In Part 1 of my spiritual journey I chronicled my salvation experience. I spoke of when I was first saved, how I did not live for God, and then how God dealt with me later in life that resulted in me making Jesus Lord of my life by putting Him first in my life. I mentioned how He changed my life in the natural after I kept my commitment to Him. I mentioned some of the ways He changed me. Some of the ways I changed were in my ability to teach. He changed my study habits, and I became a better student. I was socially awkward and introverted. God changed that and made me an extrovert. I use to be entertained by sinful TV programs. He changed all that and I was no longer entertained by those programs and I stopped watching TV.
In general I was a failure in life and He turned it all around and made me successful.
God also did a work in me spiritually.
When I first received Jesus as my Savior when I was about 8 yrs old I knew that hell was real and I didn't want my friends to go there. I witnessed to two of my female friends and told them that hell was real. I asked them if they wanted to go to Heaven and not hell. They said they wanted to go to Heaven so I told them they needed to ask Jesus to save them and they needed to walk the aisle and tell the Pastor that they wanted Jesus.
In graduate school after I got right with God, things changed more dramatically for me spiritually than what it had been originally when I was about 8 yrs old. Again, I knew hell was real, I didn't want my friends to go there, and I knew that they needed to be saved to go to Heaven.
God gave me favor with people which I didn't have before. I had one student that came to my office, shared with me his martial problems, and wept. I told him that Jesus was the answer to his problems. I gave him the gospel. I invited him to Church. He came.
I had a Chinese friend who was a graduate student at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) who said he believed in God and he believed in Jesus. I just sensed that he really didn't know Jesus and was lost. I would witness to him at times.
I talked about God to others as well. To one I told him how God changed my life. He responded with disbelief and said, " Sure, God changed your life." He was a Catholic Priest who had a PhD in Psychology, was the Clinical Psychologist at FIT's Counseling Center, and I had gone to him for counseling my first quarter at FIT. He saw me a couple of quarters later and asked where I had been. I briefly gave my testimony, told him that God changed me and healed me, and I didn't need him any more.
I told another one that the reason I was successful in school was because of God. She was an atheist and could not understand how a 'smart' person like me could believe in God.
When I finished my course work I had obtained a good paying job with a NASA contractor at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. I went to work for them. I joined a Church and attended regularly.
I finished my master's thesis at work, wrote the draft, returned to FIT to defend my thesis, typed it up professionally, and graduated.
Things began to die out for me. I wasn't experiencing the same success I had when at FIT. I was having problems in my relationships with people and things were not going so well at work. I became worried.
I went to see the Pastor because I was having problems. It didn't go well. I got mad, stormed out of his office, slammed the door shut, and left the Church.
The following Sunday I asked God where He wanted me to go to Church. He told me where He wanted me to go. I went.
The service was OK, the people were active in their service to God, but the Church was dead. The Spirit of God was not there.
That Sunday afternoon an older couple I was friends with from the Church I left were going to come over to visit me and to help me put my lawn mower together. While I was waiting for them I was reading my Bible. Again I was reading Matt 6:25-33. When I got to Matt 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." again, like at FIT, I read that verse twice for some reason. Then God spoke to me again, twice, saying, "Pat, put my will first in your life and I will take care of what you are worried about."
I thought about what God had said for a moment and then my friends pulled up in my driveway.
I invited them in. We fellowshipped for awhile. Jack put my lawn mower together. They invited me to Church that night because there was a singing group that was coming to perform and they wanted to know if I would like to go.
I told them that I didn't want to go. They said, "OK" and left.
After they left I went for a long walk and talked to the Lord about putting His will first in my life. I agreed to do so.
The following Sunday I didn't go to Church because of a hurricane that hit Houston. But the Sunday after that I again asked God where He wanted me to go to Church. He told me and I went.
This particular Church had a Singles group that had about 100 or so singles and they had just gotten a Singles Pastor. I liked the Church and decided to go there.
Our Singles Pastor was teaching us on why people have relationship problems. He said that barriers come up between people because of sin. He taught us what God's Word says that we should do about it.
I decided to put what he was sharing into practice.
Then circumstances led me to a point where I needed to deal with the unforgiveness I had towards my mother. Before I dealt with it, I recommitted my life to the Lord, and told God I would remain single all my life to serve Him.
