I Am Gateway – Terry & Shelley

We had known each other since high school, had married early and started our family at a very young age.  Naturally we struggled; finances, children, and our relationship were all difficult matters.  We were both lonely.  Our support group was limited at best.  We had very few friends, and we worked hard, went home and tried to stay afloat.  As we struggled, we grew apart and our marriage was in trouble.  One night, while driving to our hometown for a visit, we encountered a large snowstorm and slippery roads.  The car slid into the oncoming lane and once we recovered, Shelley prayed, “God, I don’t want to make any deals, just please help us get there safely and show me what’s true.”   Slowly, over the next year, we started looking for a church to attend, finding nothing that satisfied the longing we felt.

Meanwhile, Shelley’s Aunt who lived in Saratoga Springs at the time was praying; she was praying very specifically, “Lord, let some family members come here that are hungry and thirsty for You in their lives.”  Not long after she first prayed that prayer, we received notice that Terry had a job interview in the Saratoga Springs area, and that we needed to go out the very next day.  We headed out with hopes that this could be a change for the better; something to remove some of the stress and loneliness we were feeling.

We soon discovered that, for some reason, the interview was just a formality and the job was already established and waiting for us.  We hadn’t had any contact with Shelley’s Aunt and Uncle in years, but while Terry was at the interview, Shelley called them to see if they still lived in the area.

In a very short time, we were surprised when Shelley’s Uncle drove across the state to help us load our moving van and get our family relocated.  We had never known friendship like this, hardly even amongst our own family members.  At first we were very suspicious, wondering what they would want in exchange.

Within a week or two of relocating, we went with them to Gateway Pentecostal Church for the first time.  We were amazed at how sincerely the people worshipped, as if Jesus was right there in the room, not watching stoically from a distant place as we had always believed.  We both felt God’s love in that place; knew we had found what we had always dreamed of finding.  We had discovered that there was something to fill the voids in our hearts and to remove the loneliness and despair that we so often experienced.  We were home.

Now, 13 years later, we have never ceased to call Gateway our home, and its members our family.  We have laughed together, cried together, mourned and danced.  We can’t imagine our family anywhere else.  We’ve experienced healing in our marriage. Our children have grown up with their friends here, in a safe and nurturing environment.  We haven’t discovered perfection in humanity; rather we have discovered a people who have hid themselves in Jesus Christ, people who are willing to extend grace to each other when that imperfect humanity shows its face, and shed forth His love to each other and the people that God leads into their lives.  He has blessed our children and given us relationships with wonderful people we could have never imagined possible.  We’ve been married for 15 years, and we know that it is only because God healed our marriage.  There is so much to be thankful for, and Gateway Pentecostal Church has been instrumental in bringing it all to us.  We are looking forward to spending the rest of our lives together, in the service of God, and as a part of the Body of Christ.