Hi, I am Brandy Weaver and I am Scott Weaver's wife, the pastor of Lasting
Impact Church.  I put my testimony on this site shortly after we started this
ministry and have often thought that it might be too long and drawn out.  
Every time I talk about taking it off, I meet someone who has read it and it
touched their life in some way. So, like it or not, it's staying. I figure if you're
interested enough you'll take the time to read it!  May God Bless you as you
do and please feel free to ask me any questions you wish.
My mom has always said that when I turned 16, I "lost my mind."  She was
right in every aspect.  I turned to sex, drugs and alcohol to ease the pain that I
suffered from my parent's divorce and every other thing that a young person
goes through.  On the outside, I was still the perfect little blond girl that
everybody loved, but on the inside I was dying to be set free from the bondage I
had tied myself up in.  By the time I was 18, I had experienced the effects of
alcohol, pot, cocaine, acid, speed and that was just the beginning.  My life was a
party.  I was not happy unless I was high.  I tried to maintain a normalcy
outside of the party life, but it always seemed to catch up to me somehow.  I
had numerous failed relationships (people who know me are laughing because
numerous is not a sufficient word).  Too many to mention, I'll say.  Some that
lasted days, some weeks, some months, some for a couple of years.  Never any
that were rewarding or satisfying.  My teenage years just rolled over into my
twenties.  When I was 23, I got pregnant with my first son, Bailey.  I had a one
night stand with his dad which so happened to be a drug buddy too.  He never
had anything to do with Bailey.  He would come around every couple of years or
so and make a frail attempt but he had other children and a wife that he
couldn't take care of as it was.  So there I was pregnant, addicted to party life
and alone.  I went through the pregnancy with my mom and family support.  It
is important to note that I never did drugs, smoked or drank while I was
pregnant but you can bet I was just waiting for the day.  While my head was
clear, I decided to go to college and get an education if I was going to be raising
a kid.  So I enrolled in Griffin Technical College and earned a diploma in
Business and Office Technology.  That landed me a job at Tara Financial Group.  
This is where I met Noel Edwards.  He was my boss.  When the Twin Towers fell,
he tried to lead me to the Lord.  (I know he and his wife prayed for my
salvation) But, after I said the prayer, I went right back to my life of drugs,
alcohol and immorality and still managed some level of sanity.  It was not until
I started doing a drug called "Ice"  that my life truly fell apart.  Fast forward to
2005.  I start dating this guy who had access to it all the time.  Ice became a
daily occurrence for me and one day, I discovered this pimple-like thing on my
skin.  Turns out it was a staph infection caused by the unsanitary way that "Ice"
is produced.  That is where the battle for my soul began.  The doctors gave me
antibiotics that did no good.  These huge, horribly painful bumps started coming
up one after the other.  I could not work, take care of my son, or go anywhere.  
It literally consumed my life for months.  I was completely debilitated.  My life
was in shambles.  I had to bounce checks to get my prescriptions filled because
suddenly nobody could help me financially.  Sound familiar to anyone?  Amazing
how God gets our attention, huh?  I went to church one Sunday because my
mom's best friend asked me to and I loved this woman and most all the time
just did what she told me to do.  I had been up all night high and I was still
very sick in my body. At the end of the sermon, Pastor Tyson Roache gave an
altar call and I responded.  I asked Jesus into my heart and have never looked
back.  My soul was healed and not long after that, my body was too.  I was set
free, healed and delivered!  February 12, 2006.  My mom's friend that invited
me to church that day gave me The New Beginner's Bible and inside it read
"Occasion:  Being Born Again."  Now, all I want to do is spread the hope of Jesus
Christ to people who are like I was: Lost.   Since then, my life has not been
without struggles.  I still battle spiritual warfare but I have been blessed with
the most wonderful husband in the world and the best kids anybody could ever
ask for.  The difference is this:  I have the promise, hope and love of Jesus Christ.
 Now I have a responsibility to share that hope with anybody that will listen (or
read).  Isaiah 61:1- 3 says, "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because
the Lord has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor.  He has sent me
to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release
from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the
day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those
who grieve in Zion-to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the
oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit
of despair.  They will be called the oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord
for the display of His splendor."  This is one of my favorite passages of God's
Word and there are several songs written about it too.  These words speak
directly to my heart: "beauty instead of ashes."  In the Old Testament people
who were mourning death would wear sack cloth and put ashes on their heads
as an outward sign of their despair.  I want you to know that, if you are in
mourning, not just for the death of others but for the death of your spirit, you
can have "beauty instead of ashes."  Only Jesus can give us that kind of hope.  
Ask Him to help you, he is faithful.  He will not fail you.  He loves you.  Come out
of that sack cloth and wipe away those ashes for you are beautiful in His sight.
Lasting Impact Church