(For those who don't know, a testimony is the story of a Christian and how they came to know God. If you are interested in getting to know me a little better and learning how I came to the Lord, please continue reading. Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to comment.)
I was raised with very little spiritual beliefs. Neither of my parents were outwardly spiritual. In fact, it was within the last few years of my life that I really even asked what they believed in. My few experiences with a church were with friends when I was younger. I remember going with my neighbor a lot, and with my friend who lived down the street. It was nothing I made a habit of and, needless to say, I wasn’t left with much of an impact.
Fast forward to high school. I was all around a good kid. I maintained good grades. I had amazing friends who didn’t cause much trouble. I was a member of the school swim team, as well as active in the dance program. During my freshman year of high school, I had a class with this boy, Nadir, who was a sophomore. It didn’t take him long to make it clear that he had feelings for me, but for whatever reason, I didn’t return them. I finally went on a date with him my junior year, and the rest is — as they all say — history. It was basically him and I from then on. As our relationship progressed I realized how strong my feelings were for him. Five months into our relationship, I gave him my virginity on his 18th birthday. As far as I was concerned, life was pretty awesome. I was still living my usual life, but now I had a great sex life on top of it. What’s better, right?!
Shortly after high school graduation, I realized I wasn’t Nadir’s only interest. I was so torn apart that I can’t think of a combination of words that would do the emotion justice. All I can say is that he was what my life revolved around and suddenly he wasn’t anymore. I felt like I didn’t know how to breathe anymore. This is when I started partying. I needed to fill that void and alcohol did that for me.
That’s when Ariel and I became best friends. We were working at the same school for the summer and things just clicked between us. We were suddenly inseparable. Her comfort and friendship didn’t heal my wounds immediately though. But honestly, she was my guardian angel. She accompanied me to all parties and prevented me from making the really bad mistakes. The times when Ariel wasn’t there were tragic. I got drunk and smoked weed once and then proceeded to drive home. Another time I got high on cocaine. There was also a time that I had sex with one of my old swim teammates.
But during all of this craziness, I received a friend request from a high school friend on Facebook. It was Derek Foggy. I remembered him well. We had French and math together, and I really enjoyed talking to him when I did, but we didn’t have a special friendship or anything. For whatever reason, though, I clicked “accept”. At that time I had no clue what God was doing.
Derek and I began talking daily. We swapped our break-up stories. I confided intimate and personal details of my life. He was one of the first people I told when I had sex with my former teammate. He listened to all of my party horror stories without passing judgement. I suddenly found myself looking more and more forward to hearing from him, and feeling blue on the days I didn’t. I resisted my feelings for him for quite a while. Eventually I couldn’t take it anymore and we had our first date towards the end of February in 2010. In May we became an official couple. Our relationship progressed slowly, which I think we both needed.
By October of 2010, Derek had convinced me to attend church with him and his family. It’s an understatement to say I was nervous. I was mainly apprehensive about possibly offending someone, because I was not gonna pray or bow or give my money to something I didn’t understand. Everybody was so welcoming and friendly. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many smiling faces before. I kept attending church My soul was longing for truth.
For six months I attended church, learning and making friends. On April 4th, 2011, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. My life has taken off since then. Through my church and fellowship, I’ve learned more about Jesus and the Bible than anything else. Since becoming a Christian, God has worked miracles in my life through me, and it’s been a blessing to witness it all.
In May of 2013, Derek and I got married. God has made our marriage one of our biggest blessings. Seeing the changes we’ve both made since committing ourselves to one another in matrimony has been absolutely astounding. It could be nothing else but the Lord.
Currently God is pressing me to spend more time with Him, specifically in prayer. Being a newlywed in college makes for a busy life, but God still wants His time with me. God is also pushing me to forgive those that I feel have wronged me, and I am pathetically struggling with this, but I know that He will see me through. Some of my favorite Bible verses are as follows:
I was raised with very little spiritual beliefs. Neither of my parents were outwardly spiritual. In fact, it was within the last few years of my life that I really even asked what they believed in. My few experiences with a church were with friends when I was younger. I remember going with my neighbor a lot, and with my friend who lived down the street. It was nothing I made a habit of and, needless to say, I wasn’t left with much of an impact.
Fast forward to high school. I was all around a good kid. I maintained good grades. I had amazing friends who didn’t cause much trouble. I was a member of the school swim team, as well as active in the dance program. During my freshman year of high school, I had a class with this boy, Nadir, who was a sophomore. It didn’t take him long to make it clear that he had feelings for me, but for whatever reason, I didn’t return them. I finally went on a date with him my junior year, and the rest is — as they all say — history. It was basically him and I from then on. As our relationship progressed I realized how strong my feelings were for him. Five months into our relationship, I gave him my virginity on his 18th birthday. As far as I was concerned, life was pretty awesome. I was still living my usual life, but now I had a great sex life on top of it. What’s better, right?!
Shortly after high school graduation, I realized I wasn’t Nadir’s only interest. I was so torn apart that I can’t think of a combination of words that would do the emotion justice. All I can say is that he was what my life revolved around and suddenly he wasn’t anymore. I felt like I didn’t know how to breathe anymore. This is when I started partying. I needed to fill that void and alcohol did that for me.
That’s when Ariel and I became best friends. We were working at the same school for the summer and things just clicked between us. We were suddenly inseparable. Her comfort and friendship didn’t heal my wounds immediately though. But honestly, she was my guardian angel. She accompanied me to all parties and prevented me from making the really bad mistakes. The times when Ariel wasn’t there were tragic. I got drunk and smoked weed once and then proceeded to drive home. Another time I got high on cocaine. There was also a time that I had sex with one of my old swim teammates.
But during all of this craziness, I received a friend request from a high school friend on Facebook. It was Derek Foggy. I remembered him well. We had French and math together, and I really enjoyed talking to him when I did, but we didn’t have a special friendship or anything. For whatever reason, though, I clicked “accept”. At that time I had no clue what God was doing.
Derek and I began talking daily. We swapped our break-up stories. I confided intimate and personal details of my life. He was one of the first people I told when I had sex with my former teammate. He listened to all of my party horror stories without passing judgement. I suddenly found myself looking more and more forward to hearing from him, and feeling blue on the days I didn’t. I resisted my feelings for him for quite a while. Eventually I couldn’t take it anymore and we had our first date towards the end of February in 2010. In May we became an official couple. Our relationship progressed slowly, which I think we both needed.
By October of 2010, Derek had convinced me to attend church with him and his family. It’s an understatement to say I was nervous. I was mainly apprehensive about possibly offending someone, because I was not gonna pray or bow or give my money to something I didn’t understand. Everybody was so welcoming and friendly. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many smiling faces before. I kept attending church My soul was longing for truth.
For six months I attended church, learning and making friends. On April 4th, 2011, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. My life has taken off since then. Through my church and fellowship, I’ve learned more about Jesus and the Bible than anything else. Since becoming a Christian, God has worked miracles in my life through me, and it’s been a blessing to witness it all.
In May of 2013, Derek and I got married. God has made our marriage one of our biggest blessings. Seeing the changes we’ve both made since committing ourselves to one another in matrimony has been absolutely astounding. It could be nothing else but the Lord.
Currently God is pressing me to spend more time with Him, specifically in prayer. Being a newlywed in college makes for a busy life, but God still wants His time with me. God is also pushing me to forgive those that I feel have wronged me, and I am pathetically struggling with this, but I know that He will see me through. Some of my favorite Bible verses are as follows:
- 2 Corinthians 4:16-17
- Galatians 2:20
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
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