I stumbled across this in my email and figured why not share. I think its a pretty good telling of my testimony which I’ve done a lot of on the race so why not share.
Allow me to introduce myself a bit better. I’ll tell you a bit about my testimony. My name is Amber Gayle Kopecky and I am 22 years old. I was born and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana. I was born to a 19 year old single woman who had said throughout her scary pregnancy that she was giving up this foreign baby for adoption until she felt that baby kick in the sixth month of her pregnancy. Little did she know, God had a plan. So, when I was about six weeks old, she kicked my biological father out of the house because they had been arguing over whether to spend their money on diapers or alcohol. He was around for a while until he disappeared and showed back up about 2 years later. It was then that she gave him two options. She told him that if he chose to stay, he was choosing to be constant in my life, but if he chose to leave, he was not allowed to come in and out as he pleased. He walked away and was nowhere to be found until I was eighteen. Fast forward a couple years to my mom meeting the man who I call my dad today. When I was about 9 years old, my name changed from Amber Fontenot to Amber Kopecky because I was adopted. I don’t remember much about being adopted because I was so young, but I do remember being very excited. My mom tells me that it was a major turning point for me even as young as I was because over time I had changed. I am told that over time I had gone from her little girl who was very vibrant and confident and friendly to a little girl who was very shy and insecure. She said when I became adopted, it truly was like a light flipped for me. I regained my confidence and it was like I knew that I belonged again. Its such a testament to God’s redemptive & restorative power. Growing up, I was raised in a Christian home, but as the saying goes, being in a garage doesn’t make you a car. I was saved from the young age of five years old. I believe even if I wasn’t necessarily pursuing God and relationship with Him like I have come to do as I’ve gotten older, God’s hand has been on my life and I can see His grace and love in so many ways. As I’ve grown older, my relationship with God has been a journey of turning head knowledge about God into heart experiences with God. Two years ago, I was going to university for early childhood education until God flipped my world upside down. At the end of my third semester, I had grown much closer to the Lord than I had been before and thats when He began poking at my heart to tell me He had a different plan for my life. I had a solid 5 year plan and it wasn’t a bad plan, but it wasn’t what the Lord had for me. So, after loads of prayer, wise counsel, and more faith than I thought I could muster up, I made the decision to surrender my plans to God and trust Him with what He was doing. I pulled out of school. The last two years have truly been such a journey of faith and trust. I am constantly learning more about what His voice sounds like and what it looks like to relentlessly follow Him. The World Race is all a part of that journey. My biggest prayer for these 11 months is that I want to walk hand in hand with Jesus just like He did with the Father. I want to be best friends with Him. I want to move when He says move. I want to stop when He says stop. I want to be in agreement with Holy Spirit and say yes. In prepping for the World Race, I knew that these 11 months would be more than just serving for the temporary. God is using this as an opportunity to open doors for bigger things later. Missions and ministry are things that I know the Lord has for my life. I’m still along for the ride with the Lord and figuring out bits and pieces of His vision for that for me, but I’m open to what He has. Even if that ends up meaning staying in Lake Charles, Louisiana for longer than I anticipated. There are many God-based reasons for me to believe that part of God’s vision for my life are definitely children, but specifically orphans. Ultimately, this is all about trusting the Lord, knowing that He has my best in mind, and remembering that its not about me!
