Marybeth Steigenga, MA

Marybeth Steigenga

I sometimes think of my testimony as dull or boring.  I did not have a huge conversion experience when God became real and I surrendered to His control over my life. 

I was born and raised in a Christian home with two Christian parents who modeled for me a “Christ-like” life.  We had regular family devotions and prayers before meals and at bed time.  I would often walk in and find my mom on her knees praying by her bed when our family was going through a crisis.  My dad would sit in his chair at night and discuss the beliefs of our church.  Our family attended church twice every Sunday.  I went to Sunday school and participated in all of the programs our church had for children. 

God was always real to me; I always knew He was there.  I believed in God from the time I started remembering things.  The one thing that was lacking was a personal relationship with Him.  I prayed to Him and worshipped Him, but I did not understand the concept of giving up control of life to Him.  This is what always got me in trouble later in life. 

When I was seventeen years old, God became very real to me and I felt led to make public profession of my faith in front of my church, but I still did not give up control to Him.  That same year our family went through a crisis when we lost someone we loved in a car accident.  This was the first time I really had to rely on God and He did comfort me and give me peace. 
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I continued in my walk, but it consisted of merely attending church and having devotions and offering an occasional prayer.  God continued to bless me and keep me in His care.  He brought me a wonderful Christian mate to spend my life with.  My husband is true spiritual leader in our family and I am continually blessed by him.  God also, blessed me with three wonderful children to love and care for. 

I think God tried to get my attention over the years with various small problems and trials but I just wouldn’t listen.  I think He was trying to teach me obedience and submission to His plan for my life, but I continued to want to do things my way.  It wasn’t until God let me see what life without Him would be like that I finally learned my lesson.  I had stopped listening or looking for God.  I stopped worshipping Him and even accepting His presence in my life.  I went into a very deep depression.  I did not want to get out of bed.  I even considered ending my life just to stop the pain and fear. 

My husband knew something was wrong and so did my parents.  They contacted a pastoral counselor for me and got me the help I needed.  My counselor showed me how to reconnect with God, to submit to His authority over my life and to follow His plan.  It was through this experience that I felt called by God to go into counseling.  I want to be able to help women with the struggles they go through as wives, mothers and leaders in the community.  I want to show them how to rely and God and give Him the control over their lives so that they can live blessed and happy lives God’s way. 

So although I think my testimony may be dull or boring, you can see God’s steady hand in my life and how He worked in me to bring me closer to Him.  God is so good and I want to share that with others. 

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