The Day I Became a Christian

I love blogging.  Now that I am not working as much you would think that I would have more time to blog more regularly but it just isn't on my "list."  What am I talking about?  I don't make lists!!  Hmm...maybe I should.  That might help.  I digress....where was I?  Blogging....it helps me to keep track of our ever so fast life.  It helps me to feel like I am processing different thoughts and feelings.  I am a processor.  And my hope is that my blogging will also benefit others that read it.  Maybe you can relate to where I am in life somehow or you have dealt with some of the same things that I have.  My biggest hope is that it points others to Christ and if any of my readers are not Christ followers that they know what that means and how to do that.  

Today, in this post, I am going to share a part of my testimony....the road that lead me to Christ, how easy it was to trust in Him, and how you, too can do that if you haven't already.

I grew up in a home in the DFW area that was not the best place for a child to be.  Oh, don't get me wrong, I was happy for the most part and it wasn't always bad.  It was a home filled with lots of love from my Granny and Papa and my mom and dad when they weren't doing drugs.  I am sure they loved me all of the time, but when you are under the influence of drugs, it is really hard to show a child the appropriate kind of love.  I grew up with cousins and aunts and uncles.  I don't want you to think that everything about my childhood was horrible but there was a large part of it that was.  Like I said, there were drugs, I witnessed many episodes of domestic violence, I lived with grandparents and aunts/uncles while my parents were trying to "figure things out."  I feared that someday I would come home from school and my mom would not be alive.  I saw things that no one should ever see, especially a little girl my age.  Yet, I didn't know any better.  I remember being scared most of the time but I remember never wanting to leave my parents' side.  God protected me all of this years for a reason.  I knew that I was being kept safe but I was not sure really who God was and that He was the One preparing me for what my life would be like later.  He had big plans for me!

My mom finally stopped doing drugs and she and I rode a Greyhound bus from Dallas to Hope, Arkansas which marked the last time that we left my dad after about 50 times of doing so before.  I was one month shy of 14, I was angry at my mom, I was bitter, and I did not want to leave my friends and my school.  I was miserable for the first several months of living there.  We moved in November 1994 and in February the following year, I was invited by a friend at school to go to her church Valentine's party.  I had the best time.  I met some wonderful people who really seemed like they cared about me even though they had just met me.  It was refreshing and confusing all at the same time.  I went with this friend several times on Wednesday nights to this small church for awhile and quit going during the summer.  Then, the following August, my life changed.

My friend asked me again to go to church with her in August.  I was to spend the day with her and her family.  We went to church that Sunday morning, then a youth rally that afternoon, church again that evening, and then a youth back to school party that night at the home of Christi and Charlie Zumwalt.  I went to church that morning and did not understand all of the statements about being saved.  I wasn't sure what I was in danger of.  :)  That afternoon at the youth rally God really started speaking to me.  There was a sweet girl that sang and gave her testimony about becoming a Christian and she sang the song "Jesus Will Still Be There."  I knew that something was missing in my life.  We went back to church that evening and I began asking questions.  At the youth rally that night, I spoke with a few friends and I asked Jesus to come live, rule and reign in my heart.  I recognized that I was a sinner and that God sent his Son, Jesus to die on the cross for those sins.  I understood that nothing I can do can separate from His love and that He will be with me forever to help me live on this earth.  I was so excited that I would live forever with Him in heaven.  Hell did not sound like a good option and before this day, that is where I was headed. I did not understand everything that night but it began my walk with Christ.  It was August 27, 1995.  

That day marks a very special day in my life.  Has it always been easy?  NO!  Have I messed up?  More than I can say.  There have been times when I wondered if I could even be a Christ follower because of the choices I have made.  God does not ask us to be perfect, He only asks us to rely on Him to show us the way to live.  He is faithful.  He protected me and I know that He lives within me. God's grace is sufficient and He forgives.  It does not matter what you have done or where you have been, Christ can save you and Christ WILL forgive you!!!  He wants to.  If you think it's too bad, believe me, it's not.  Satan is good at telling us lies.  

I walked the aisle at church the next week and was baptized showing others that I knew that Christ loves me and died for my sins on September 10, 1995.  

If you have questions about this, please PLEASE let me know.  I would love to talk with you!!