Hi friends, my name is Angie.
I've been lurking here for a couple of months, just getting a feel for the community, and getting to know you all a little bit before deciding to join. I really like the wonderful feeling of family and true Christian non-judgementalism (is that a word?).
My user name comes from the fact that the woman at the well is
me Not literally, of course, (in case the Twilight Zone music just popped into your head!). I''ll give you a little bit of background and try to keep it short so I don't put you to sleep.
My so-called dad left Mom for another woman when my sister and I were in diapers. Mom met my stepdad and married him before actually getting to know him first. He was willing to marry a divorced woman with two babies and that's all it took (this was the very early '60's when divorce and being a single mother was a shame). He became a heavy drinker and was a very nasty person. He was a horrible bigot who hated everyone who was not a white Anglo-Saxon male. Our home was filled with pornography, alcohol, loaded guns, and the vulgar multi-syllable cuss words used 24/7. I was molested by a family member, and also by a neighbor of my aunt.
Needless to say, I was affected in a very negative way by all that. I do thank our Heavenly Father for protecting my young mind from the bigotry, though. All it did was confuse me because it didn't make a lick of sense!

I did however get into the alcohol, drugs, pornography, the bar scene, the occult (satanism/witchcraft), foul language, etc. I was raped when I was 18 by a man from a bar.
I got married when I was 19 years old (after living together out of wedlock) and even though it lasted 13 years, it was a love-less marriage with adultery involved on both our parts. I tried to turn to the Lord during that time, but I went about it all wrong and continued to live for the world. My husband divorced me, then about a year later we tried to reconcile and re-married, but it only lasted about six months.
I ended up back into the bar scene and basically just running wild and becoming more and more out of control. I met Tim and, of course, we started shacking up also. I had a couple of breakdowns that resulted in being admitted to the mental hospital (they were getting to know me quite well).
Tim and I had been living together for about 6 years when we both got fed up with the nonsense and started going to church. The pastor kept pushing us to get married, but said he could not bless our marriage or perform the ceremony because of my divorce. He basically was telling us that it was an unforgivable sin and that Tim would be an adulterer for marrying me (also unforgivable). We struggled and cried and prayed over what to do. We were finally at the point where we knew we just had to split up and go our seperate ways, that was our only choice.
I was sitting quietly one day (while Tim was at work), sadly thinking about the situation, when a voice that was so loud it was almost audible in the room said, "the woman at the well". I jumped and just kind of blinked thinking, "the woman at the well?". I heard it again, more insistantly, and without hesitation said, "OK, OK, Lord, the woman at the well!" I reached over and grabbed my Bible and turned to her story. I read it and could not believe my eyes! My Father in Heaven was talking directly to me through her. I just broke down and cried like a baby when I read (and re-read, and re-read, and re-read) the part where Y'shua tells her, "I who speak to you am HE".
I knew he was telling me, loud and clear, through that woman (who also had messed up many times with divorces and shacking up while waiting on Messiah, yet living for the world), "I AM HERE, stop just believing in Me and start LIVING for Me". I also knew that the pastor was wrong...My Lord would, and praise His Holy Name, DID forgive me and forgive us, and allowed us to turn our life 100% over to Him with a clean slate.
We were married within the week. The horrible mess that Y'shua (praise Him) delivered us from is long gone. We stood up out of that river water cleansed, and we claim the Blood that washed us clean! That was over 2 years ago, and even though we are still growing and learning, we know we're going to be ok now. We know that because He told us we are, He has showed us in several ways that we are, and we believe Him!
It's really nice to be here and I look forward to getting to know you all better and having fellowship with you. Have a wonderful day!
Your friend and sister in Y'shua,
Angie