I Know What it is…

I know what it is to see the breath of life leave my loved one’s body, and I know what it is to see the first breath of a new life enter the world…

I know what it is to be abandoned and rejected…

I know the devastation of divorce, as a child and as an adult, how it leaves the family shattered, to face life’s challenges alone……

I know what it is to look in the eyes of my children’s hearts and see them broken…

I know what it is to be locked away, and your life placed in someone else’s hands…

I know what it is to be beaten and humiliated because someone’s anger got out of hand…and I know what it is to face defeat, become homeless and live in total despair…

I know the stench of demon cancer as it slowly strips dignity and life from its victims…and I know the broken heart of a baby taken as death takes its toll leaving a large gaping hole with the horror the wounds leave behind…

I know what it is to be diagnosed with an incurable disease, and feel hopeless; striving to survive but all you can do is cope day by day…

I know abuse, and pain and loss and hurt…I know fear and doubt…

Yes I know, because I’ve been there—

I know what it is to be so tired you want to die…I know what it is to cry and cry with no relief in sight…begging for years but the answer is, no!

Yes, I know all this—

But I also know, I could have chosen to be bitter or to hate and wallow in unforgiveness…

I chose to be better, and to love and to forgive—

I know the peace that comes through forgiveness…

I know the joy that comes through tears wiped away…

I know the love and forgiveness of family and friends; and I know the love that only comes from above—

I know the light of hope and love restored in the hearts of my children…

I know the unexplainable, undeniable, incomprehensible, Peace and rest while standing in a crowd of thousands, giving praise and worship to the Living God.

I know the gift of being lifted higher than all the pain, basking in the presence of the One who gave me life and hope…

I could be bitter; I could have chosen drugs, alcohol, sex, perversion, living on the streets, I could have chosen death…but none of that would have saved me—

I chose to Love and Forgive, and because of that, I am blessed beyond measure…

Loved completely—

Saved totally, restored, set free, pardoned and given treasure more than this world could ever offer—

I know what it’s like to face death—

More than that, I know what its like to face Life, because I know Him, Jesus, the one who not only took all that sorrow and shame and guilt and pain away, but He gave me the amazing gift of a full life.

I made the choice! I chose Jesus! I chose to give and not take…to love and not hate…I chose to live and not die…

We all have a choice…

We come to a cross-road…you’ll know it when you get there…I pray you too will make the correct choice…

God has more mercy than we could ever expect

More Love than we could ever run out of…

More Joy than could fill an ocean or a sky

More Faith than we need to move every mountain

More peace than the Universe can hold

His arms are bigger than the Grand Canyon

He reached out to each and every one of us on the cross—

And He is saying right now…”NO Matter WHAT, you are facing, if you will open your heart and love Me back…I will SAVE you totally, turn your life around for good, and you will be free to laugh, love, and be at peace with yourself, with others, and with God.”

It’s a choice! I’m not saying you’ll never face loss or pain again…but I am saying when you do, you will have hope and faith to take you all the way through and you will not be alone…

God’s way is so much better, this I also know!!

His Light will come flooding in, and you’ll never, ever, be the same lost, lonely, hurting, fearful, desperate person ever again…

Because He has said so!

–Marla Shaw O’Neill

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23 King James Version (KJV)

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.”

“No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” John 14:1-7 New Living Translation (NLT)