Wives don't usually get along well with their mothers-in-law, but former atheist Tiffany Bowen was lucky to have forged a pretty good relationship with the mother of her husband.
Tiffany shared with the Baptist Press that she was an "atheist, feminist bartender" when she first met Jason, the man who would later become her husband, who was then a "lukewarm" Christian. She was working her way through the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in the same restaurant where Jason worked.
He asked her out several times before she finally said yes. After their date, Tiffany was convinced that Jason would become her future husband. "I had never met someone so transparent and genuine," Tiffany recalled.
As their relationship got more serious, Tiffany met Jason's mother, Charlotte Bowen, a Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionary nurse. Tiffany said Charlotte did not like the fact that she was an atheist, but that did not change the way she treated her.
"When I met with her face to face I was overwhelmed with how she was not like anyone I had ever met," Tiffany said. "She had no judgment in her heart. She was not OK with me being an atheist, but the love she showed to me was no different than had I been a Christian."
They became fast friends, and the more Tiffany talked to Charlotte, the more she felt that "Jesus was alive." She began to read the Bible and her heart started to change. Eventually, Tiffany surprised herself by becoming a Christian.
She and Jason tied the knot in Africa while Charlotte was off with her missionary duties. When they got back to Jonesboro, Arkansas, Tiffany was baptised. The couple became regular attendees of the Central Baptist Church, and after a year, Jason was asked to do pulpit duty at an inner city church.
"After the first year I felt God was asking me to pray for my husband because he was going to surrender to His call to be a pastor," Tiffany said.
She said God was giving her an advance notice because she needed to pray for herself as well. "I was not pastor's wife material," she admitted.
Now, it has been 16 years since Jason underwent his transition to becoming a minister, but Tiffany said "I'm still not [pastor's wife material], but I pray every day that He uses me anyway."
Tiffany explained that she wants to share her story with others in hopes that it would inspire others to believe in God's great grace. "I don't hesitate to share my testimony so people will understand God's grace and forgiveness of my sins wasn't because I had forgivable sins," she said. "It was because His grace is sufficient to cover the sins of someone who denied Him for 21 years of her life and tried to convince others to deny Him as well."
