When I said I gave out my testimony, this was it.This is what I gave to Michael in A True Story. I wrote this in January 2000. Of course, every year I change the ages and years married at the beginning and now we have pictures too!:

My name is Susan Story. My husband Bob and I have 5 children: Sarah (Mar 87) , Teddy (June 90), Ian (Sept 93), Claire (July 96) and Lydia (Jan 01).

I was born in the San Fernando Valley Ca., the youngest in a family of 7. We went to a Presbyterian Church where my parents were active members. My brothers and sister didn't continue to attend when they grew up. Particularly my older brothers smoked and drank and got into trouble. Seeing this as a young child caused me to desire a different route for my life. I thought I was a Christian; After all I went to Church and I believed in Jesus.

In 1978 my parents began having marital trouble. My father was in Raleigh, N.C. for a while and was considering getting a divorce. But thankfully they got back together and my dad put in for a transfer. It ended up being Boca Raton, Fla. Little did I know (but God did) my husband to be's family (his father worked for I.B.M. also) was transferred from New York to Boca in 1978. So in March 1979, when I was 12, my mom and dad and my youngest brother, moved in next door to the Storys in Boca Raton.

In Boca, my parents began going to Spanish River Presbyterian Church. This is a daughter Church of Dr. James Kennedy's Church in Ft Lauderdale. This is where I began to learn about Christ. I began going to Sunday School and a friend there invited me to the youth group. They had none of this at my old church.

In high school, I was in Marching Band and Color Guard and tried at playing the dating games I saw others doing around me. I wish now that I hadn't wasted my time. My future husband was living right next door to me (though temporarily away at U of F). My parents went through another tough time while I was in high school and I became very angry with my father. My husband's family life had been even more dysfunctional having an alcoholic father.

When I was a senior in high school, I became friends with someone in the World Wide Church of God or Armstrongism. This church has changed since 1984 and is no longer classified as a cult . At that time however, they taught that you should follow all the Levitical Law in the Old Testament. So Leigh and I would talk a lot about God and the Bible and how her church's beliefs were different from my church's. In my senior sayings that year I put "Loves Jesus....Christians aren't perfect....Just forgiven.". Also in my tumultuous senior year I began dating (and breaking up with) my future husband, Bob (he had run out of money for U.F. and began going to college locally). You may be surprised to hear me say I wish I hadn't dated even him at that time in my life. We constantly struggled with going too far and my grades suffered. I highly recommend that teenage Christians read at least one or both of these books: "Passion and Purity" by Elisabeth Elliot and "I Kissed Dating Good-bye" by Joshua Harris. But these experiences did make me realize I was a sinner and I surrendered my life to Christ and was "born again" (John Ch.3). I still got involved in my friend's church for a short while until God showed me it was wrong (I didn't learn it was a cult until later).

In December 1984, my family was going to move again this time it was Austin, TX. Bob and I had gotten back together but my dad wasn't too happy about it (it was one of his reasons for deciding to move). I was 18 but I didn't have enough money to be on my own so I went to Austin for 5 months and lived with my parents and worked to save up enough money to go back to Boca. Our separation was good in a way, it kept us out of trouble and helped us re-evaluate our relationship, but we sure did have some big phone bills! When I flew back to Boca I didn't really know what I was going to do. Bob and I knew we would get married. I felt it was God's leading (to go back) and decided He would work it out. After one week of living with Bob's family (I had Bob's room and he slept on the living room floor), I was offered a job as a live in nanny with a nice Jewish family whom I had babysat for since I was 12. Looking back, this is where I should have stayed until Bob and I married in 1986. However, I was with the Kaufmans from June-Nov.of 1985.

