Irma Martinez
My name is Irma Martinez and I'm 47 years old. I started out as Martinez, that was my maiden name. At the age of seventeen, I married and became Cardenas. My husband left me for another girl. At the age of eighteen, I was divorced and left to raise a baby girl by myself. I was the oldest of nine children and my dad didn't like the idea of my returning home with an extra mouth to feed.
I got kicked out of the house when I got involved with the "Town Freak", who was separated from his wife. He introduced me to marijuana, illicit sex, and asked me to move in; so we shacked up. When she found out, she came to pick up "her" husband. They moved out of the town so they could start over.
As for me, I was left pregnant. I knew I couldn't take care of a second baby, so I gave her up for adoption. That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I carried my baby for nine months, went through painful delivery, and was not even allowed to hold her. That was very painful! I later found out that the "Town Freak" had died from a stabbing downtown.
During my pregnancy, I was on a program for unwed mothers. I was sent to live with an Army-military family. The man was a cook, his wife was German, and they had four children. The oldest child was deaf and dumb. I took care of the children while their parents worked. One day two Mormons came to the door. After talking with them a little bit, they prayed with me and asked me if I wanted to join their religion. They gave me the "Book of Mormon" and I learned about Joseph Smith. I was very confused and I felt I needed something to fill the void in my life. I never had a relationship with my dad. I was the oldest and had to set an example, but I couldn't even do that right. I was raped at sixteen and never told my parents. I told my first husband but he just couldn't forgive me and that's why he left me.
I told my mother that I wanted to become a Mormon...She went BERSERK. She said, "You're a Catholic, you were born a Catholic, and it's a sin to change your religion (no it isn't)! Go to the priest and do a general confession (confess all your sins). Go to church every Sunday...teach Sunday school." I was never told to "REPENT!" I was to light candles and pray the rosary every day. That would make me a better Catholic...Yeah, right!! To no avail!!
I met a guy at work and his last name was Cardenas. He was separated from his wife, and since my dad had just kicked me out again, we started living together. I was looking for love in all the wrong places and with all the wrong men. We had a son and lived together for seven years, but he never divorced his wife and never married me!
Finally I left and got a place of my own. One day I lit a candle and almost burned my trailer home to the ground. Later a neighbor invited me to the Victory Temple. In June 1980, on a Wednesday, I got saved and had my first personal experience with Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. With no follow-up and hungry for God, I went from church to church searching...I even went to a church where a woman was preaching (weird)!
Alone and lost I backslid and opened the door to another man in my life. He had never been married but had twelve kids scattered everywhere. I stopped taking the pill so I wouldn't give in to temptation. I fell to temptation anyway and got pregnant with my 3rd son. He got up and left, and didn't marry me either. Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free! (You get nowhere when you don't wait.)
One day two Christians came to my door and after talking with them for a little bit, I told them that my mom wanted me to give this baby up for adoption. "NO!" They encouraged me by saying this is the cross I had to carry. This is the baby that is going to comfort me in my old age. He is going to give you joy and look after you. I kept my son and almost lost him to drugs, sex, and rock-n-roll (he was a skater), but today my son is saved and serving God!
I finally married again to a man whose mother was a Christian. She was saved but he wasn't. My name changed to Fava. We started attending The Door Christian Fellowship on Zarzamora street. He was from Mexico and embarrassed to use the head-phones so he wouldn't go to church with me. I remember Heather and Andy Anderson would pick up my kids and take them to church. Heather would always witness to me. I would attend services but my heart's desire was to serve God with my husband at my side. The day before LuAnn and Homer got married at the church on Imperial, my husband ran off with our landlady. I went to my baby sister's wedding with my heart broken and my own marriage broken. He divorced me and this time I did not want to seek comfort in a man but in Jesus Christ. But...Here I go again.
I fell for my third husband and my name changed to Rodriguez. He was a wolf in sheep's clothing. He went to church with me and accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior, but backslid very quickly. He turned out to be an alcoholic and cocaine user. He was very abusive towards me and would beat me daily! The first week we were married he confessed he had never wanted to get married because he was and still is a Player (a whore-monger). He left to Houston without me. Two months later he asked me to give "us" a second chance to try to work it out. I left my job at SBC and moved to Houston where he lived with his female cousin. I believe he was messing around with her. They were both horrible to me! Here I was in a new place with unfamiliar surroundings...neglected and unloved. I had a new job but the same husband and more abuse...more beatings! It was worse!!
My sister Mary Helen and her husband Joe were having a going-away party. They were going to preach in Mexico City so we came to San Antonio to visit. At about the same time, I went with my mom to a baby shower given for my sister Doris Cortex. It was there, on November 23, 1996, that Melissa Williams prayed with me and I re-dedicated my life to Jesus Christ. Right there in the middle of the room in front of my mom and everyone else, we prayed! We also prayed that God would bring me back safely from Houston. We prayed that God would make a way back for me, like Moses and the parting of the Red Sea. I called SBC and they gave me my job back! Praise God! THAT was God!! He provided me with a job and a way to provide for my son. My God still had his hand on me. Still merciful, even if I didn't deserve it!
I went back to Houston, hoping to get my things and leave. On Thanksgiving Day my husband got up and left; he said he didn't want to spend the day arguing with me...Praise God!! That was the open door I needed. When he left, I packed my car with my son's-- Phillip--help. On our way back to San Antonio, Phillip said to me, "I don't care if we don't get to eat turkey today as long as we're together; that's all that matter!"
God did not save me in Houston. He saved me here in San Antonio. He provided me with a job, with sisters who cared enough to pray for me, and a family to come home to. He provided me with a solid foundation, a new beginning with Jesus Christ. He gave me a new family at The Door Christian Fellowship! It's been five years since I left Houston, but not a day goes by that I don't forget that Jesus is my covering and my husband! He is the only man in my life and I have finally found love in the right place!!! He is in my heart!! Jesus has set me free! He changed my life. I no longer have the desire to have a man give me the happiness I need!
What I have found out is that a man will leave you but Jesus will NEVER leave you!!
Money...ill-gotten
Cigarettes...Beer...Drugs
Men never satisfied me!!
ONLY JESUS CHRIST FILLS THAT VOID IN MY LIFE!!!!