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Hi everyone. My name is Lindsey, I’m 13 years. I was born in March on a Tuesday and was in church the next Sunday. So as you can tell I was raised in church. I grew up with my mom taking me and my sisters to church. My father never attended church but he always let us go. (Thank God for that!)
I accepted Christ when I was 8 years old. I had seen my sisters baptized and also wanted to be. However I never fully understood the meaning of being saved. I couldn’t really grasp the whole concept of what it really meant. I think I just wanted to do what my sisters had done before. Kind of like I was following in their foot steps. Well, I talked with my pastor and was baptized the next Sunday. I continued on with my regular life as if nothing had happened.
Two years later I was at a church camp called Camp Wild Kingdom. I thought it was going to be a good excuse to go water tubing and swimming in the lake. Well, in a way it was but it affected my life a whole other way. I had realized that my life wasn’t pleasing God. I just seemed like another person in the crowd but I wanted to be a good Christian and I wanted to live a life that God wasn’t ashamed of. The next school year, 5th grade, went fairly well. I made pretty good grades and did my best to stay away from the crowd. I would never use cuss words like my friends would and I never kissed any boys like my friends would. I thought I was doing pretty good in my life with God. I mean I didn’t follow the crowd, right? WRONG!! In a way I was following the crowd. I never read my Bible or did a devotion or anything else except go to church. I never had a personal relationship with Him.
My 6th grade year all went down hill. My grades were awful, I had so many boyfriends you would think I was collecting them, I did MANY horrible things and not very many of my friends were Christians. I had no relationship at all with Christ. My Sundays were used to show off my new skirt or dress. I didn’t enjoy church at all. I found it boring and meaningless. But I always knew that there was something missing in my life and I knew it was God but I didn’t want it to be. I didn’t want any of my friends to know that I was Christian. If they did know it would hurt my "reputation." So I never turned to God during my 6th grade year.
The summer after 6th grade I was invited to go on a youth trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama. Once again I thought it would be an excuse to go to the beach and see hot guys. Well, I think it was the second night of worship I realized that I wanted to live for God and I wanted to start my life over. I talked to a lady in the back that happened to be my friend’s mom. She prayed with me and I felt so much better. That night I also talked to my friend, Emily. I told her what I had done that past year and she also prayed with me. That week changed my life dramatically. I was ready to live my life right for God.
The next year, which was 7th grade (last year), went pretty good. I let all of my friends know that I was a Christian and most of them already were. I did have a few boyfriends but I never let them take over my life. I thought that I had a pretty good relationship with God. At least I thought I did.
A few weeks ago I went on a youth trip called WOW Weekend in Toccoa, GA. During this trip I had many doubts about Jesus. I thought, how could He truly be real? How could anything this huge and magnificent be real? I had never REALLY thought this through. I sat down with my friend’s mom, Mrs. Wanda, and talked to her. She reassured me that God was real. She told me that if I read my Bible everyday and had a time for God each day that He will make himself known. At that point I realized that I had NEVER read my Bible before. I had never just picked it up and started reading. I had never had a quiet time in my life! I was so ashamed of myself. This was the reason I was having doubts, I had never studied His word. I then knew what I had to do. I needed to study the Bible and walk with Christ daily.
After I talked to Mrs. Wanda, I also talked to the preacher’s wife, Mrs. Stacie. She also told me that I needed to read the Bible and study His word in order to have a close relationship with Him. She told me not to have a quiet time because they’re boring but instead to have a loud time with Him. She said to mix it up each day. Like have a bubble bath while reading the Bible or read a Psalm and then do what it says. She said to just have fun with God. She made me feel A LOT better about studying my Bible. She also recommended a study Bible for girls called "Revolve." (This is an incredible Bible and is full of tips for girls as well as Bible studies to follow.) Mrs. Wanda and Mrs. Stacie have impacted my life greatly and I will never forget them.
Since WOW Weekend I have started a Bible study with two of my friends, Katie and Whitney. It seems like everyday I read my Bible my day seems to go well. God has worked so much in my life and I hope that when I see Him in Heaven I will want to run to Him and He will want to run to me and tell me that I did what He wanted me to do.
God Bless |
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