I grew up in a Christian home and was fortunate to have parents who love the Lord. As a baby, I was baptized and dedicated to the church that I grew up in. Growing up, we went to church every Sunday, VBS every summer, my mom taught Sunday School and we always prayed as a family before meals and also before bed. And I think I thought this was it. I really liked going to church; I had a lot friends there and I knew that God loved me. As I got older though, I started facing challenges of my own, and decided to try and face them on my own. As a senior in High School, I hit what I would say was my first major low point. During this time I turned to boys and parties to find my worth as well as to feel that I was loved and that I was wanted. I also found myself often turning to drugs and alcohol to numb pains I didn’t want to feel and “stuffing” feelings I didn’t want to deal with. When I went to college, I longed for a fresh start but by the end of my first semester, I could see that I had found a pattern that had me heading straight back to senior year- the very thing I longed to run as far away from. It was during my second semester at Rowan that I heard about the Lord being relational and that God invites us into a relationship with Him and doesn’t want us to live a life in a mundane prayer routine. In the summer of 2013, I went on my first overseas mission trip and the Lord stirred my affections in so many ways. Those weeks spent in Botswana was when God really set my heart on fire for His people. Since that time, I have undergone a lot of major ups & downs – still have chosen sin over my father. Praise be to Yahweh that there is forgiveness, grace, and redemption. During these 4 short months on the race God has stripped me of so much – however not without inviting me into so much more. I don’t know what my future holds, I’m sure there will be struggles and hardship and I’m sure that the father, as always, will be right by my side. I’m sure that I am a sinner and that Jesus is my savior. That He has power to redeem people’s lives from the pits as well as restore what has been stolen, just like mine and today I choose to walk out of the shadows and stand before family/ friends/ peers and publicly state that Christ is my forgiver and Lord. And today celebrates the union of a sinner with her savior.