God helped me to forgive my mom for the things I held against her. That brought healing to me. He set me free from many sins in my life and gave me the supernatural ability to love people as defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
Then on December 31, 1980 as the new year approached I made four prayer requests. I told the Lord that
1) I wanted to be a woman of prayer,
2) I wanted to grow in the knowledge and wisdom of the Lord,
3) I wanted to know what my spiritual gift was and to use it, and
4) I wanted to be a soul winner.
These four prayer requests thrust me into a walk with God that I had never known before. God was faithful to answer these prayer requests and He still is answering them.
In 1981 and since God has given me my own ministry. It has taken on many different forms.
For the first six months of 1981 God taught me why I did what I did. This was useful in my ministry to people that God brought into my life that were experiencing similar problems for I was able to relate to them and to share with them why they were having the problems they were having.
Starting in June 1981 God gave me on the job training in discipleship. He directed my steps. He had me meditate on the Word of God and gave me insights. He used those understandings as He had me share the gospel with people. He gave me a ministry to those of other faiths like Christian Scientists in particular, a few Jehovah Witnesses, and a few Mormons and a few Buddhists. I would share the gospel with those from other denominations and anyone I came across.
He had me minister the love of God to people at Church, at work, at the hospitals and on the street. Some were healed and at least one was saved.
On Wed nights we had fellowship time and a dinner before our prayer meeting. On Sept 17, 1986 when I bowed my head to give thanks for my meal God revealed my heart to me and my heart wanted to be a missionary. I told God in prayer that I wanted to be a missionary. That following Sunday, I made that public during invitation time.
Afterwards God had me leave the Church and to attend elsewhere.
God expanded my ministry. It incorporated what I had learned since 1981, and it made use of my skills in listening to people share their hurt. I shared the gospel with them and taught them some biblical truths when it was needed. I prayed for them, clothed them, fed them, and etc.
God gave me several different ministries. Even though I was not nor was I ever a drinker, God gave me a ministry to skid row bums and all their alcoholic friends.
The ministry I had to street people since 1981 was expanded to include feeding the homeless, and helping them according to their need, praying for them and, of course, sharing the gospel with them.
He gave me a ministry to those in nursing homes. I visited them frequently, listened to them tell me about their life, shared Christ with them, and prayed for them.
He allowed me to minister to the homosexuals that I worked with. I gave them the gospel, and prayed for them.
Then God had me teach the youth in my Church. I wrote their Sunday School book.
God directed my steps and gave me those ministries. He started them and ended them when the time came. Some were saved, some received healing, and miracles happened.
In general I was a failure in life and He turned it all around and made me successful.
God also did a work in me spiritually.
When I first received Jesus as my Savior when I was about 8 yrs old I knew that hell was real and I didn't want my friends to go there. I witnessed to two of my female friends and told them that hell was real. I asked them if they wanted to go to Heaven and not hell. They said they wanted to go to Heaven so I told them they needed to ask Jesus to save them and they needed to walk the aisle and tell the Pastor that they wanted Jesus.
In graduate school after I got right with God, things changed more dramatically for me spiritually than what it had been originally when I was about 8 yrs old. Again, I knew hell was real, I didn't want my friends to go there, and I knew that they needed to be saved to go to Heaven.
God gave me favor with people which I didn't have before. I had one student that came to my office, shared with me his martial problems, and wept. I told him that Jesus was the answer to his problems. I gave him the gospel. I invited him to Church. He came.
I had a Chinese friend who was a graduate student at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) who said he believed in God and he believed in Jesus. I just sensed that he really didn't know Jesus and was lost. I would witness to him at times.
I talked about God to others as well. To one I told him how God changed my life. He responded with disbelief and said, " Sure, God changed your life." He was a Catholic Priest who had a PhD in Psychology, was the Clinical Psychologist at FIT's Counseling Center, and I had gone to him for counseling my first quarter at FIT. He saw me a couple of quarters later and asked where I had been. I briefly gave my testimony, told him that God changed me and healed me, and I didn't need him any more.
I told another one that the reason I was successful in school was because of God. She was an atheist and could not understand how a 'smart' person like me could believe in God.
When I finished my course work I had obtained a good paying job with a NASA contractor at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. I went to work for them. I joined a Church and attended regularly.
I finished my master's thesis at work, wrote the draft, returned to FIT to defend my thesis, typed it up professionally, and graduated.
