Last Sunday, Sandra called us weird! But then, she shared her story last Sunday & said she was happy to be one of the weird people now!
Sandra—pictured above as a little girl with her father & younger sister—has quickly become one of our favorites. Her joy, wit, sincerity, & compassion are just a few of the reasons!
If you weren’t there last Sunday, you can read her testimony below.
Hello, I am Sandra Swafford. I currently work for Simmons Bank, not as cool as the Secret Service for those of you who have heard Scott Trew’s Testimony, but I do look for illegal activity. I have been attending Trinity Grace since October of 2019.
I am from El Paso, TX. I lived there with my parents until I was 13 and then we moved to Waco, TX. Yes, I have met Joanna Gaines from Fixer Upper for those of you who are wondering.
My home life was typical or so I thought. I grew up around drugs and alcohol but I thought that was the norm since everyone around me was living the same life.
We lived in Waco for 2 years and then my mom got a call that her grandmother was passing away. She really wanted to come to TN to see her so we all loaded up in the car. I had never been to TN before so I was meeting my mom’s side of the family for the first time.
While we were at my great grandmother’s house I met my cousins, Lee and Joy Swafford. We chatted with them for a while and my parents and Lee and Joy joked about letting me and my sister come visit for the summer, my mom would visit during the summer from Florida where she grew up and her and Lee were reminiscing about that. So apparently my mom took the invitation seriously.
My sister and I were sent on a Grey Hound bus to Tennessee to stay the whole summer with Lee and Joy at the ages of 14 and 15. At this point I realized that they lived totally different than what I have grown up with; I wanted to stay and I even asked my mom if I could, multiple times (I was a kid I didn’t know better).
Going back a little, Lee and Joy went to church and we did not. I had been to “church” on the church van but I never listened. It was more of a social outing for me. I started going to church with them. I was hearing things about the Lord that I had never been exposed to before. We went to a summer camp called Camp Cherokee and that is where I surrendered my life to the Lord.
Fast forward to the end of the summer. My sister and I went back home and I was devastated. I was exposed to the love of Jesus and I did not want to let it go. I was home for about a month and I came home from school one day and my mom told me that I was moving to TN. I was excited but confused at the same time. My mom was told that I was doing drugs and things that a 15-year-old should not be doing, which I did not have the best friends so one would think that I was just like them but I wasn’t. Well let’s get real no one is perfect, I have made plenty of mistakes, but I was not a terrible kid. My mom believed what she was told and so she sent me back to TN. So, there I go again a 15-year-old on a Grey Hound bus to TN. That was a scary experience.
I was immediately accepted into a family that I was not born into. I was one of their children and a sister to 3 new siblings. That has definitely been a blessing in my life.
But the Lord had a plan from day one. He has protected me from so many things and he has used me in ways I never could have imagined. He has given me things that I never thought would be a possibility for me.
Now, how did I come to find Trinity Grace, or how did God send Trinity Grace to me? I actually met Eliana through Lee and Joy and she invited me to visit the church. I was attending church in Cleveland and I would pass the Middle School on my way to church on Sundays and I would think I really need to visit since she invited me. God began to deal with me about how I need to be serving in the community I live in. So, I felt like it was finally time to accept the invitation from Eliana.
I immediately felt the love of God at Trinity Grace. I thought to myself, these people are weird. It was just different. It was the hands and feet of Jesus.
I am so thankful for his saving grace and that I am a part of the weird people, the Trinity Grace Family.