Lisa Byrd

 

My name is Lisa Byrd. I’m a 50+ woman who has a husband, a child, a step child, in-laws, outlaws, and grandchildren. Basically, I’m just like you. I have lived the majority of my life believing I was a Christian without ever really knowing what that meant. I wasn’t raised in the church. I was raised in a family who believed in God, thought we knew who Jesus was, and assumed we’d all go to heaven because we believed he died for us on the cross. I was somewhere around 40 before I realized God was trying to get my attention. Probably to show me how far off I was from the truth or a relationship with Him.

I have a long, convoluted story, as most of us do. What it comes down to is this, once I hit the bottom of my pit, there was only one way to look; that was up, to my salvation and my rock. I went through years of self condemnation for the life I had led; for the wrongs I had done to my family, my only child, my husband.

Fortunately, for me, I followed my daughter to Crosspoint Church. I started to meet some women who were genuinely caring and way less judgmental of me than I was. They showed me that even though I’m not perfect, I can still love the Lord and he can still love me.

So, I began a journey to know him on an intimate level. It has been a real rollercoaster of a ride. Typically, because he leads and I argue, justify, and whine. I’m not the fastest learner in the world, so some lessons take a while to sink in. Other lessons get repeated because I, apparently, slept through class that day. But God gave me His word to stand on. Romans 8:1 tells us “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..” Believe me when I tell you, I stand on this particular word everyday, all day long.

Beating myself up was a way of life for me. That’s no longer true. I now recognize that I’m redeemed. And NO ONE can take that from me.

So, now my journey has become about other areas of my walk that need attention. One of them being that I’m unequally yoked. I just celebrated my 30^th anniversary with my husband. It’s hard to walk your faith without your spouse being a part of it. God calls women like me to be 1 Peter 3:1 wives. “Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,…” I can honestly tell you, this may be harder than any area I’ve looked at so far. I am soooooo not good at being a 1 Peter 3:1 wife. I’m praying that God will give me the desire to become a silent witness who truly lives her faith on a daily basis. I’m also praying for his help to create a support group for those of us in this situation. So, stay tuned for more details on that.

I would like to take this opportunity to say “Thank you!” to the women of Crosspoint. I’ve never had women pour into my life like these I’ve met here. You are all awesome and such good examples of how to be Christ to those around you. I hope I can be just like you when I grow up...