I struggle with this part of our story because I wish I didn't have to tell you this part of it. I wish I could say that after I became a Christian I never failed but that's not true. I hope that by sharing this with young people it will keep them from making the same mistake I did, and save them much grief. I broke a promise I had made to God to save sex until marriage, and I felt the GUILT, it's like a ton of bricks. This is not a good feeling. I know Bob felt it also although he wasn't "saved" yet we both thought he was. In Song of Solomon 2:7 it says "Daughters of Jerusalem I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires." (this is repeated many times over in the book). Again I feel if we had not "dated" while I was in high school and had just waited (True Love does wait), and been friends and not rushed into a physical relationship we would not have had this problem. I am glad to say I have only "been" with my husband. As I talk with people, I find out this is not very common. But it is only by God's grace. I had formerly put myself in a few compromising situations with boys/men (before Bob) whom I hardly knew (one whom I came to find out was married!). It was a wonder (God's grace) that I wasn't raped. I had craved men's approval only on my terms and I became a tease. Of course my dad had not set a good example in this area of sexual purity but I alone will stand before God to give an account and I can't blame my sin on anyone else. I am so thankful for the blood of Christ which cleanses and forgives.

In Nov. 1985, I began working in an Allergy Doctor's office as a receptionist. I had about given up on continuing Junior College; I had other part-time jobs. Bob also had various part time jobs as he continued his engineering classes at Florida Atlantic University. We did lawn maintenance for people in the neighborhood and babysat together. We were living with Bob's family at that time and we had to pay our "room and board". In early 1986 we moved into a 2-bedroom duplex with a high school buddy of Bob's. This was not a great idea. Three's a crowd and Jerry's a slob! And this was another broken promise to God (not living together before marriage) but like when a dam breaks I had already broken that big important one and this didn't matter much any more. I figured it was hypocritical for us to live apart, not to mention expensive, and pretend we weren't doing something that we were.

Finally, on June 7th 1986, Bob and I were married. Once, as I told my testimony to a small group of people at a church we were joining, I embarrassed Bob by saying we got married because "it's better to marry than to burn with passion" 1Cor.7:9. Then they roared with laughter when I continued "and 9 months later we had Sarah". That was a tough time though. I was just 20 and Bob was 24. I had still wanted to finish college (I had wanted to be a nurse, but God had another plan). Little did we know what we were in for to become parents at our tender ages, but abortion would not be an option. I was grateful to our church (Spanish River Presbyterian) for teaching us the truth about abortion as being murder. The church even had a crisis pregnancy center in Boca. Still, one of the nurses where I worked asked (when my blood test came back positive) "So, what are you going to do?" I responded "I'm pregnant! I'm going to have a baby!". The couple at our church that gave us premarital counseling invited us to a Tuesday night home Bible-study with other couples who were older than us and had kids. God saw that we got everything we needed for Sarah. We lost our room-mate Jerry -this was a blessing- because he didn't want to share the place with a baby! So when Sarah was 3 months old we moved to a smaller (cheaper) place. A week before Sarah was born, our beat up old car broke down! But God always worked things out. Bob had finished college while I was pregnant and got a job through a friend at a print shop. His kind boss loaned us his truck to go to the hospital when I was scheduled to be induced (March 5,1987).

Then Mike gave us a beat up Toyota that needed work. This was O.K. because I always said, "If Bob can't fix it, It ain't broke!" That worked for awhile until my parents loaned us money for a little better car. I worked right up until we had Sarah. Then came another promise. This one which I'm glad to say we didn't break! Praise God! Bob and I had decided that when we had children -later, so we thought- I would stay home and take care of them and not work, outside the home. This is a decision that each couple needs to decide on their own with God's direction of course (each family is different). I did some baby-sitting in our little apartment, which helped. In 1988, Bob found out about engineering positions available at Warner Robins Air Force Base here in good old Georgia through his boss's brother. So in late October 1988, we packed up and headed to Warner Robins. Bob began work on the base November 1st.

Well I could go on and on about God's faithfulness to me. How He has delivered me from trials and temptations. Maybe one day I'll turn this into a book? I love the Steven Curtis Chapman album titled "The Great Adventure". The title song goes; "Saddle up your horses we've got a trail to blaze- Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace -Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown- This is a life like no other! This is the Great Adventure!" So I guess my question is "Have you saddled up your horses yet?" Jesus said "I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full". John 10:10 My life is full. So how about you? Would you embark on this Great Adventure? I guarantee it would be the best decision you ever make.
© copyright Susan E. Story 2000-2003