My Name Is Leslie Reed

Good Evening,

My name is Leslie Reed. I am 36 years old, the mother of 2 darling daughters, married 17 years to my high school sweetheart. I have a chocolate lab, two cats, and a 900 sq. ft. house with one bathroom and four dishwashers. I have a nice big backyard covered in mud currently due to the rainy season (and the dog).

I was born to my parents in Tacoma, Washington on what I can bet was a gray afternoon in September of 1978. I weighed 2 and 1/2 lbs. and lived in an incubator for the first week of my life. I came into this world dearly loved by some and hated by one.

I remember as a young child being fascinated with the world around me. I had a vivid imagination with which I would entertain myself for hours on end. I loved my family. Especially when they were happy. I remember my world mainly as bright and cheerful for a good long time. 3 years exactly

My mother used to tell me the story of a time when I slipped out of the house at 3 years old only to be found 3 blocks away in a field sleeping surrounded by the neighbor dogs. I was brave and adventurous.  Then something happened to me. Someone I loved proved untrustworthy and unsafe.

I really want to tell you all of this story, but I can't. Too many people's integrity and emotions would suffer. I really want to tell you all of this story so I can tattle on the one who hates me. I want you to know about the depravity that ravaged my life as a child so that you could understand what a miracle it is that I still chose to love Jesus Christ. What a miracle it is that i'm even alive.

I want to tell you about the destiny i'm certain my enemy wishes I would have fallen into that was only avoided by the redemption of a God that cares for me. I want to tell you so badly about the depths to which i've sunk so that you will know the price that was paid for my life to be ransomed specifically.

Instead I will share this with you tonight... some have had it worse than me... some better either way we share a common enemy and he has a goal. That goal is to steal our joy, kill our hearts, and destroy our hope. The truth is that he is a liar and a thief and a cheater and he is loudest when throwing an unholy fit usually right before something awesome is coming, and something is coming.

Someone actually. A Savior has come to give us abundant life with whatever may be left of it. He has come to give us hope, joy, and love to the fullest extent it can be experienced. He is greater than the one in the world and has given us a great testimony to live out from wherever we may stand.