Hello friends! Today I am doing something that's a bit different for this blog, but something that I want to do. My friend
Callie is hosting a link up to share the stories of how we came to know Jesus. I don't talk about my faith a lot here on my blog, but that is something that I intend to change. Not that I intend to become preachy and unrelatable. I just want it to be evident that there is something bigger in my life.
I know that some of you readers don't share the same faith as me, and that is okay. You don't have to read this if you don't want to. Just respect that it is important for me to put this out there.
My salvation story.
I grew up in a Christian home. In my circles, that is the most common way a testimony begins. And it's been only in the past year that I have come to realize what a huge blessing that is. Lots of people don't have the upbringing that I did, and I've become more thankful over the years for this Christian heritage I have.
My parents taught me about Jesus ever since I was born, and when I was starting school they put me in a small Christian private school (small being 30 students total). Every morning we did devotions as a school before starting on our work. Now, I don't remember the specifics, but I must have come home one day affected by what I had heard. Then that evening I overheard my sister asking my mom about Heaven and hell. All I knew after listening to their conversation was that I did not want to go to hell! So I prayed right where I was by myself, and I asked Jesus to please let me come live with Him, because I didn't want to go to hell forever.
Even though my motivation to get saved was childish fear, I genuinely loved Jesus when I was growing up. I loved reading stories in the Bible about people who were brave and lived for God, and I wanted to be like them. However, around the age of 12 I began to doubt that I was really saved. Almost every night I would ask Jesus into my heart again. This went on for a few years, and it was quite turbulent for me. I just had this fear that I wasn't really saved, and someday Jesus would just swoop back and take the Christians and I would be left alone (this was after the popularity of the Left Behind series and the pre-tribulation rapture, a doctrine I no longer agree with). Finally at age 16 I'd had enough, and I told God once and for all I was just going to trust that I was saved in His eyes. A few years later I was at my cell group meeting, and I was praying with some friends when I got confirmation once and for all that I was saved as long as I was trying to live for the Lord. Ever since then I have never doubted that I will be with Jesus when I die (or this life ends, whichever comes first).
One of the most important factors in my story is my search for a church (haha that rhymes). I went to one church growing up, but as I got older I began to feel out of place there. I wanted more than what they were giving me, but I had to go there because that's where my parents went. In grade 12 I started at a new school (a larger Christian high school [where I met my now husband!]) and I began going to youth group with my new friends. When I got my driver's license, I started attending services at that church. I felt like I was getting closer, but it still wasn't the right place for me.
In September 2005 a friend that I was re-connecting with invited me to come to her cell group at Southland Community Church. I had been to a few youth worship nights there and I really liked them, so I thought that it would be a good idea. So I joined this group and I really liked it, but I was still going to this other church. Finally, in December I attended a service at Southland, and from the very first time I walked in those doors, I knew I was home. The worship was real. The message was exactly what I needed to hear. For so long I had been listening to the same messages over and over. I was tired of the rote and stale. I needed so desperately to grow, and I knew that this was the place I was going to learn how. At 17 I walked into the church I am confident I will stay at for the rest of my life, unless the Lord leads us geographically elsewhere.
In fall of 2006 I got baptised, and a few months later I became a member of the church. It's been 6 years now, and I have grown more than I imagined I could. I feel like my whole life has changed since I found my home. God has become so real in my life, and even though I have a long way to go, and even though I've been through some very hard times spiritually in the past 2.5 years, He has carried me, spoken to me and comforted me. I can never doubt His presence in my life again.
I've discovered where my talents and spiritual gifts lie, and I just love to volunteer and spend time at church. Whenever I help lead on the worship team, I get filled from seeing the congregation worship. I also help with childcare in the nursery (it's helping to curb my baby fever somewhat haha) and sometimes I just can't wait to see what kind of awesome things these babies will grow up to do for the Kingdom.
Right now I'm at a place where God is beginning to reveal to me His purpose for my life. I'm entering a spring time in my walk, so it is time to grow and learn. I hope that it will become more evident in my life, but what I want the most is to help Jesus touch others with my story and with my life. I want to help others grow as well, and I want to do great things for the Kingdom, even though I'm not sure what those things will be yet.
I hope that you found my journey something you can learn from or take encouragement from. If you have any questions, please email me (address is on the side).
Go with God and be blessed today, my friends.
