My Full Testimony

My name is Robin Marshall, and I am a sinner saved by grace and a daughter of the King. The Lord calls me a warrior, a writer, and a protector—but those are not the names I always used for myself.

My walk with the Lord began when I was 12 years old. As a young child, I attended Tussekiah Baptist and later Kenbridge Baptist Church, where I was involved in Girls in Action (GAs). My mom led the GAs for a few years, but my dad did not attend church with us. Around age 12, my best friend’s father died of cancer, and just a month later, my great-grandmother passed away. My best friend’s dad was like a second father to me—he coached my softball team and took us to his church’s Vacation Bible School.

During that time, I noticed a slightly older girl in GAs who had a joy and peace I didn’t have. She excelled in school, served others faithfully, and consistently radiated joy. I wanted what she had. After the pain of losing loved ones, I surrendered my life to Christ. I was baptized at Kenbridge Baptist Church and continued attending through my teenage years, becoming involved in Acteens. We served in our hometown and attended summer camps like Eagle Eyrie in Lynchburg, Virginia. During those years, I began to see my spiritual gifts emerge and knew I had a relationship with the Lord.

My teenage years were challenging. I was the oldest child with a believing mom and an unbelieving dad. When my dad worked on the road, I helped care for our large family cattle farm alongside my younger brother. At age 16, I lost my grandfather, who lived next door to us on the farm. Despite the pain, I continued to lean into the Lord.

A few months later, my now-husband, CJ, came into my life. He was not a believer and came from a broken home. He helped on the farm, and we began dating.

After graduation, I attended Virginia Tech, pursuing a degree in English Professional Writing. When I was 13, my mom began attending community college and would often ask me to edit her papers. She later became a high school English teacher, and my love for writing remained deeply rooted in my heart. While at Virginia Tech, I became involved in Chi Alpha Christian Ministries and faithfully attended Wednesday night services on campus—ironically, in the same chapel where CJ and I would later be married. I joined a weekly women’s Bible study and was mentored by upperclassmen and leaders.

I wasn’t much of a partier, but I occasionally drank alcohol with friends when invited to the German Club. I graduated in 2004, and that same month, CJ went to Iraq as a firefighter contractor during the war.

The year 2004 was incredibly difficult. My parents divorced after 27 years of marriage, CJ was overseas, and a close friend of mine was a Marine fighting on the front lines. My college roommates had moved on, and I found myself slipping into depression as I tried to navigate adult life without guidance. I was financially strained and searching for love and acceptance. Although I had grown significantly in my faith during college, I did not stay connected to a church or ministry after graduating.

CJ returned from Iraq a few months later and decided to move permanently to Blacksburg. We were married in December 2005 and moved to Bedford in May 2006.

CJ wanted to be part of the Bedford Fire Department because of its nationally recognized reputation and over 100-year volunteer history. I was working in Roanoke at the time, so the move felt like a simple transition geographically—but relationally, it was anything but. We had no family, no friends, and no community.

We began hosting parties to build friendships, and during that time, I began drinking heavily. The weight of my parents’ divorce continued to grow heavier as my dad remarried and I watched my mom struggle.

In 2007, I began working for a corporation in Lynchburg, and a new friend invited me to Blue Ridge Community Church. I remember arriving one Sunday morning dressed up and feeling completely out of place. As I listened, I realized something was different—this church wasn’t focused on religion, but on relationship with our Heavenly Father through Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection.

At Blue Ridge, I didn’t have to look, dress, or speak a certain way. While I appreciated my Baptist upbringing, my earlier experiences had often emphasized religion. Blue Ridge emphasized relationship.

I began attending regularly, but I still carried deep anger and hurt, which I numbed with alcohol. I would feel the Holy Spirit moving on Sundays, but return to drinking during the week. Meanwhile, CJ would tell me to “stop listening to that Jesus music” whenever I played worship songs. Our marriage grew increasingly strained as we moved in different spiritual directions.

…until February 7, 2008.

That night, I drove to the Bedford firehouse in the middle of the night. It was bitterly cold and windy. I was completely drunk and honestly surprised I made it there. I was desperate for the Lord to heal the pain from my past. I found CJ’s name in the apparatus bay and sat at the foot of his rack. I cried out to the Lord and wrote in my journal about the pain of my parents’ divorce and the struggles in my marriage.

The next morning, with little sleep, I went to church and found my prayer mentors at Blue Ridge. I confessed my alcohol addiction and shared my pain. They had already seen my spiritual gifts and had taken me under their wing—and even after my confession, they did not judge me. They simply led me back to Jesus.

I have not had alcohol since that cold night in February 2008.

In March 2008, I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to be baptized again. I struggled with this because I knew I had been saved at 12, and I felt like my salvation was being questioned. I kept thinking, “I’ve already done this.”

But through prayer and guidance from my mentors, I realized God was calling me to rededicate my life to Him after a season of wandering. I surrendered and was baptized again in May 2008. I fully immersed myself in the church community—women’s ministry, prayer ministry, and serving in the children’s ministry.

Even after my rededication, life remained messy. My marriage continued to deteriorate as I pressed deeper into my faith. I experienced persecution for my beliefs. In 2009, CJ and I separated—but later that year, the Lord brought him back home.

God used the premature birth of our first daughter, Rhiley, at 29 weeks to capture CJ’s heart. The day she was born became CJ’s spiritual birthday. She weighed just 1 lb. 7.9 oz., and we spent 80 days in the NICU.

The years that followed were marked by PTSD, anxiety, and emotional numbness from the trauma and the ongoing stress of caring for a medically fragile child. That emotional strain led to another separation in 2013—even after CJ had come to faith.

But by God’s grace, healing began. We welcomed our second daughter, Constance, in 2010, and continued rebuilding our family. Then our third daughter, Isabelle, was then born in 2020.

In 2011, we began attending Bedrock Community Church, where we became involved in a Life Group. I eventually began leading a women’s small group focused on prayer, which grew into forming a prayer team. I led that team for many years until the Lord called me into a sabbatical from October 2024 to September 2025.

During that time, I was dealing with what I didn’t initially recognize as anxiety and began counseling again. I had been telling myself things like, “I’m not enough.” Throughout the sabbatical, the Lord gently but thoroughly stripped pride from my heart, even as I walked through a challenging season in my marriage, with my husband navigating PTSD of his own. The Lord used that time to calm my heart, mind, and nervous system after years of living in survival mode.

In the midst of it all, I published my first book, Focus Forward: A Mindfulness Journal, in December 2024.

Now, post-sabbatical, the Lord has done a deep healing work in my heart and has called me to serve at Bedrock as a discernment and prayer resource. He is also opening doors for me to speak to women’s ministries, where I share my message, “Renewed Minds & Unshakable Confidence.” I am currently writing a book on prayer that focuses on using prayer as a weapon against anxiety.

I am passionate about the freedom that only comes through Christ! My mission is to help women discover their full God-given potential and walk it out in true freedom and Holy Confidence.