Tom Nicholson
Often, we in church speak of God’s faithfulness in terms of big things, and the Bible’s accounts of history bear this out – Moses, Noah, Jesus all demonstrate God’s faithfulness to us as people. My testimony speaks to God’s faithfulness in small things – in the life of one person. By bringing people into my life to push and pull me toward Himself, to encourage me, and to correct me, God has shown perfect faithfulness.
I grew up just north of Boston, spending the first 16 years of my life in the cities of Revere and Lynn. I am the second of six children, and my family was particularly “non-religious.” Despite the non-religious nature of my family, when I look back upon my life, I see clear evidence of God’s drawing me to himself. From the time I was 11 years old, there have been people in my life that have introduced me to some aspect of God. At 11 years old, it was an uncle who was a choir director at his church. I spent a year in the choir (back before my voice changed and I could actually sing!). After that, it was friends with whom I attended school.
But my real story begins during college. That’s when I met my wife, Ingrid. When we met, Ingrid was not someone who attended church regularly, but she was certainly a godly woman. We met in 1989, just after she graduated high school and I was attending UNH, and we were married in 1992. We were married in the Catholic church, and part of our being married in the church included agreeing to raise our children in the church. Both Ingrid and I take commitment seriously, so when our first child, Adeline, was born, we began to consider attending church – something we had not done as a family.
Even though we began attending church (at St. Michael’s Church in Exeter, NH), I remained stubbornly non-religious. Anytime Ingrid and I would talk about religion, I would simply say that I never think about anything related to God. For as long as I could remember, I could succeed at anything that I set my mind to – I paid my way through private high school with an after school job, I did the same with college, and then after graduation, I landed a good job and got married. The question I would always ask myself was, what did I need from God that I could not provide myself?
As our daughter grew and we came to know more people in our church, God began working on me more. He brought more and more people in my life that caused me to question what my life was based on. The first was the pastor of a local church. He and I would have breakfast together once per week. While our conversations were interesting we would always end with my saying that faith worked for him, but it’s something that I did not need or even think about. This was a time where God was working on me, but I resisted His working through other. Our family became involved in a small group bible study with the parents of Adeline’s school mates. At first, I did this at Ingrid’s request, but as we got into it more, I became more and more interested in what the Bible had to say. Through these people, God began to soften my heart and I began to see what He had done for me.
The year was 2003, and we decided to move from the church we were attending to Hampton Falls First Baptist Church because we were hearing things in our old church that did not match up with what we read in the Bible. One of the members of our Bible study group was attending HFFBC, and she suggested that we come and check out the church. Once we began to attend, we heard the Bible preached for the first time. Between hearing solid biblical preaching and reading my Bible, I finally became aware of my position before the perfect, almighty God, and that position was one of a sinner. This was the point that I finally heard God’s call in my life and yielded to Him by declaring my faith in Christ.
So, in hindsight, it is easier for me to see God working in my life. While it was a struggle in the midst of His work, I am ever so grateful for his faithfulness. I rest my life upon Phillipians 1:6, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” The testimony of my life bears witness to this – that God, who began a good work in me, will bring it to completion. His faithfulness is perfect, and I have confidence in His promise. Thus, I look forward to each new day to see how he will work in me to bring me to completion.
To Him belong the praise and glory
I grew up just north of Boston, spending the first 16 years of my life in the cities of Revere and Lynn. I am the second of six children, and my family was particularly “non-religious.” Despite the non-religious nature of my family, when I look back upon my life, I see clear evidence of God’s drawing me to himself. From the time I was 11 years old, there have been people in my life that have introduced me to some aspect of God. At 11 years old, it was an uncle who was a choir director at his church. I spent a year in the choir (back before my voice changed and I could actually sing!). After that, it was friends with whom I attended school.
But my real story begins during college. That’s when I met my wife, Ingrid. When we met, Ingrid was not someone who attended church regularly, but she was certainly a godly woman. We met in 1989, just after she graduated high school and I was attending UNH, and we were married in 1992. We were married in the Catholic church, and part of our being married in the church included agreeing to raise our children in the church. Both Ingrid and I take commitment seriously, so when our first child, Adeline, was born, we began to consider attending church – something we had not done as a family.
Even though we began attending church (at St. Michael’s Church in Exeter, NH), I remained stubbornly non-religious. Anytime Ingrid and I would talk about religion, I would simply say that I never think about anything related to God. For as long as I could remember, I could succeed at anything that I set my mind to – I paid my way through private high school with an after school job, I did the same with college, and then after graduation, I landed a good job and got married. The question I would always ask myself was, what did I need from God that I could not provide myself?
As our daughter grew and we came to know more people in our church, God began working on me more. He brought more and more people in my life that caused me to question what my life was based on. The first was the pastor of a local church. He and I would have breakfast together once per week. While our conversations were interesting we would always end with my saying that faith worked for him, but it’s something that I did not need or even think about. This was a time where God was working on me, but I resisted His working through other. Our family became involved in a small group bible study with the parents of Adeline’s school mates. At first, I did this at Ingrid’s request, but as we got into it more, I became more and more interested in what the Bible had to say. Through these people, God began to soften my heart and I began to see what He had done for me.
The year was 2003, and we decided to move from the church we were attending to Hampton Falls First Baptist Church because we were hearing things in our old church that did not match up with what we read in the Bible. One of the members of our Bible study group was attending HFFBC, and she suggested that we come and check out the church. Once we began to attend, we heard the Bible preached for the first time. Between hearing solid biblical preaching and reading my Bible, I finally became aware of my position before the perfect, almighty God, and that position was one of a sinner. This was the point that I finally heard God’s call in my life and yielded to Him by declaring my faith in Christ.
So, in hindsight, it is easier for me to see God working in my life. While it was a struggle in the midst of His work, I am ever so grateful for his faithfulness. I rest my life upon Phillipians 1:6, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” The testimony of my life bears witness to this – that God, who began a good work in me, will bring it to completion. His faithfulness is perfect, and I have confidence in His promise. Thus, I look forward to each new day to see how he will work in me to bring me to completion.
To Him belong the praise and glory