A Story of Faith

It was 2012.

It was a hard year. Rather, a dark, mean, ugly few months actually. Because God rescued me.

My daughter was two and a half. And I can't remember why life was so "hard" back then, I mean, other than having a two year old. But I do remember the feelings. I remember the dark black cloud lingering above me. The mask of unhappiness that covered my face, the exhaustion, the tears, the days on end of doing nothing, of just wanting to stay in bed all day. I didn't even recognize myself. It was so hard to find joy in anything.

I prayed to God. To guide me and help me to find a church. I needed a rescuer, a hero to pull me out of this pit I'd fallen into. And God was there.

The very next day, a beautiful August day, Leah and I went to a local park for a barbeque with my mom. I didn't actually want to be there, the whole idea wasn't appealing at all. And then I seen these huge Clydesdale horses pulling a wagon full of people around the park. That sparked my interest, and I took Leah by the hand and followed the horses. Just 200 meters away there was a bunch of bouncy castles, face painting, free food(!!), and tons of people. There was also a live band (how did I not hear that?).

I walked up to one of the stand that was set up handing out information packs and realized this was a local church event. Now that I had an excited two year old pulling on my arm to go to the bouncy castles, I obviously had to find out how much all this was going to cost. It was all free. Everything. Food and all. I happily took the information bag and quickly excitedly walked back to tell my mom about it all.

I was overwhelmed with gratitude and I praised God for his marvellous works. This was the kind of church I was yearning for all along.

I started attending regularly and got involved with a couple bible study groups, and my love for God grew and grew fast. 

On November 4, 2012 I was baptised and born again. It was beautiful and completely amazing. I could feel God with me the entire time. He gave me to confidence and courage to speak in front of a huge congregation and it went wonderfully.

Here is (some of) my speech:
A lot of you probably haven't met me yet, but I've been attending _______ Church since August. I'm so thankful for your Family Fun Day at _____ Park this summer. I was so amazed that single church held this entire event for the whole community for free. Right then and there I realized God was speaking to me. This was the type of church I've always wanted to be apart of.
I grew up knowing only a United Church, so coming not only to a Baptist Church but a Baptist Church with a huge congregation and not know a single person was a huge step for me. I'll admit, the first day I was so nervous that I drove around the block, procrastinating and debating on even coming.
To say my journey started there wouldn't entirely be the truth. However, I can for certain say that this was when my decision to follow Jesus was made.
As a small child I attended a small Sunday School. For the short time that this lasted, God made a huge impact on me. Little did I know that before I would turn six, my life would be turned upside down and made into heartache and chaos until after high school.
For the majority of my life, I grew up naïve to the Lord. Inventing my own beliefs rather than picking up the Bible and educating myself on the Truth.
I've made many poor choices during those sometimes difficult high school years. I know all of it could have been avoided or made easier had I put my faith into the Lord.
Jesus has always been in my heart, clinging to my soul, persistent with His love. And even though I was blinded by my own stubbornness, He never gave up on me.
These past three months have been eye opening and life changing as I've come to know and love our Lord Jesus.
Since I started attending ____Church, I've joined a couple study groups and have met some great ladies. And I just want to thank all of you for playing such an important role in this spiritual journey of mine. I would also like to thank all of you who came today to witness this. I'm looking forward to getting to know more of you as I learn to walk with God.

A good friend I had recently met at the church agreed to read a scripture for my baptism. She chose the above scripture to read. She's now living a serving in Africa, but it was such an honor and blessing having met her.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

:)