Testimony Of Kimberly Baldwin

My name is Kimberly Baldwin. I am twenty-six years old, have been married for seven and a half years, and have a daughter who is four (almost five) years old. I was fortunate that I found and accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior when I was four years old. I consider it fortunate because having that faith helped me to carry on through many crises. My father passed away when I was nine, my grandmother followed him just four months later. I knew that they had gone to live with Jesus in heaven, but it was hard for me to comprehend that I would never be with them, here, again! My mother slipped into a depression, my older sister acted out in anyway she could, and I managed to miss half a years' worth of school. And all of it was due to grief, the loss hits you - nothing will ever be the same again!

Time passed, we all recovered, Mom remarried, and we moved to Vermont. We had only been in Vermont for about four months when I was involved in a bicycle accident that I almost didn't survive. To this day I don't remember much about the accident or what followed. I had fallen and struck the pavement with the back of my head. It turned out that my brain ricocheted off the front of my skull causing bruising and swelling. I was in a coma for a week and my doctor started preparing my parents for my imminent death. It was then that my parents "woke up" and remembered that God still heals today. They begged Jesus' forgiveness for forgetting and prayed for my healing. Just as my doctor walked in with his students (they came to see the dying girl), I sat up in bed (remember I had been in a coma), said I was hungry and that I needed to go to the bathroom, got out of bed and went! The doctor was in shock, and from that day forth, every time I saw him, he wanted to know how his miracle patient was doing.

Life went on, I made friends with a girl at school. And we became closer than sisters. She accepted the Lord as her savior. And the two of us were learning and preaching as much as we could. We had this competition to see who could read more of the Bible each week. I am ashamed to say she usually won.

My friend lived with her mother, brother, sister, niece and nephew. They had become a second family to me. Her sister accepted the Lord and all of us were on fire for God! Everything was wonderful! Until one morning their house caught fire! Somebody woke us, banging on our front door, screaming, "The baby's are inside!" My parents went over to their house to find out what was going on. They wouldn't let me go. So I stayed home, made coffee, stared out the window and bargained with God. "You save them, God, and I will do whatever you want!" Bargaining didn't work. As I watched out the window, my friend's mother, brother and older sister (not the one she lived with) came up to the house with my parents. I knew that my friend didn't survive! Neither had her sister, niece or nephew. My second family was dead. I shut down after that, I knew that they were in heaven with Jesus, happier than they had ever been before. But I didn't want to feel anymore. I was scared to love anyone ever again. Everyone I loved died. So to protect my loved ones, I didn't love! I didn't feel! It was a long time before I opened up. It took someone to love me enough to confront me about what I was doing.

After that things turned around, and, believe it or not my faith in Jesus grew stronger. I learned that sometimes God says No! He needed my family and friends to be with him. And he always has a reason for what he does, sometimes I do not know what it is right away, sometimes never! But God's reasons are always for the best! I also learned that I would rather love someone and lose them, then to feel the emptiness and loneliness of locking yourself away from love because you might get hurt!

I have my memories and I have my faith in Jesus Christ and no one can take that away from me, but me! And I am not going to do that to myself!

Kimberly Baldwin