My journey to becoming closer to God
I always knew there was a heaven and a hell. I always believed there was something bigger than me, a God. Though, growing up I had no clue what I was believing in. Absolutely no idea. Both my parents grew up involved in church. My mom was bought up in a White Pentecostal Church in Mobile, Alabama. My dad, on the other hand, started going to the Apostolic Church in his early childhood but later started to follow the movement of the Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois. Even though they both were religious growing up they never got us kids involved in church at a young age but always made sure we knew who God was and what he did for us.
From the ages of 1–13 I dabbled in church, I sometimes would go to service with my grandma at her Baptist Church. There, it was filled with elderly people who seemed to know almost everything about me even though we never met. I found it hard to understand what was happening there because I had never read the bible and everyone seemed 10 steps ahead of me when it came to the spiritual journey. I was so frustrated with myself. I didn’t understand what was happening. With anger and confusion, I didn’t want to come to church.
In 8th grade, a family friend invited my family to come to Westside Family Church with them one Sunday. With all honesty, I only went because I had a major crush on the boy that was my age in the family. The service was good and way different from the church experience I had prior to the service. Everyone there was so nice and welcoming making it so much of an easier, relaxing experience. Even though my family and I loved the church we weren’t consistent in attending. We were busy with softball and other commitments so, my family and I didn’t try and make time for church.
This past June my dad and I made an effort to go to church every Sunday unless I had softball that interfered with it. I started trying to understand what was going on better and try to devote myself to the Lord and learn how I could better becoming one of God’s children. Trying to learn the Bible and trying to understand what was going on wasn’t easy, but I continued to try to learn and study the scriptures. As I continue to study I found out what one of my favorite verses in the eleventh book of the New Testament, also known as The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians. “I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me”(Philippians 4:13). This verse caught my eye the first time I read it. I felt weirdly lifted spiritually, a feeling I haven’t felt before, but I loved it. Gradually it became less and less arduous to read the Bible. I fell more and more in love with this book. It seems crazy that someone could create a relationship with an inanimate object but I felt like the Bible was somebody who always knew what to say.
When I started to have some trouble in my life I got a daily devotions book for teen girls. It was so bizarre to me that this book seemed to have the answers to everything I was questioning. It made me rethink so many things in my life and help me through so many situations that I had absolutely no clue what to do in. I continued to read my devotions and study my bible and I grew closer and closer to the Lord.
One Sunday in-service there was a speech about getting involved in the church and they had set up these groups for people to come and see about the different groups of the church. Being involved in video at school I naturally gravitated towards the tech and production team because I’ve always loved working with cameras and I thought nothing could be better than to serve the Lord while doing something I love. It was amazing meeting the other members of the team. Everyone was so welcoming and inclusive and taught me so much more about cameras than I had known before. Not only that but I got to help in the children’s room working with little kids who wanted to learn about their faith at such a young age, which was awesome.
In November, it had been about 4 months of me going to church consistently every week as well as studying the bible and reading my daily devotions. I felt closer to God than I had before, I finally understood what God had done for me. In the church, they had brought up the fact that they were having family baptism night at the church and that everyone who felt that it was time to give their life to God should come. I felt compelled to go but I was nervous and didn’t know if I was really to take that step. After talking with my dad and the rest of my family I decided I was ready to take that step and further my relationship with God.
On November 18th it was baptism night. If I said I was nervous that be an understatement, I was a wreck but I was also excited about this big step in my life. As I waited and cheered on everyone else on their new life journey I thought about how much better my life was going to be. Finally, it was my turn to go. I got into the baptismal, my family all gathered around the baptismal huddled in close all reaching out to touch me to show their support. The preacher asked me if I was ready to give my life to the lord and without a doubt the answer was Yes! As he started to lower me into the water I had a flashback of everything I had done to get to this point and it only made me more excited for it to happen. When I brought back up from the water I felt this overwhelming sense of peace run through my body. Right then, I knew this was the right path and journey for me to take and I couldn’t be more eager to find out where it takes me.
