STORIES HEAL… HERE’S MINE
STORIES HEAL… HERE’S MINE
Shanon Boos | Founder
In creating the Turtle On A Fencepost Movement, and teaching people about evangelizing with permission, one of the key messages is that our stories are our best tools.
None of us is perfect. We have all made mistakes and bad choices, or followed paths that didn’t lead where we wanted to go. We have all lived messy, human lives. It’s the authenticity of those stories that connect us to one another.
Every time you share your testimony, your story, you are strengthening yourself, helping others, and even healing the world.
I’m sharing a bit of my story here because I am passionate about helping others, and I hope you find something in it for yourself.
I have not always had a great relationship with God. My parents divorced when I was 2 years old. I lived with my mom and eventually my stepdad, and I was sexually molested in different circumstances for several years. During that time, we went to church twice a year – Christmas and Easter. (We were ChrEasters!) But I didn’t have a real understanding of God. I went to a Christian kids camp called AWANA with a neighbor of mine, where I loved playing with other kids and being part of something. That’s where I first really met Jesus.
At the end of one year of AWANA, everything fell apart! We lost the house we had, and moved around several times. I was confused and unsure, and at 12 years old I found myself skipping school and shoplifting to try to get attention. I remember one particular conversation with a guy who didn’t believe in God. For everything I had learned and believed, he had a different answer. He uprooted the seeds of belief I had sown.
I was devastated, but I decided to figure out what I really believed and why. I was on a mission! I walked to church every week. I talked to pastors. I tried different places. I went everywhere! But I didn’t find the answers for the questions that had been planted in my heart.
In my late teens, I made a deal with God. “If you exist, protect my life until I find out. Or give me credit for the searching that I did.” And I stopped searching.
For the next decade, I was ungrounded. I faced challenges and made lots of decisions, but had no real relationships to lean on. I had an abortion at 19. My mom and step dad got divorced, and he disappeared. I reconnected with my birth father, who ultimately chose alcohol over a relationship with his daughter. I got married, and after 5 years got divorced. I was supporting myself by driving a truck and serving drinks at a local pub, and I moved in with my new boyfriend.
Along the way, I went to visit my mom, who had joined a church and become much more active. I went with her and met someone who was part of Campus Crusade for Christ, a band that goes around to colleges to witness. We couldn’t have been more different! I was a divorced, drinking, smoking, cocktail waitress, truck driver. But the band singer met me every week and we went to church together in Indiana.
This next part was all about time and patience. I went to church and avoided interacting with people at first. I would just go and learn and listen. I loved the music and the dramas. Eventually I got invited to a Seeker group which met at the pastor’s house. I gave that pastor a run for his money! He was the first person who had answers.
It opened me up to God for the first time in 8 years. A pivotal moment came when God literally tapped me on my shoulder and asked, “Why are you fighting me?” I went home after that and told my controlling roommate boyfriend that I was moving out.
I got discipled at a little Baptist Church, which is where I heard the Turtle on a Fencepost sermon that started this whole movement. In my 30s, I forged a personal relationship with God. I met and married my husband. And I continue to search for the next thing God and I are going to do with my life.
My Why
I know there are so many people in the world searching. They too are on a mission to figure out what they believe. They are looking for answers and seeking God, but haven’t found Him yet. We are all on the journey, and this movement is about walking toward God, walking with God, together.
Let turtles become your doorway to a life of greater fulfillment and deeper connections. I know it sounds crazy! But it works!!