My Story

Well, I feel it is about time to give my testimony of what the Father has done in my life. Just a reminder, this blog is not to glorify myself but to glorify the Father and who He is and what He has done in my life. Most of my close friends have either heard my testimony or lived it with me. This is going to be the full version (somewhat) and if you make it to the end, you may or may not get a cookie.

I was born and started attending a Southern Baptist church. I have always been Southern Baptist at the same church since the date of my birth. I was saved in the fall of my third grade year and baptized shortly after. I went to the new believers Sunday School class and everything. I even have the certificate to prove it. I thought that was enough.

Fortunately, it’s not. Christianity, I have learned, is not about going to heaven. Yeah, heaven is going to be the best thing since sliced bread, but being where my Father is will be so much better than heaven. I would rather be with my Father than heaven without my Father.

Back to the story. Well, I went through the rest of elementary school and middle school and was very successful in avoiding the “bad stuff.” I wouldn’t say that I wasn’t a Christian or was a lukewarm Christian, just that I didn’t get it. When you are saved at a young age (and I don’t discourage being saved at a young age at all), you get that you will go to heaven and why Jesus came to die for you sins, but having a relationship with Him isn’t what you get. You pray for safety, the new toy for Christmas, and world peace, but you don’t really get the whole “relationship” concept.

Let’s fast forward to April 2009. I’m in the tenth grade, sitting on a Wednesday night in youth group hearing the gospel presented. I had heard it hundreds of times (or it seemed like it), but something about this time was different. It wasn’t the message being presented, the way it was presented, where it was, but God had a special tug being pulled on my heart. I decided that night, in silence that that was the point that I was going to change. I would read my Bible and give the “all-in” Christianity a try.

I began reading Nehemiah. It is a great story for someone who has just rededicated their life. It is about rebuilding, confession of sin, resettling, faithfulness, and dedication. Then I read Esther, 1 & 2 Samuel, and kept going. I just kept reading. Well, at that point it was summer.

Then I met Anna Ralston. She didn’t change my life, but God did through her. She showed me what the Father looks like. She showed me that you can be crazy about Jesus. She showed me that I can live a life that is Biblical in this society. I realized that we weren’t called to just call ourselves Christians. I realized that we were called to be followers of Christ. Calling yourself a Christian and being a follower of Christ are two totally different things. Radically different things.

I went to a little camp called Super Summer and experienced the Father. I learned about things that you don’t hear talked about in the church such as the Doctrine of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and the Trinity. I learned things that I thought only preachers needed to know.

Ok, so in short, that summer was a life changing experience. Then I went back to school. At first it went well, but then I got into a rut. A deep, muddy, ditch that I couldn’t get out of. I was developing a relationship with Christ and couldn’t understand why I felt so bad. I don’t think it was circumstances that I was in this rut, but rather the desire to go deeper and feeling so alone in that feeling. It got a little better as the semester went on, but not great.

The next semester I have named “the worst five months of my life.” Not trying to be dramatic, but it truly was. I was stuck in my life and had nowhere to go. Trying to get out of a rut isn’t easy, but God is faithful.

Through many prayers and great friends, God pulled me out of the situations I was drowning, so to speak, in. Some people may think that because you are a Christian you will have a great day, every day. Hate to say it, but life is hard. It isn’t easy. Being a Christian doesn’t exclude you from being in storms. But, Christianity does give you a way out of the storm.

VERY LONG story short, God plucked (pretty much) every bad influence, or thing that was tearing me down, out of my life. He placed a wonderful friend, Jessica Letson, in my life and blessed me with a great Sunday School teacher and mentor, Heather Anderson, and many others to help me through this difficult time. I am so thankful for them.

Ok, so back to the story. This past year I have named, “the most rewarding year in my life.” I was able to see some of the people I have known for my entire life grow massively in the Father after praying for them and sitting patiently in Sunday School and Bible studies waiting for them to “get it.” These girls, after “getting it” have been a TREMENDOUS blessing to my life. Thank you to Caroline, Meg, Jordan, and Tara for being there for me this year. I will really miss y’all.

God also blessed me with a great friend base through IB. Though I know too much about these people, I am truly blessed and I don’t deserve it. Thanks to Mindy, Miracle, Connor, Jalen, John, Allysa, and Christian for not letting me go insane. It is going to be such a shock not having y’all in my classes next year. It will definitely be a new experience having different people in each of my classes.

Now, I am not saying these things to brag about what God has done in my life. I am saying these things as a sinner who does not deserve the blessings of her Father. Only by grace am I saved, which I don’t deserve, and only by grace am I blessed.

This past year I have experienced God in so many ways. The devil has tried to take away my happiness (such as step and the flu during D-NOW and fifteen billion papers due on the same day), but the Father provides me with joy.

Though I have had weeks where I have had less than 15 hours of sleep and am running on an unhealthy amount of caffeine, I am so blessed because I am alive and have great friends and a great support system. I am also really blessed to have a heavenly Father who knows all and will hold my hand through the good and the bad.

The Father has also provided me with a great college that I will be attending and has blessed me with a way to pay for it. He has blessed me with a great roommate, Kristyn, who has a heart for God. I can’t wait to see what else He has in store for me as I go to Carson-Newman and serve him there.

Ok, if you made it to the end, congrats, go get yourself a cookie. (I never said you would get the cookie from me) Thank you to everyone who has blessed me. I would really like to write more, but then you would deserve an entire box of cookies, and that might make you sick. So, for your health, I will end now. I hope to write more about my life and what the Father has blessed His undeserving child with, but for now, this is it.

The grace of the LORD Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.-2 Corinthians 13:13

Meghan