Finding Peace with Jesus

May 1, 2025 / by Carlyn Edelman

My walk with the Lord started on November 10, 2012. When Ruston and I got married on June 9, 2012, I was 20 years old and living a life full of sinful decisions and I was really struggling.

I was under a massive weight of conviction, which I didn’t understand at the time. We had lost quite a few people close to us, including a kid our age, in tragic accidents and it felt like my life was spinning out of control. God was so gracious to me as He gently softened my heart to surrender my life over to Him. Little did I know, God was also softening Ruston’s heart, and we were simultaneously saved in separate rooms of our home. It is a miracle we are to this day so blown away by and go back to often. I had never felt more at peace, almost like in the eye of a chaotic storm I couldn’t escape, when I truly felt Him for the first time.

I used to think my testimony was only about how my walk with the Lord started. As I have gotten older, I realize there are so many testimonies of God’s grace in my life as I look back over the last couple of decades. Ruston and I have faced many trials since that November day I started my walk with Him, and He has never failed us, even in the hard times.

He carried us through 9 years of infertility, a season of loneliness and isolation we weren’t expecting. When we became pregnant with Graham, I remember thinking “the hard season of trial is over”. Then, TWINS! How great is our God! When the twins were born and we weren’t sure if Lennon was going to make it, or what her/our life would look like moving forward, I again felt that unexplainable peace that I felt once before during a time of pure terror and chaos. He was physically carrying me, while also using our church family to support us in ways I would never have expected. Being able to lean on Him and His goodness throughout the last 12 years of being a believer is something I pray I never take for granted. I am just so thankful for His tender mercy and patience with sinners like me, and for softening my heart to truly know Him.

Carlyn and her husband Ruston have been attending East White Oak for 13 years. They have a three year old son Graham and one year old boy/girl twins Wells and Lennon. They absolutely love their Fellowship 13 ABF and Carlyn also serves in the church nursery. She enjoys running, going to any garage sale or thrift store to search for treasures, and spending time with Ruston and the kids.