“You see, at just the right time, when we were all still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
“But God”, HARRIET’S STORY-
A Testimony of Grace, Redemption, and the Faithfulness of God
As told by Harriet S. to Jennifer Coolidge
The Grace That Changed My Life-
My name is Harriet S. I was born on November 29, 1938, and I grew up in Cheektowaga, a suburb of Buffalo, New York. I have lived a long life, and when I look back over the years, I can see how God was working in circumstances I did not understand at the time. Some of the greatest blessings in my life came through experiences I never would have
chosen for myself. I have no formal theological education, nor am I a pastor. My greatest teacher has been the Holy Spirit. Through studying God’s Word and walking with Him, I have learned that He knows each of us intimately. He knows how to reach us, correct us, and lead us according to what we need. But before I came to know the Lord, my life was headed in a very different direction.
This is my testimony:
A Father’s Example- My father and his family came to America from Hungary, fleeing the growing troubles in Europe before World War II. His father was killed during their journey, but the surviving family members eventually made it to America.
My father later met my mother, who was Canadian, during his military service.
I was blessed with wonderful parents, especially a father whom I loved and respected deeply. My father had been Catholic but eventually became a Lutheran. He and my mother began attending a small church that initially met in a house. As the congregation grew, they built a church building, and my father became its part-time janitor. When I was about sixteen or seventeen years old, I began helping him clean and maintain the church.
I loved my father, and helping him was something I enjoyed. Over the years, I became familiar with every part of that building. Little did I know that the very church where I spent so much time helping my father would become the setting for one of the most important turning points of my life.
A Secret Life-
There is something about my past that I have sometimes been reluctant to share.
You see, I was a thief. I have been turned away from ministry opportunities because of my history, and that has made sharing my testimony difficult at times. But my past is part of the story of what God has done in my life. When I was young, I worked for Kay Volkswagen. Through my employment, I received training in opening locked vehicles. Mainly because our customers sometimes accidentally locked their keys inside their cars, and I learned how to help them regain access, professionally. Unfortunately, I eventually used some of the knowledge and skills I had acquired for dishonest purposes.
I had developed an interest in owning an airplane, and I began thinking about the money kept in the safe at my father’s church. Because I knew the building so well, I knew where the safe was located and when the church would likely be empty. I began secretly working to open it. It took considerable time and patience, but eventually I succeeded. For a while, no one knew what I was doing. I entered the church when I believed nobody would be around, took money, and left without being discovered. I thought I was getting away with it.
But I was wrong.
The Day I Was Caught-
One day, I made a mistake that changed everything. I normally parked my car away from the church so that no one would notice it. But on this particular day, I was in a hurry and parked nearby. Unbeknownst to me, someone was watching the safe from an attic space above the room. While I was inside, he observed what I was doing. When I realized someone was there, I quickly closed the safe, dropped the bag of money, and ran.
I hid outside among the bushes near the church. After waiting for a while, I removed my coat and glasses, hoping to change my appearance enough to avoid being recognized.
I eventually made my way back to my car and drove away. I thought I had escaped.
What I did not know was that the authorities had already identified my vehicle and had evidence connecting me to the theft. I drove to Kay Volkswagen, where I left my car among the many other vehicles at the business. I remained there for a couple of hours before finally returning home.
The police had already been looking for me. When I arrived home, I was arrested and taken to jail. I was facing the possibility of being sent to Attica Prison, a maximum-security prison in New York. My life was about to change, but not in the way I expected.
An Unexpected Encounter With God’s Word-
Just a few days before my arrest, I had attended an Assembly of God church. I had gone simply because I was curious about what the church was like. During the service, the subject of the Antichrist came up. I had never heard anyone teach about the Antichrist
before, and the experience unsettled me. Some of the things I had witnessed during the service were unfamiliar to me, and I didn’t understand them. I was so uncomfortable that I asked my spouse not to return. But, after I was arrested, I could not stop thinking about what I had heard. So, while I was sitting in jail, I asked one of the officers about the Antichrist. He told me that it was mentioned in the Bible and I was surprised. With all my exposure to church over the years, how could I not have heard this before? God used that curiosity to move me to read His word for myself so that I could understand what it said. What had initially frightened me, now became the very thing that drew me towards Him. I did not realize it then, but God was already working in my heart.
Mercy Instead of Prison- My Mother found a lawyer to represent me, and he met with the Pastor and the Church board to discuss what had happened and to see if an agreement could be reached concerning me and the charges.
Because my parents were faithful members of the Church, the leadership did not want my actions to bring embarrassment or hardship on them. They agreed that I should repay the money I had stolen back to them along with an additional amount to cover their other losses. I recall the amount being approximately $3, 000. And, in exchange for the reimbursement, the church agreed not to pursue the matter further.
I was released from jail and did not have to serve the prison sentence I had feared, after all. Only the Pastor and Church board knew the full extent of the circumstances and what I had done. To me, I knew it was nothing short of a miracle. I had been facing the possibility of spending years in prison, and yet I was given another chance, an opportunity to live my life differently. I had brought shame on myself through my actions, but the people I had wronged extended mercy instead of judgement. I loved my parents dearly, and the thought of embarrassing them had weighed heavily on me. Now I had been given a second chance, and I did not want to waste it.
Seven Weeks That Changed Everything-
After my release, I continued reading the Bible and began attending an Assembly of God church. The more I studied, the more I began to understand. About seven weeks after my arrest, I gave my life to Jesus Christ. I was baptized approximately five or six months later.
My life began to change. I remained involved in the church for about three years, attending services, participating in Sunday school, and studying the Scriptures.
