I was born on August 4th, 1981 in San Angelo, Texas into a loving family. That is me on the right in the picture. Ok, so maybe we won't go that far back, yet in order for you to have a picture of my background I should start with family. My mother, Jane Elizabeth Booth, was the all star mom. She stayed at home and proved to be a wonderful cook and showed great hospitality with family and friends that entered our home often. My mom had a gift of coordinating things well. My father was faithful in providing for the family financially and was full of talent. I can remember going to various theatrical plays and sitting on the couch in my PJ's as he and his barbershop quartet called Texas Pride practiced around me with their pitch pipe. I remember the pride of having Gary Booth as my dad. My sister is five years older than me and had to put up with having a "tag along." I always looked up to her through admiring eyes. In the Spring of my 8th grade year, news that my parents were getting a divorce sprang forth like an ugly weed. Those were rough times, but the Lord has used every bit of that experience as a part of my testamony and a common ground with others. My dad remarried and through that marriage the Lord blessed me with more family to love on and now more neices and nephews than I had ever imagined.I was raised in a church that the Lord used to set important foundations in my life and I am thankful for the supportive church family he gave me that taught me to have a servant heart. The following testamony does not necessarily reflect the way I was raised, rather it was the condition of my heart. Church was what I did and in many ways it was a cultural thing for me. I sang "Amazing Grace" for years and yet never really realized how amazing God's grace truly is (Rom 5). I would have told you with great confidence that I was a "good person" and that was enough to merit salvation (Luke 18:19, Eph 2:3, Rom 3:23-24). I remember my cousin's girlfriend sitting on the couch and preaching the gospel to me as I rolled my eyes. My beliefs proved universal as I debated passionately that all religions were basically worshiping the same god (1 Corinthians 8:4-7). I argued that Fundamental Evangelicals (Baptist in particular) were judgemental, close minded, bible-thumping fools (John 14:6, in context Luke 6:37-49). The bible was a buffet line and I took what I wanted and the rest was irrelevant because it was written for the people of that time period and no longer applied to us today (2 Tim 3:14-17).
At this point in the story I was a 245 lb gal that was passionate and yet hurting in the world I lived in. I remember thoughts of suicide and searching for significance in all the wrong places. The Lord's common grace in my life blessed me with a supportive family, friends that I dearly loved and many adventures and yet the sin stricken world and my revolt against a holy God left me dissatisfied to say the least. And then college happened...To Be Continued...
Please read all Scripture references for further understanding of the aboves opposing view.
