Chris and Jacquelyn Blumenstock's Testimonies

Jacquelyn Blumenstock's Testimony

My name is Jacquelyn Blumenstock and I am 31 years old. I have been attending Second Baptist Church since I was 7 years old. The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful husband and three beautiful children.

I was saved when I was 9 years old. I remember struggling during the invitation scared that someone would make fun of me, but felt the tug to go. This went on a couple of Sundays, the Lord tugging at my heart to accept him. Finally one Sunday I could not take it anymore and went down during the invitation and asked Jesus into my heart. I was so full after that. I have never felt alone since then. I really didn’t have a big change in my life at that time. I mean, what do you do horribly wrong when you are 9 years old.

As I got older, I wasn’t a bad kid. I attended church camps and youth functions. As I got into high school I went through a small period of time that I am not proud of. I was searching for something in my life, at the time I did not know what that something was. My rebellion did not last long because it did not bring me joy.

When I was 17 years old, I met this country boy. He actually went to church on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights and also on Wednesdays, who does that? He really slowed me down. God brought me into the lives of a healthy family. I did not know what that was until then. Disfunction, that is all I knew. It was actually suffocating at first, but I grew to love it, even if I did not want to admit it.

Well I married that country boy and we had been attending his church for three years, but I talked him into coming back to my church home at Second Baptist. I finally felt like I was back home again.

A couple of years after we got married God began to tug at my heart again. I was so confused wondering if I was even saved. We had attended a revival at a church in Herrin with some other family members and I remember that my husband and I were suppose to be the good church goers, the ones the other members were suppose to see as an example. Little did I know that God was going to break my heart that night and tell me that I have not been living my life for him, so needless to say, from that point on, I made a commitment to my Lord to change and live my life for him.

After that time I had two children only 19 months apart and could not get by on my own. I began to cry out to God for help and began to seek him more than I ever had. I would go for walks with my girls in the stroller and talk to him the whole time, 45 minutes sometimes rather than listen to music. I began studying the bible and began a bible study that my church was hosting called, Beloved Disciple by Beth Moore. I fell in love with the Lord through that bible study and have clung to him ever since.

I think of myself as a child hanging onto the leg of her daddy. That is how I am with my God. I hang onto to him and he leads me in the paths that he chooses for me. I cannot and will not stop singing praises about my God. Though I did not know what I was looking for during my teens and my early adulthood, I know now that I was truly searching for the one true joy in my life. I was surrounded with blessings but still empty because I had not allowed my God to be the first and number one joy in my life. I know that now and I cling to him because with that joy brings fullness in my family as well.

Thank you for the opportunity to ramble on, but I hope that this will help you come to meet the one true joy, Jesus Christ.

Jacquelyn Blumenstock


Chris Blumenstock's Testimony

Hello,

My name is Chris Blumenstock. I have been a member of Second Baptist Church in Marion, IL. now for 11 years. I am 31 years old and have been married 11 years. I have been blessed with a great wife and 3 wonderful children.

I would like to share with you just one of the many wonderful blessings I have been given by my Savior Jesus Christ, the blessing of my church family. I cannot put into words the help and love they have shown me over the years. I was hesitant at first going to Second Baptist because it was too big for me and I would not matter. I just knew that one more face in the crowd would not matter to anyone, I could not have been any more wrong. I have been welcomed and loved several times over since that day.

One way in which my church family loved me was to challenge me to become active in Christian service. I had never realized that I had been content to sit by and watch others do the work of the church. They also have been helpful in assisting me with discovering the talents and gifts God has given me to help me accomplish that work.

I have gained relationships through the church that are as dear to me as my own family. Another one of the blessings from God is people who you can share laughter, joy, hurt, sadness and all that life can throw at us. I know that my God loves me and one of the many ways I see that everyday is through my church family.

You may have read other comments on this site that have mentioned our upcoming revival services. I hope that people who read our stories are touched and may consider attending one or all of these services. Also, I hope that anyone who is searching for a church home and does not have one would come and visit us so that we can do for you what has been done for me by this congregation. Most importantly, it is my hope and prayer that if you are reading this and you do not know Jesus Christ, or have never experienced the love of our Savior that you would come and give us an opportunity to share Christ with you.

Thank you.
Chris Blumenstock