TESTIMONY OF WENDY JEAN SWANSON of the LORD JESUS CHRIST IN MY LIFE
I have known since I was a very young girl, probably 5 or 6 years old that the Lord had a special place in my life. I was
very aware of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, because my mother taught me to love Jesus since birth. I was baptized as an
infant into the Roman Catholic Faith, the faith of my parents, grandparents, great & greater still greater grandparents
on both sides of my family. (As a matter of interest my mother was able to trace our familys 350-year Canadian ancestry past
the 1600s back into France and England due to the very fact of our being Catholics and having Church records dating that far
back..) So you could say it was inborn or ingrained in me to believe in the Holy Trinity and have a very close and loving
relationship with Almighty God our Father, and Jesus Christ His Son. As I grew and matured in Christianity I also came to
know personally his Holy Spirit. At my Confirmation as a young teenager I was very aware of the gifts I would receive when
the Spirit of God entered my life, when the bishop would lay hands on me and pray a blessing for the Holy Spirit to be with
me, guide me on my Christian Journey: and He did and I listened to Him for many years. I attended Catholic schools. I went
to Church regularly; in fact more than most. In the seventies when I attended high school there was something of a great Christian
Revival in the Catholic Church - sort of wed better keep up with the times or we would lose our young people kind of thing.
So we got to bring our guitars to Mass, and sing and praise God using some of the popular songs of the day to share with others.
We even got to share a few songs from the radio and rock stars too! We had a lot of fun in Church those days and I never missed
mass or holy days or Fridays at church. I even attended youth camps in other denominations and always had fun! However I never
got caught up in Glory! (And I dont mean to die.)
At the age of 20 or so, I turned my back on church, religion and the persistent voice of the Holy Spirit, who never stopped
His words from entering my mind no matter how stubborn I had decided to become. Why? I honestly now do not know. At the time
I am sure I could have given you a great anti-religious argument, but now its strange. I really dont remember what my arguments
were then. Although I do remember how badly I felt making those arguments I knew deep in my heart they were not true. But
what happened to change me and turn me back to the person I used to be? A devastating relapse of Multiple Sclerosis and a
song! An illness and a simple song is all that it took to change me back after twenty-five years of being without the fulfillment
of being with God, talking with Him, walking with Him and listening to Him like I havent done since I was a child. Thank God
for that song and the man who wrote it with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Wayne Watson "For Such A Time As This".
Talk about getting caught up in Glory! Gods love just comes pouring out of this mans writings and singing and he is a great
inspiration for such a time as this. People are finding meaning in their lives again from hearing his songs on the radio and
being profoundly touched by Jesus through Waynes songs! Im sure glad I was, and Im glad I listened!
When I watched TV on Sunday evenings I never missed "Touched By An Angel" (the best show on TV) and it was here I first
heard the song "For Such A Time As This" on the episode about slavery in the Sudan; but at that time I did not hear the message.
A few months later I ordered the "Touched By An Angel Christmas CD" and when it came I played it, enjoyed it thoroughly and
started downloading it onto my computer. While reading the case I thought, "I wonder if they have a website" and found it.
Surfing through TBAA website I found the episode that "For Such A Time As This" came from and then I remembered. Ah-ha I thought,
now I know why this song sounded so familiar!
I could not stop playing this song and listening to the words and trying to find out more about Wayne Watson. I was right
on the verge when tragedy struck me once again.
On December 20, 2000 my bladder stopped receiving signals from my nerves due to damage to the myelin sheath caused by Multiple
Sclerosis, and I became incontinent and devastated. You see I had been praying since my diagnosis in 1998 asking God to use
my disease for His Glory not for my deeds. I also prayed not to become incontinent. I had been blind, deaf, unbalanced, sore,
burning pins & needles. So tired that I couldnt see straight with blurred vision. So weak I could not lift a bag of potatoes.
Unable to work long, and I was hardly able to walk. But my bladder still worked. I wondered at every checkup why they kept
asking me about bladder and bowel trouble? I would always answer, "No problems." Then my cousin called and she told me she
was incontinent. (She had been diagnosed with MS 6 weeks after me and we are the same age.) I started praying "Lord whatever
you do to me Please do not make me incontinent please Lord dont I couldnt take it, Lord I am too young... Please Lord whatever
you do; please!" But the Lord was stubbornHe wouldnt listen to me!
I learned I would have to take medications for the incontinence, which meant I could no longer drink alcohol (Thank God
For That), which meant the way I used to handle my problems was no longer a viable alternative for me. I got through Christmas
and New Years dryer than a festered fart, as my husband and his brother would say, but I did all right I guess. I was in so
much pain from my bladder I didnt really care if I had a drink of anything or not. The pills I take make me so dry my hands
are scratchy, my feet are scaly and my throat is parched. I am dryer than the Sahara Desert all the time and must constantly
have a bottle of water with me. I guess its true when youre in the desert theres no water but when youre on the sea you cant
drink either. Theres no happy medium.
Do you think through all of this I was thinking of anything to do with God, His Son or His Holy Spirit? Youre right, not
too much, however I had an inkling! So about the end of January we again thought we had everything under control with the
medications, no drinking, some religion, but again we were wrong. . . and devastated.
On February 1, 2001 I awoke out of my sleep in my normal searing pain from bladder, feet, head, arms but I could not feel
my leg! In fact I could not feel anything from my chest on down. Lying in my bed I was struck by how quiet it was. How odd
I thought on first awakening - this is pretty weird! I had just exclaimed to my husband and his friend not three nights before
when we were whining about something insignificant: "How would you like to be me and never know when you will wake up one
morning paralyzed"? I probably went to bed that night and prayed to God not to let me become paralyzed too! But He was stubborn
and He didnt listen to me!
Being flat out on your back sure gives you a great perspective on ceilings! But seriously, if God had not put me there
I would never have come as far as I have in my journey back to Him. It was the BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME!
At the time I was laid so low that the only thing I could do was ask Him to help me "Lord help me with my pain Please Lord,
Lord its only you and I here. Can you please help me have a bowel movement. Lord I need you to listen to me, please help me.
Lord Im scared. Am I going to die? Lord I dont want to be alone, please stay with me."
And the Lord answered, "Have I ever left you or forsaken youI was always with you, I never left."
"No Lord you never left me, I left you and Im so sorry please forgive me."
"You are already forgiven You are my child and I am your God. I love you and want you to be blessed and prosper and have
good health".
"Yes Lord but you have already blessed me with a loving family, a good husband, two beautiful and good daughters and a
blessing from Gods own heaven; our granddaughter Meridyan, and you have already given me over 30 years of good health. I can
be satisfied with that."
"You have no idea what blessings are just wait and see", He said with a chuckle. And I have seen blessings that I had no
idea were coming!