Things began to die out for me. I wasn't experiencing the same success I had when at FIT. I was having problems in my relationships with people and things were not going so well at work. I became worried.
I went to see the Pastor because I was having problems. It didn't go well. I got mad, stormed out of his office, slammed the door shut, and left the Church.
The following Sunday I asked God where He wanted me to go to Church. He told me where He wanted me to go. I went.
The service was OK, the people were active in their service to God, but the Church was dead. The Spirit of God was not there.
That Sunday afternoon an older couple I was friends with from the Church I left were going to come over to visit me and to help me put my lawn mower together. While I was waiting for them I was reading my Bible. Again I was reading Matt 6:25-33. When I got to Matt 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." again, like at FIT, I read that verse twice for some reason. Then God spoke to me again, twice, saying, "Pat, put my will first in your life and I will take care of what you are worried about."
I thought about what God had said for a moment and then my friends pulled up in my driveway.
I invited them in. We fellowshipped for awhile. Jack put my lawn mower together. They invited me to Church that night because there was a singing group that was coming to perform and they wanted to know if I would like to go.
I told them that I didn't want to go. They said, "OK" and left.
After they left I went for a long walk and talked to the Lord about putting His will first in my life. I agreed to do so.
The following Sunday I didn't go to Church because of a hurricane that hit Houston. But the Sunday after that I again asked God where He wanted me to go to Church. He told me and I went.
This particular Church had a Singles group that had about 100 or so singles and they had just gotten a Singles Pastor. I liked the Church and decided to go there.
Our Singles Pastor was teaching us on why people have relationship problems. He said that barriers come up between people because of sin. He taught us what God's Word says that we should do about it.
I decided to put what he was sharing into practice.
Then circumstances led me to a point where I needed to deal with the unforgiveness I had towards my mother. Before I dealt with it, I recommitted my life to the Lord, and told God I would remain single all my life to serve Him.
God helped me to forgive my mom for the things I held against her. That brought healing to me. He set me free from many sins in my life and gave me the supernatural ability to love people as defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
Then on December 31, 1980 as the new year approached I made four prayer requests. I told the Lord that
1) I wanted to be a woman of prayer,
2) I wanted to grow in the knowledge and wisdom of the Lord,
3) I wanted to know what my spiritual gift was and to use it, and
4) I wanted to be a soul winner.
These four prayer requests thrust me into a walk with God that I had never known before. God was faithful to answer these prayer requests and He still is answering them.
In 1981 and since God has given me my own ministry. It has taken on many different forms.
For the first six months of 1981 God taught me why I did what I did. This was useful in my ministry to people that God brought into my life that were experiencing similar problems for I was able to relate to them and to share with them why they were having the problems they were having.
Starting in June 1981 God gave me on the job training in discipleship. He directed my steps. He had me meditate on the Word of God and gave me insights. He used those understandings as He had me share the gospel with people. He gave me a ministry to those of other faiths like Christian Scientists in particular, a few Jehovah Witnesses, and a few Mormons and a few Buddhists. I would share the gospel with those from other denominations and anyone I came across.
He had me minister the love of God to people at Church, at work, at the hospitals and on the street. Some were healed and at least one was saved.
On Wed nights we had fellowship time and a dinner before our prayer meeting. On Sept 17, 1986 when I bowed my head to give thanks for my meal God revealed my heart to me and my heart wanted to be a missionary. I told God in prayer that I wanted to be a missionary. That following Sunday, I made that public during invitation time.
Afterwards God had me leave the Church and to attend elsewhere.
God expanded my ministry. It incorporated what I had learned since 1981, and it made use of my skills in listening to people share their hurt. I shared the gospel with them and taught them some biblical truths when it was needed. I prayed for them, clothed them, fed them, and etc.
God gave me several different ministries. Even though I was not nor was I ever a drinker, God gave me a ministry to skid row bums and all their alcoholic friends.
The ministry I had to street people since 1981 was expanded to include feeding the homeless, and helping them according to their need, praying for them and, of course, sharing the gospel with them.
He gave me a ministry to those in nursing homes. I visited them frequently, listened to them tell me about their life, shared Christ with them, and prayed for them.
He allowed me to minister to the homosexuals that I worked with. I gave them the gospel, and prayed for them.
Then God had me teach the youth in my Church. I wrote their Sunday School book.
God directed my steps and gave me those ministries. He started them and ended them when the time came. Some were saved, some received healing, and miracles happened.
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