SUZANNE AND MICHAEL’S BOOKS

INSPIRED BY … – by Suzanne Newman and Michael Grgich

About The Authors – Personal Testimonies – from the book   Suzanne Newman To be honest, I’m not sure where to start with this! Do I include my life’s history, details of childhood etc.? I do have to be aware of family members who will read this and don’t really feel the need to let the entire world know every single thing about me. So, all that being said, I plan to keep this fairly brief! I was brought up in a household where God wasn’t really talked about, although we did celebrate Christmas. The Lord’s name was regularly used as a swear-word and on the rare occasion prayer was mentioned, I was given the impression that it was to ask for something—a bit like a Christmas list for Santa! My Grandad was an atheist most of his life, but my Nan was a believer and went to chapel every Sunday. She was a private lady and never really discussed her faith with me. I didn’t go to school with anyone who had a strong religious conviction and didn’t know any neighbours that went to church/synagogue/mosque etc. Due to all this, serious thoughts of God never really entered my head until I was in my late-teens, but looking back I always felt He was there—I never thought He DIDN’T exist, I just didn’t think much about His existence, or what His role was and what He meant to my life personally. When I was 18 years old, I suddenly felt like there was a huge hole inside of me. I didn’t know what it could be, but quickly worked-out that it was a Spiritual need of some sort. I spent the next 18 months speaking to work colleagues and anyone else I could about their religious beliefs, in order to find the “right” religion for me to commit to. But, to my confusion and panic, I soon discovered that none of them felt right! Then, a new lady started work at our place and she explained to me that she was a “born-again Christian”. She told me what that meant and precisely what she believed in. Everything suddenly clicked into place inside of me and I knew without a single doubt that this was what I had been searching for, or rather, what God had been calling me to and I just hadn’t realized! To me, this wasn’t a “religion” as such, but rather a way of life, led by a belief in the triune God and being saved through trust and faith in The Lord Jesus Christ as Messiah. This lady and her husband spent many evenings talking with me about their beliefs, answering my questions etc. Then one evening, a group of us had gone out for a meal and it ended up with me back at her house at 3a.m., kneeling on the floor in tears of repentance and happiness as I professed my faith in Jesus Christ in prayer and asked Him to come into my life. I didn’t think He would, because why would he want ME? But to my amazement, relief and sheer joy He graciously accepted my contrite heart and sent The Holy Spirit to wash over me like a warm flood from top to toe! I left my friend’s house at 6a.m. a grateful and changed person—clean, re-born, renewed, indestructible, no longer part of or afraid of this mortal world, and filled with the joy that can only come from knowing you are saved by The Lord. I wanted to shout it from the roof tops and tell the world how great God is . . . . .  .and I still do!   Michael Grgich I was, well, I’ve always said it, a HEATHEN straight up and celebrated! I lied, stole, spat and laughed in the name of Christ, He was a joke to me, a myth, and all these stupid people were running around praising this “Jesus”, pathetic and laughable, (I thought). I was God to me, no other controlled or touched me, and would argue with all my strength that truth. My morals were there, I mean I didn’t go outta my way to treat people badly or anything, but I was also selfishly headstrong with a “Mike first” attitude. I have done ALOT of things I won’t detail and am far from proud of, things that have not only been wrong but also hurt a great many people. And to prove my Heathen faith at the times of the events, I didn’t care—didn’t care who got in the way, or who got hurt . . . friends, family, I just didn’t feel remorse at all. Again, I was God of my world and God was pleased! Over time as one would expect, my religious structure (or lack there of it) broke down—Surprise right?! Every aspect of my life, my job, my house, my kids, my health, my relationship, LITERALLY EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR BEGAN RAPIDLY DECAYING. Anger, Fear, depression, misery, emptiness, confusion, hopeless, are a few of the adjectives I would use to describe my emotional state. So, what do you do? Well, I picked up a gun . . . fingered it, hugged it, stared at it, thought of my partner, the kids, dad, sis, etc, etc . . . Then phone rang. I looked down and see its Rick Stockman, a childhood BFF of mine I have not seen since I was 10 years old and who I’d talked to maybe two times in 38+ years! He told me he just wanted to see how I was doing, he felt he should call. Oh, did I mention, also, Rick just happens to be a pastor? And that night he introduced me to someone that from that night forward I knew would change my life . . . Enter Jesus Christ . . . Thank you Savior for allowing me back into your Grace, I will forever live for you, because you lived and died for me! That night I dumped on Rick and he posted and took it like a champ, but what really moved me (aside from a random 12am phone call from a childhood BFF pastor as I’m loving on a gun), was that as I dumped a trial on him, he quoted me right back a scripture verse that eased the pain, over and over he did this, until I set the gun down, and hung up to go to sleep . . . Rick never knew I was holding the gun. The next month or so was confession for me, after “the event” and after speaking with Rick I knew there was more to this, a deeper touch, and I felt what I can only describe as a warming, deep in my heart, a calm, a comfort. I found myself craving it more, like a drug, but after a life opposing Him, I didn’t know how to find Him. So I teased it gently out there that I might be interested in maybe, perhaps, kinda learning a tiny shred about Him . . . Enter Tambria Roth Carter and Randy Carter . . . Tami (Tambria) was the victim of a pretty horrific home improvement accident and had the misfortune of being a tenant at our Hospital for quite a long time and through our working relationship we became Facebook friends. This was the way Tami approached me (on Facebook) asking me to attend church with her and Randy. After several excuses from me why I couldn’t, and (thank God) their persistence, and care for my soul . . . I agreed! That first service . . . I met HIM. Emotions and feeling swelled in me I have never seen and did not know existed . . . I felt the entire time that the church was empty and the pastor was speaking directly and only to me and I understood the message! That night I took home my complimentary Bible and started the Bible in 40 days beginner readings. I read it in 10 days and craved more. In my life outside of Christ’s book I saw change, not so much with the actual trials I was dealing with, however, in my acceptance of things, how I dealt with things, reacted to things, viewed things, all calmed. It changed from anger to patience, and my view of ALL others where once was dark and dismal hatred, now was a warm glowing love. Not only could I see this change in myself, but others close to me saw it as well. Jesus had touched me, I felt His love, how could I turn back now? AND NOW . . . Needless to say I’m still attending the same Church to this day. My poetry has swung dramatically from dark, desolate, and evil, to almost completely God based, with better messages of faith, hope, and love. I was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ on April 29th 2018. In the future, I intend to walk with Christ, constantly striving to be the best man I can to His pride. I vow to love the world and all in it and to treat it as such . . . with love. Most of all, I look forward to continuing to learn and bond with the Scriptures, God, Christ, and The Holy Spirit, and share what I discover in hopes of helping another such as myself to find Grace in Jesus Christ. AMEN. THESE BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE AT AMAZON AS WELL AS MAJOR RETAILERS WORLDWIDE

KINDRED SPIRITS … by Suzanne Newman and Michael Grgich