Your Past Doesn't Disqualify Your Destiny

CHOICES AND CONSEQUENCES
Laura-Lynn was born to missionary parents in Kampala, Uganda. At twenty-one she married a man, John, but soon realized she did not love him. She felt empty on the inside and wondered what was wrong with her. Marriage was not what she imagined it would be (no romance or chemistry), but since she was a Christian she did not consider divorce as an option. Soon Laura-Lynn became pregnant and thought maybe this new life would bring happiness into her marriage. Although they loved their son, Tyler, unfortunately the divide between Laura-Lynn and John remained. She felt herself falling into a pit of loneliness, hopelessness, and boredom.

A man from Laura-Lynn’s church began coming by for coffee while his girlfriend was finishing up night courses at the university nearby. “An obsession I can only compare to a drug addiction began,” shares Laura-Lynn. An affair between the two began that had no foundation in God, values, principles or good judgment. She believed she had found the love of her life and could not live without him. She finally told her pastor about the affair in the hopes of saving her marriage. “The months that ensued brought with them the most damaging emotional pain that I had ever experienced. The loss of friendships, my church, my dignity, my honor, my name, and my veracity; all of it suddenly brought down to a heap of trouble,” shares Laura-Lynn. One night while listening to Chuck Swindoll’s broadcast she prayed and asked God to forgive her for the pain she had caused Him, John, and herself. Afterwards she called John and tried to reconcile the marriage, but John told her it was over. After five years, the marriage ended in divorce.  

The second relationship continued but became more and more rocky. She soon became pregnant and asked John if he would hurry their divorce so she could marry the other man. He made it very clear that he would not. Her parents were angry and hurt by the news. In 1993, Laura-Lynn’s daughter, Larissa, was born and later that year she married the other man. She promised God she would make this marriage work and this time there would be no divorce. Although there were a couple of police incidents in the early years, they kept working through it and went to counseling. They had another baby, Aaron, and although Laura-Lynn loved her children, she missed the joy that she had in her life many long years before. In 2000, Laura-Lynn left after years of living in a mentally and emotionally abusive marriage. She did not want her children growing up in an angry and threatening environment. Court battles with over custody, access, and guardianship went on for years.

LIFE SIZE CROSS
On a Wednesday night Laura-Lynn decided to go to church where the pastor had brought a life-sized cross. The pastor asked everyone to write down their sins and then nail them to the cross. “As small and illegibly as I could, I wrote them down, right in the middle of the paper so that I could fold it in four and put the nail right through the middle, so no one would ever be able to see them,” shares Laura-Lynn. As she took her place in line, tears began to stream down her face as she realized that the price had already been paid for her freedom. It was up to her to accept it. She knew after that night she would never be the same. The next day she began to experience a peace and a joy that she had not experienced in years.     

In 1999, while watching television and folding laundry one night, Laura-Lynn saw a Christian broadcast. She felt God say to her, “I want you to do that. I want you to tell people about Jesus on TV.” Immediately, she felt she was not the right person. She had made too many mistakes in life and she had no training, yet she felt a knowing in her spirit that without a doubt this was a call from Almighty God. She asked God to help her since she did not know where to start. The next day she called a local television channel about volunteer opportunities. “I had never been in a studio in my life, yet it felt like I belonged, for some inexplicable reason,” reveals Laura-Lynn.
    
THE 700 CLUB CANADA
Over the next several years God began to open doors for her in the media industry. She was eventually offered a job hosting on a local station. “This was the first time I would be able to do television that was about God,” shares Laura-Lynn. Then she moved on to host other shows, as well as serve as an emcee for many events. When Laura-Lynn was fired due to a change in station ownership, she began making calls to everyone she knew in the media industry, but no doors opened up. Then in 2007, God began to again open doors for Laura-Lynn.  She was hired back on the air for the same channel and in the same time slot that she had been fired from two years prior. When her contract was not renewed after a year and a half, she did not know if she would ever work in television again, but God gave her peace. One day her old boss asked her to send him a demo reel for a new program. She later learned he had sent the reel to The 700 Club. In 2011, she became the co-host of The 700 Club Canada, a 30-minute daily program, which airs nationwide in Canada on the Vision TV network, the new HOPE TV Faith station, and on JoyTV10 in Vancouver.

Today, Laura-Lynn resides in Vancouver with her husband, JT, and their mischievous dog, Tallula. She also loves her extended family, high-risk youth, who come and live with them in their home.  “There is no greater joy than pouring out one’s life to those who can never repay you.”