push me toward learning how to articulate it.  I'm thankful that the Lord Jesus is giving me these opportunities to share the truth about His grace and forgiveness.  I only pray that He always gives me courage to step into those places without fear for--His name's sake.

 

Well, this is typical.  Tomorrow I'm leaving on a trip to California, it's almost midnight, and I haven't packed yet. 

"Then why are you sitting at the computer writing a blog?", you ask?

I really wish you hadn't asked.  I don't have a good answer, other than: "Avoiding the inevitable."   You'd think that by now, after all the travelling I do, I'd have this packing thing down to a science.  I don't.  It usually comes down to me waiting til the last minute and then overpacking because I'm just throwing a bunch o' stuff in a suitcase with the hopes that I'm not forgetting anything.  Then I usually end up having to make a pit stop at a local CVS because I did.

I forget a lot.

I've had people say to me after a concert, "It wouldn't be a real Mindy Boyd concert if you didn't forget the lyrics at least once."  I'm not proud of that.  Especially when it's my own song that I'm forgetting.  I forget people's birthdays all the time.  And people's names?...let's not even go there.  Last week I forgot to drive the speed limit.  Twice.  Now I have a sign on my dashboard by the spedometer that reads "SLOW DOWN".  I'm trying.

I hate that I forget things--the little things, the big things.  The toothbrushes, the birthdays.  But what I hate the most, is that sometimes I forget the important, significant things.  Like where I've been, and what the Lord has delivered me from.  Sometimes I get so caught up in what I'm doing now, and what needs to be done--and remembered--in the everyday, that I forget about what the Lord has done in my life.  And what inevitably happens is that I start becoming disillusioned and discouraged, which then leads to despair and depression.  All because I forgot.  But I'm not the only one.  A good friend recently brought Psalm 78 to my attention.  It's basically an account of all the miraculous things the Lord did for the Israelites when He delivered them from Egypt.  But check this out:

"The warriors of Ephraim, though fully armed, turned their backs and fled when the day of battle came.  They did not keep God's covenant and they refused to live by his law.  They forgot what he had done--the wonderful miracles he had shown them."  vv. 9-11 NLT (emphasis mine).

They forgot.  They forgot about all the people who died in Egypt simply because they happened to be born first in their family.  They forgot what the dry ground felt like on their feet as they walked between two walls of water.  They forgot what it was like to wake up in the morning after it had rained...bread!  They forgot.  And on the day of battle, though they were equipped with everything they needed for the fight, they turned back. They had forgotten what He had done.

Oh man!  This is me!  That's exactly what happens when I forget.  I'm fully equipped for whatever it is that the Lord has placed in front of me, but I shrink back, pull away, close up, and stand still.  This is where I've been so many times in the past, and this is where I've been in the past couple months.  But do you know what He does more often than not when I'm in this place?  He says, "Mindy, it's time for you to share your testimony again because I want people to know what incredible things I've done in your life.  And because I want you to remember."

Several weeks ago, I got an email telling me that I was chosen to give my testimony at one of the general sessions at the Exodus Freedom Conference in Irvine, CA.  The timing of that email couldn't have been worse (from my perspective), because giving my testimony was the last thing I wanted to do at that time.  However, I was challenged with the truth that the despair I have felt recently in my life does not change what God did for me in the past.  That's why Asaph wrote Psalm 78.  That's why the Israelites were commanded to pass on these accounts to their children and their children's children...

"So each generation can set its hope anew on God, remembering his glorious miracles and obeying his commands." v7.

I am overwhelmed, grateful, a bit freaked out, and extremely honored to be given the opportunity to share what God has no less than miraculously done in my life at this year's conference.  Preparing for it has forced me to recall my past experiences and has helped me to remember God's deep love and never-ending faithfulness to this prodigal daughter of His, and how He rescued me from that pit.

Would really appreciate your prayers for this one.

Now, let's hope I can remember my toothbrush!