| Testimonies |
| I was raised in church as a child and teenager and I knew OF the Lord. There were a couple of times when I thought I had a "spiritual" experience, but as I have grown in the Lord, I know that I did not really KNOW God back then. When I became old enough to be "on my own", I decided I did not really have time for God or anything associated with Him. As I aged through the years, I went to church off and on. Then in November 1990, I went to the altar and said the "salvation" prayer. I did not really have any spiritual guidance, and I thought, "I have said the prayer, now I'm going to Heaven", and I thought I was O.K. Guess what!!! There is so much more to it! I had gone through about seven years of a really tough time, and while all this time I thought I was saved, I did not know that I needed to trust God for EVERYTHING in my life, even the problems that I was going |
| Anita Crittenden |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| Eternally Redeemed Ministries |
| through during that time. I did not know that I needed to make Jesus the Lord of my life, not just my Saviour. So, I tried to "fix" everything myself. In the position I had at work, I dealt with a lot of money on a daily basis. One day after our landlord called for the umpteenth time to let me know we either had to pay up on the rent or we would be evicted, Satan perched himself up on my shoulder and told me all I had to do was take enough money to pay the rent and I could always put it back next week. Now, I was a Christian (or at least I thought I was because I had said "the prayer"), and I knew it was not the right thing to do, but it was a solution to my problem and I took the bait. Well, of course, the next week we did not have the money to pay it back, plus the electric was going to be cut off, so I took money to pay that bill. After behaving this way for about two months, taking the money became an addiction, just like alcohol, drugs, or tobacco, and I continued for about a year and a half. While I knew it was wrong, I could not stop. We finally moved to Georgia with the owner of the company never knowing what I had done, but I had to continue living with what I had done. Because of my background growing up in church and what little I did know about the Lord, I was living with conviction about my crime and knew I could not continue on without making amends. The first thing I did was ask the Lord to forgive me, but that was not enough. I had to turn myself in to the authorities. I knew there was a chance I would lose everything, and I did. I received a 12-year jail sentence, suspended after 1 year at Silverdale Workhouse, and 25 years probation. I lost my husband, custody of my youngest child, the respect of my oldest child, my home, my job...everything that I thought at that time was important. During my time at Silverdale, I had a lot of time to get to really know the Lord. I now know that I have to let him be Lord of my life and trust him for everything, not just my salvation. But God allows everything to happen for a reason. I have re-dedicated my life to God, and I am able to use my experience to talk to others who have committed crimes and feel they cannot be forgiven or that their life cannot change; where others may not be able to reach them, maybe I can. God has restored me back to even better than where I was before. I have a wonderful husband, Jim, of eight years, a beautiful home, and a great job. I still do not have custody of my youngest daughter, but I have regained the respect of both girls and have a great relationship with them. But most of all, I have an almighty God whom, through His mercy and grace, has brought me through, delivered me, and set me free, and I want to spend the rest of my life here on earth singing His praises and leading others to get to know Him as their personal Saviour. |