About

My Testimony

As you know by now, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I grew up going to church and gave my heart to the Lord when I was 9 years old. I thought I knew what it meant to follow Jesus back then, and to some extent I did. As you all know though, life happens. We grow, we change, we learn, and our faith gets tested.

It wasn’t until I was about 15 that I really started growing in my faith and began to realize how much more there was to walking with the Lord. Walking an aisle and saying the “sinner’s prayer” was a great first step, but I was learning that true followers of Jesus walked with him daily…and I wasn’t doing that.

I would love to stop here and mention every person who ever impacted my walk with the Lord from birth until now, but I’ll spare you. I’d be remiss, however, if I didn’t acknowledge that I am who I am today because of so many faithful followers who took the time to disciple me over the years. They invited me into their real lives, not just the polished version that so many present on Sundays.

Through the influence of so many, I began to dig into God’s word for myself. I began memorizing scripture and got involved in small groups at my church. Before long, I had people taking me under their wing to help lead worship and small groups for younger students. I was learning that following Jesus wasn’t something that we do alone. We learn from those who are wiser in the faith and we share our lives with others who are seeking to follow Jesus too. In this way, we are being discipled as we disciple others. In short, we do life together. And in doing so, we find that the body of Christ is a beautiful being in which we all have a place. I need you. You need me. We need each other.

As I got older, got married, and began to raise a family of my own, I began to understand even more about how much the Father loves me and how much he wants me to surrender to him. That’s what I’d say the last 15 years of my life have been about: learning to walk in surrender. And notice I said learning. Ongoing. Present Tense. I’m still learning. Learning to surrender my wants, my thoughts, my opinions, my pleasures, my sins, my rights, my all. Some days are easier than others. Some days I want to shake my fist and hold tightly to what I think is best. Surely I’m not alone in this.

And that’s what brings me to today. We are not alone. We need each other to walk in this life as Jesus would have us walk. Following Jesus is daily surrender. I’m committed to following him and just maybe, he can use my life to lead others to do the same.