The people around me began noticing the difference. They saw that I was growing in my relationship with the Lord. I was reading the Bible regularly, learning from it, and developing an understanding of things I had never known before. I had been a thief, but now I wanted to know God’s Word. I had once used my knowledge and abilities for dishonest purposes, but now I wanted my life to be useful to the Lord. The mercy I had received was not something I wanted to take for granted. And God was not finished with my story.
Approximately two years after I became a Christian, I walked through the gates of Attica Prison. But this time, I was not entering as an inmate. I was going there to share the Gospel. The very prison where I might have spent years of my life became a place where I could tell others about Jesus Christ. I remember the security procedures. A guard accompanied me through several locked gates, each requiring special access before I could reach the area where I would meet with the prisoners. Attica was a maximum-security facility, and I was reminded of the seriousness of that place with every gate I passed through. I was reminded that I could have been one of the people on the other side of those bars. Instead, I was there to tell them about the grace of God. I continued visiting and sharing with prisoners for approximately two years. I never forgot what the Lord did for me. I had once faced the possibility of entering that prison because of my own wrongdoing. Now I was walking into it voluntarily, carrying the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. What a difference God’s mercy had made in my life.
My life has not been without heartbreak. I experienced a divorce that was deeply painful, and for a long time afterward, I did not pursue another serious relationship. Eventually, I met someone who had three children. We formed a family together and went on to have four children of our own. We also opened our home to children through foster care and adoption. Altogether, we raised ten children, including three who were adopted. For a time, we participated in a foster care program in which we regularly welcomed babies into our home while they awaited permanent placement. We would care for one baby for several months and then welcome another. Those children were precious to us. I often got up during the night to care for the babies, admiring what God was doing for them through me, it left me in awe. We loved those children, even though we knew many would eventually leave our home. Because of the rules governing foster care, we generally were not permitted to maintain contact with the children after they were placed with their permanent families unless their new parents invited us to do so. It was difficult to say goodbye, but we were grateful for the opportunity to care for them during the time they were with us. Our family also experienced the heartbreaking loss of one of our adopted sons, who died at the age of fourteen. Even with the sorrow we have known, I remain thankful for the family God has given me. Today, my children live in different parts of the country, including New York, Texas, and South Carolina. I have more than thirty grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. Although distance has made it difficult to remain in close contact with every member of my extended family, my children remain very dear to me. I have been blessed with a large family, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a parent to so many children.
As I have grown older, I have continued to see God’s faithfulness through circumstances that initially appeared to be nothing but trouble. One morning, I woke up and discovered that I could not straighten my legs properly. I began receiving treatment, but my condition did not improve as I had hoped. Eventually, I moved into a care facility.
One day, while hurrying to get to church, I lost control of my walker and fell.
I broke my hip in three places. It was a terrible injury, and I had to be taken to the hospital for surgery. During the operation, the doctor discovered something that I had not known was happening inside my body. I had serious infections affecting both of my knees and both of my hips. Afterward, the doctor explained that if the infections had continued untreated for another couple of months, I might have suffered permanent damage that could have prevented me from walking again. I had no idea those infections were there.
What initially seemed like a terrible misfortune had become the means through which another danger was brought to light. I thought about a pastor I knew named Joe, who had experienced a serious infection in his leg. His condition had progressed, and he eventually had to undergo an amputation below the knee. His experience had shown me how serious an untreated infection could become. When I considered what had happened to me, I realized that the discovery of my infections was a blessing. I would never have chosen to fall and break my hip, but through that painful experience, the doctors found something that might otherwise have gone unnoticed until it was too late. Once again, I could see how God had worked through an unexpected circumstance in my life.
When I think about my life, I see a pattern. As a young person, I was arrested for stealing from the very church where my father faithfully served. I thought my future was ruined.
Yet that experience led me to examine my life, read the Bible, and eventually surrender my heart to Jesus Christ. The prison I once feared became a place where I could share the Gospel with others. Years later, a terrible fall led to the discovery of infections that threatened my ability to walk. Through these experiences, I have learned that God can use circumstances in our lives to correct us, teach us, and to bless us. Sometimes His discipline is the very thing that brings us back to Him. Sometimes what appears to be a terrible setback becomes the beginning of an unexpected blessing. I do not claim to understand everything God does or why certain things happen. But I know what He has done in
my life. I know the mercy I received when I deserved punishment. I know the difference Jesus Christ made in my heart. And I know that the Holy Spirit has continued teaching me throughout the years. At eighty-seven years old, I am still learning. I have no formal theological education. My greatest teacher has been the Holy Spirit, and my life has been my
classroom.
I was facing prison.
But God.
The Lord gave me an opportunity to walk a different path, and I have spent the years since then learning to follow Him. One day at a time, with Jesus, is a very sweet life. I am grateful for the mercy He showed me then, and I am grateful for the ways He continues to work in my life today. My story is not about what I managed to escape, it is about the grace of God that met me when I needed Him the most.
Harriet’s testimony reminds us that the Lord does not wait for us to have everything right before He begins working in our lives. His mercy meets us where we are, and His grace invites us to follow Him into a new life. In the book of Lamentations 3:21-25 God says; “This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us…” – Ephesians 2:4
(*If this story has met you where you are and moved you, drawing you closer to God, and you think you might like to share that with us, please email your comment to jenepheri.cool@gmail.com and we will consider posting that for others to be encouraged. Also, if you have a testimonial or story you would like to share on Woman to Woman, please feel free to submit that as well. We LOVE hearing from YOU!) –Mrs Jen
