My name is Cristy, and this is my Testimony…

My name is Cristy Stapleton, and I am 44 years old!  I grew up right here in Elizabethtown, KY.  I married my husband in 2007.  I have a son that is 23, and we have a daughter that is 18 and two granddaughters, 2 and 9 months.  I grew up in a Pentecostal church that my Grandpa pastored, going every Sunday and Wednesday night.  I accepted Jesus in my heart the first time at 12 years old and was baptized not long after in a fellow church member’s pond.  I would read my pink Precious Moments bible often and would try to learn as much as I could.  But as years went on, and time passed, I began to make poor decisions and didn’t always put Jesus first.  I had many heartbreaks in my life to include my parent’s divorcing when I was 19, having my son at 20 years old and learning to be a young Mom (a blessing now) and separating from his dad 2 years later.  I would always pray, but I wasn’t truly living my life for the Lord.  After meeting my husband, and having our daughter, we would attend different churches and stay for a while, and then would make every excuse in the world not to get up on Sundays to attend.  This went on for 12 years.  I could not feel the presence of the Lord in my life as I had at one time.  I knew that I had backslid and felt that emptiness in my life.

In February of 2015, my husband was diagnosed with stage 3 Colon Cancer.  I began praying.  I knew I needed Jesus to make it through this.  I needed him to heal him.  After my husband’s recovery, we began visiting a local church that we had been invited to.  We would go often but I never felt that belonging that I was hoping for.  (Now that I look back, it wasn’t the church, it was myself not completely opening my heart to Jesus and allowing him to work in my life.)  So, we eventually stopped going.  During this time, things were going well.  My husband recovered from surgery and chemo treatments, had clear CT scans, he got a new job making more money, the kids were thriving and so was I.

Then….March 2019, my husband went in for a routine scan that led to us to finding out that his cancer had returned.  Talk about feeling like you had just hit a brick wall is an understatement.  I cried.  I was angry.  I didn’t understand.  One night, I was laying in my bed listening to Casting Crowns song, Just be Held, and God began speaking to me.  He told me that we would indeed, make it through this again, and if I allowed him into my heart, he would be right beside me holding mine and my husband’s hand and he would heal him.  I cried.  I knew I had let him down so many times and he was still there, holding me.  I asked Jesus back into my heart that night.  After Tim’s surgery, he was at home recovering, when I was asked by a friend to attend church with her.  We attended The Grove for the first time Easter Sunday in April of 2019.  We have been there since!

After accepting Jesus back into my heart again, I have learned that life is not always easy, but I have someone now that can carry that load for me when it’s not.  He has given me comfort and peace knowing that I never have to walk through a valley alone.  My Christian walk is far from perfect.  I make mistakes daily.  But thank you, Jesus that he died on that cross for my sins and will forgive me and make my burdens lighter.  I have so much more peace and hope in my life now with him in it!!