Stories - Krista Soares

I was sick a lot as a young toddler and at times I was so sick my parents were afraid that I wouldn’t make it. One night as my mom sat up holding me upright so I could sleep she prayed.  She recommitted her life to God and promised Him that if He spared my life she would raise me to serve Him.

From that moment on she made sure my sisters and I were raised in church and were active in whatever church we were attending. Mom stayed true to her promise and I grew up learning about God and His Word and seeing my parents trust God for everything including a healing from rheumatoid arthritis for my mom. As a result of their obedience and living for, I knew at a very young age what it meant to be a Christian and that I wanted to give my life to the Lord. I did so when I was five years old.
Between the ages of 10 and 11 years old I was diagnosed with both Epilepsy and Scoliosis. Thanks to the foundation that had been laid by my parents and our church families over the years, I knew to lean on God to get me through it all. If it wasn’t for the strength He gave me I don’t know how I would have been able to handle all of the tests, doctors appointments, teasing from kids and adults, and even the seizures themselves, but He brought me through.
As a young adult, in my late teens, I did walk away from the church for a short time after my parents divorced, but I never lost my faith in God. At the time I felt abandoned by our Pastor when he turned his back on my father and myself during that time, but even then I knew God had His hands on my life. I met my husband, who had also been raised in church and had drifted away, and we began going to church together and rededicated our lives to the Lord.
Since rededicating our lives to the Lord and committing to raising our children in the church, we have seen God work in our lives time and time again. When our oldest child was born and had to been in NICU for a week receiving IV antibiotics God healed him within 24 hours. Then four weeks after he was born I lost my job and God provided the resources we needed to pay the bills and feed our young family. When Tony lost his job of 16 1/2 years, God made a way for us to move back home to GA and still provided enough side work for Tony to get us through until he found another job. Shortly after moving back to GA we began looking for a new church home. After trying a lot of other churches, and much urging from my mother, we finally tried Journey and knew we had found our new church home. We all immediately felt at home here and have been touched by so many of the Partners and staff over the years that we have been here.