“The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.”-Psalms 18:2 NLT
“Wait a minute you’re a Christian?”
This is a question that I get so many times as I tell people who don’t know me that well (all my friends know that I am, and I have some close Christian friends as well) about the young adult group that I belong to whenever we have our weekly meeting or I ‘m off to a fun fellowship night that someone planned. Yes I am a Christian, and proud of it! But it doesn’t mean that I have go around all prim and proper with a Bible in my hand, but rather its the total opposite as I’m usually wearing jeans/shorts with a tshirt and a sweatshirt over it plus I wear a hat almost all the time too (I do clean up nicely when the need arises tho) and my physical stature is a bit intimidating (I’ve actually had people tell me that as their 1st impression of me), but the truth is that I’m as gentle and open as they come. This part of me comes from the foundation that I grew up with, and that foundation was in a loving Christ-centered home by my parents who were raised Christians themselves, and passed those beliefs to me which in turn would play a critical role in shaping my own foundations of who I am as far as my faith goes and those special people who I’ve met and befriended along the way who have also had an impact on me and my faith journey.
My Early Foundation
My home church is The First Presbyterian Church of Northville, and it is the only church that I have known for I was baptized into the church when I was only a few months old, and have never left. Like every kid, I attended Sunday School, and we had a mid week after school faith program called Kingdom Kids (later Logos) this program was essential in the development of my faith from an age where I was easily moldable as it taught me good values. It was because of both these programs as well as good mentors that I came to love the Lord, and in return it laid the foundation that would come to grow into a huge part of my identity as I grew into my teens and now adulthood.
GAP (Middle School)/APEX (High School)
As a Christian we never stop learning about God and Jesus as we are constantly growing in our faith, and youth group was where I learned about spiritually maturing and focusing on God to guide me in my life. Middle school was an awkward time for me as I was still trying to find myself in all the changes that were taking place with me in my life, but it wasn’t until I started high school that my faith really started to head in the right direction. My freshman year of HS was when I was confirmed as a full member of my congregation, and that was a role that I took very seriously for to me I was an honor to be a member of my church. It was also thanks to confirmation that a awesome women took me under her wing, and became a mentor to me during my journey. Youth group was awesome for me because I had a support group of kids my age that I could go to if I needed to, and I had a youth pastor who I just adored my senior year. Her name was Heather, and she had such a passion for leading us and teaching us God’s word in a way that we could apply it to our everyday life. She challenged us in our faith, and as a result I grew even more personally in my walk with the Lord. Heather brought back the tradition of a High School summer mission trip that I took part in, and it was because of that I discovered my passion for mission & outreach and that passion as remained with me as a young adult. I will do a more in depth post about people in my life who have impacted my faith and how I came to be called to mission work, but I figured I mention both of these things here since it goes along as part of my faith foundations.
College
Continuing to grow in my faith while going to college was a challenge since I was so focused on doing well in classes as well as a member of the Track team, but somehow I did thanks to two Christian organizations on campus and meeting some Christian women who were a part of a Bible study. All of these things were a much needed refuge during the stressful times that college can bring, and though those stressful times, I only got stronger in both mind and spirit.
Young Adulthood
Three words: Bible Study Fellowship (BSF)=lifesaver
Where do I even begin with this one? For BSF is just so amazing on many levels as far as I’m concerned. First of all, finding this group showed me that I am not the only Christian young adult in the Metro Detroit area, and I have been blessed on so many levels by those who I’ve met as a member of BSF, and am honored to call many of them friends. I am in my 9th year with BSF, and we are studying the book of Romans. I can truly say that it has helped build and strengthen that foundation that was set when I was a kid so much more and in so many ways for it has made me a much more confident Christian, and prepared me for what I might face out on World Race. Again I will talk about BSF more in a later post, but consider this an introduction
Sorry this is such a long post, but as you can see my faith is a major part of who I am and how I live my life.
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Your fellow Sister in Christ,
Bonnie
Psalms 18:2
