February 11, 2002

"I couldn't even imagine someone caring for me so much."--Natasha Owens

A true Valentine shared Christ's love with his wife who needed to know
___By Ferrell Foster
___Texas Baptist Communications
___COPPERAS COVE--Natasha Owens is like a magnet, drawing people to her side with a ready smile and a tender voice. But three years ago, by her own admission, she was "a wreck."
___"My life, it had fallen apart," she said.
___At age 19, Owens had two children and no husband.
___"I didn't have money. I went to the bars a lot. ... I was a sailor, so to speak. I cursed a lot."
___She also was depressed.
___Then Brian Owens came into her life. He was not a model Christian, but a believer just the same, and they were married.
___"I asked him why he would want to have anything to do with me," she recalled. And he replied: "I saw something in you if I gave you the means to become the person you could be."
___Natasha, 22, fights back tears as she tells the story.
___She asked him why being a Christian was "such a big thing." He replied that he couldn't imagine being in heaven without her.
___That started "the whole domino effect," Owens said. "I cried for days and days. I couldn't even imagine someone caring for me so much."
___Her husband told her: "Christ died for you. He's the only person who cares for everybody so much."
___Owens didn't give her life to Christ quickly. "I had a lot of issues with stuff I had done," she said. "I couldn't forgive myself."
___Eventually, she realized what Jesus did on the cross was "the most unselfish act ever."
___God also used Annette Kemp, a member of First Baptist Church in Copperas Cove, to bring Owens to a point of decision.
___"As soon as I had prayed" to become a Christian, Owens said, "it was like a release of everything I had ever done bad. ... I never thought I could ever have a feeling like that, ... a feeling that I was in a sense free. I've done it, and God's forgiven me for it."

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