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My story begins with my family. You see, I have two parents who found their origin stories in the cross of Christ before their family began. This has made all the difference in my own story. I grew up in a home where I knew two complete and unalterable truths - there was a God, and He loved me. What a privilege to enter life with this understanding. At a young age, I was given the opportunity to understand that I was a part of this handiwork, a thread in the tapestry of God’s design. But knowing there is a God and knowing that God loved me would never be enough. What changed my life, what altered the course of my history, was knowing that on my own, I would never measure up. I knew it in my core, that something in the human story was very wrong. I knew that Jesus came and died and somehow I knew that He had to. I’d heard the story of the cross and been to the Passion plays every year. I knew the story, but not the Author. I was six years old when I met Jesus face to face. My deepest sins at the time were nothing that would make history, but I knew them, and I knew they separated me from perfect Love. At six years old I sat with my parents, asked all of the questions that my six year old mind knew, and then with the faith only a child produces I asked Jesus and His perfect love to take away my sin and separation and be my true Love. And that is when I met my Savior. I am His and He is mine. And He continues to be my purpose each and every day.
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I grew up in a devout Catholic home, attended Catholic schools, where I learned to respect the teachings of the Catholic faith and found great understanding in the foundational liturgy. Established family and personal ethics protected me from many of the pitfalls of adolescence and early adulthood, but sin isn’t about degrees or severity. I was and am in need of a savior because salvation is something I can’t logic or reason a way into for myself. After ‘trying out’ several different churches in Canada, I thought that an outside resource might provide resolution. I searched the internet for a mission trip and found the SCORE International website. In addition, the focus of the trip turned out to be baseball- a sport I was actively involved in as a coach and coach developer. During that trip in November of 2012, former Major League pitcher-turned-Pastor Don Gordon addressed each of my questions- not with answers, but with scripture and biblical truth. He used Jesus rather than facts or figures to illustrate what spirituality looks like and what salvation means. Perhaps most importantly, Don devalued my self-sufficiency, showing me biblically where God points us to reliance on Him rather than on our gifts or talents. And he challenged me to acknowledge that despite my abilities I was unable to save myself from sin, from death, or from hell. I prayed and accepted Christ that afternoon in Don’s room, and began a new life of acceptance, humility, and Christ-reliance.
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Lyn was pursing a degree in seminary at Liberty University while living in Windsor, Ontario Canada. Across the world (okay ... really just 1000 miles away ... but who's counting?!) in Fort Worth Texas, Kim was pursing a seminary degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. They found out they had mutual friends, and an intense rivalry. Lyn visited Texas and for them, the rest is history. One of their first interactions was a debate about their much beloved Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Naturally, they disagreed! They still LOVE having intense debates about Jesus, sports, and anything else! They love trying new restaurants together, watching hockey and baseball, a good bike ride, a great read, and honestly, just time together. But their favorite thing is that they both currently serve Jesus together at their church, Idlewild Baptist Church in Tampa, Florida. It's been a wild ride ... but it's been fun and worth it!