I don’t remember a lot before Jesus Christ entered the door to my sinful heart. I grew up in a Christian home and had family to look up to such as my aunt Dee Dee, mom, Deana, Jeff, my dad and cousin Amberli. But I still had no one to turn to for the answers I needed or relationship to base my beliefs upon.
I knew the time was coming to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and saivor at the age of 7. At FBNS one morning I stood up and without hestitation I walked to the altar. I still remember whispering into pastor Al’s ear and saying “I want God to come into my heart so He will always keep me on the right track!”
Though my heart changed that day, my stubborn mind didn’t. I still was living for myself and not God. I read my devotional with mom and dad every night but it went through one ear and the out the other until our recent mission trip where God used me to lead three girls to Him. By this experience I learned I’m here for a reason, which is to let God use me for His purpose.
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My life before Christ was like any 4 year old’s life. I had a mom, dad, and sister who were pretty much my life. Then I got to that point in my life where I started to pray at the dinner table. Then as time went on my mom and dad started a family devotion and I prayed sometimes after the devotion. But I wasn’t praying out of my heart; I was just praying like I would hear my mom and dad praying. And I didn’t really know who or what I was praying to. Of course, I knew there was a big God who loved me and I learned about Him in Sunday School, but I didn’t know Him. I knew I needed something else in my life but I just didn’t know how to get it.
A couple months after we started the family devotion, my parents started talking to me about how Jesus came down to earth and died on the cross for my sins. There were so many things that I realized the more they talked to me. My parents waited until I understood everything completely, and then my dad and I were talking in his truck when I told him I wanted Jesus to come into my heart. So then and there he prayed with me, and Jesus was with me forever! But that’s not where my story ends. My life didn’t change; I mean, I knew I had Jesus in my life and Iwent to church, but I didn’t know what it meant to be a Christian. But my first year at Children’s Camp I felt the Holy Spirit touch my heart and that night I rededicated my life to the Lord.
My life has totally changed since Christ entered it. Sometimes I think about what my life would be like without Him and it would be COMPLETELY empty! The Lord has been with me through everything, and I love spending time in His word and talking to Him. The thing about talking to him is that he always listens. I love being one of his children and serving him and he changed my life FOREVER!
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I don’t remember too much what my life was like before Christ. I was only 8 years old when I made the decision to follow Jesus. It is truly a blessing that I was surrounded by Godly people that were so influencial in my life.
I remember being in my bedroom when I was 8 years old, wondering if I really accepted Jesus at a young age of 5 like I told everyone I did. I didn’t know for sure if I had really understood that I needed Jesus to be Lord of my life personally because He died for my sins. Just to be sure, I thought I had to keep asking God (like He didn’t hear me). My mom then shared with me many verses in the Bible including John 11:25 “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” I knew from that verse that I will always live in heaven after I die because Christ is the only way, and I never have to worry again about hell or God not hearing my plea to be saved. Also John 10:28 says, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”
Since I have had Christ in my life, it has changed my perspective on everything. To know I have a personal relationship with a Holy, powerful, loving God who made the universe puts me in a state of awe. Just looking at creation says so much. It is totally incredible that He cares for me so much, that He offers a perfect plan of salvation for me to accept willfully, not forced, or based on anything I could ever do. Even though I will never be perfect and I still sin, my relationship with Him through the Bible and prayer, has affected many decisions that have turned into wonderful blessings in my life. It also changes my perspective when I realize I am on this earth only a short time and I know only what is done for Christ will last forever.
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I grew up in a good Italian Catholic home. My dad was a general manager for a nation-wide construction company so we moved quite often. Because of that I had attended 8 different schools, 2 of them being Catholic schools. I had been taught that Jesus was the Son of God, that He suffered and died for our sins, that He rose again and was in heaven with the Father. I went to church once in a while but always on Easter and Christmas. I knew that I could live the way I wanted and then on Saturday go to confession before I went to church the next day. The first couple years of my marriage was rocky. My husband was from a broken home, and when we argued the word “divorce” always seemed to come up. After 2 years of marriage my husband became a Christian. He would try to witness to me but I told him I didn’t want to hear it…I knew who Jesus was! After we had our first child, my husband lost his job and we had to leave Fort Lauderdale. I didn’t want to go because I didn’t want to leave my family. But we left and moved up to Greensboro, NC. We just HAPPENED to move next door to friends that I went to high school and college with. Kathy (who was Catholic when we were in school together) invited me to a Bible study. Being that I didn’t know anybody but her I thought this would be a great opportunity to meet people. Before that time I had never owned or read the Bible.
One evening when my husband was at work, I turned on the TV and a Billy Graham Crusade was on. I don’t know why I started listening, but I heard him ask if I was sure I would go to heaven if I died tonight. I didn’t know…I hoped I would. Then he said I didn’t have to doubt, that I could know for certain. All I had to do was believe that Jesus was the Son of God, that He died FOR ME, and rose again. So I knelt by my bed and asked Jesus to forgive me of all my sins, to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. He did and He gave me the joy I was looking for!
Life is not perfect but I have the hope that only Jesus Christ can give. He has been with me though the lows and highs of my life. He is my strength and my salvation. He forgives me when I fail and loves me. There is no greater joy that that.
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My family’s church attendance was sporadic throughout my childhood. We were a military family and moved often. We attended our base’s protestant services at Christmas and Easter and occasionally through the year. There were phases when we would get involved in a local church, but soon we would move again. Even though I was very young and with my family, our first move had a large impact on me. I felt alone, shy, and displaced. I don’t remember specifics, just that uncertain feeling.
While in elementary school, my mom got me involved in a Good News Club that met once a week at a house on base. I loved the woman who taught us that Jesus lived a sinless life, died on the cross for my sins, and then rose again. Her certainty and faith attracted my unsettled little heart. The Holy Spirit began to convince me that Jesus was the only true constant in life and He would be all I would need. As a young child, I was no Bible scholar, but I was so drawn to Jesus and what He had done for me. The day came that I decided I would raise my hand at the end of club to indicate I wanted to pray and ask Jesus to be my Lord. I didn’t hear a thing she taught that day. I couldn’t wait for her to get finished. I was so ready! Finally, club was over and she took me to a little office and helped me pray.
My family continued to move with the military. There were always new faces, houses, schools, and fears. However, I never felt tossed around again. In a childlike way, I knew my Father was watching my every move and was as close as my heartbeat no matter where I lived. Looking back, I can see how He raised me in faith and provided ways for me to learn about Him and how to trust Him even though I didn’t always have a “home church”. When I could finally put down roots, He planted me in this wonderful place to grow in Him and walk in His will. Sometimes I’m fearful about the unknown, or missing His plan for my life, or failing. It is then that I remember He said, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart… ” (Jer.1:5). I could never do anything to turn Him away now that I’m His. That is the security my heart needed as a child and still enjoys to this day. He is all I have ever needed. Oh, how I love Him!
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