On a "Crash Course to Restoration"

Five years ago Amy Roberts was disillusioned with her life—a life that up to that point had been all about her.

“I would cry out to the Lord only when I needed Him to do damage control,” she said. “And I was pretty miserable because I was looking for fulfillment in something that God never intended for me to find fulfillment in.”

A Christian since she was in her early 20s, this Plano wife and mother admits that at the time she wasn’t honoring the Lord with her life. Yes, she was saved, but no, she wasn’t surrendered to the Lord’s best for her life. But after a life of poor choices and unsuccessful relationships, Amy was now willing to open her heart to hear what God had to say.

And the very next Sunday Pastor Graham’s message, “It’s Not All About You,” provided just what Amy needed to hear. It served as the catalyst for Amy to make the transformation that she had been crying out for all her life.

“The Holy Spirit revealed to me that I was born to worship Him ... to honor Him and to bring glory to His name,” she said. “My life should be about more than getting my expectations met and being entertained.”

A few months later, Amy’s husband, Doug, an executive software sales recruiter whose life had also been focused on his own needs, had a similar heart change.

“I realized that I was a good guy who was just drifting, thinking that I was getting by,” he said. “And that was no longer enough for me.”

First, the Lord got Doug’s attention through the Friday Morning Men’s Bible Study. There, Doug got to know men whose relationship with the Lord was authentic—something he knew his wasn’t. Then Pastor Graham’s Sunday messages started touching his heart in a new way.

“Until then, I didn’t know what it meant to be open to the Lord’s will,” Doug said. “And I realized that there’s a difference between being saved and being surrendered, and that’s when I rededicated my life to Him.”

Since that time, Doug said he and Amy have been on what he calls a “crash course to restoration,” individually, as a couple and as a blended family. And as a step of faith for the family, Amy quit her job this summer so she can focus on the Lord and the kind of godly legacy that she and Doug want to leave for their four children: Jourdan, 11; Reed, 10; Drew, 7; and Brooke, 6.

“The Lord put a hunger in us as a couple, and now we’re on the same page about desiring more of Him,” Amy said. “We’ve started praying together, and Doug has become the spiritual leader of our home that I had prayed for.”

In addition, Doug has chosen Proverbs 3:5-6 as his Scripture to live by.

“I’m living proof that ‘he will make your paths straight,’” Doug said. “Because before that, I lived 38 years on a crooked path. And at that time I believed the lie that I could never be the spiritual leader of our home.”

And for Amy, Romans 8:28 stands out. “The Lord’s taken everything that I’ve done in my life—poor choices and all—and turned it all around for good,” she said.

But what’s the best part of the restoration for both Amy and Doug?

“Just to experience how real Jesus is and how He cares about every aspect of our lives,” Amy said. “And it’s such a miracle to me that we can talk to Him every day … and it still overwhelms me how much He loves us and that when He looks at me, He doesn’t see my past or my sin, but He sees the blood He shed for me.”