Ten years ago, on December 10, 2000, God saved me and radically changed my life. Prior to accepting Jesus as my Savior I did have some knowledge of who He was from going to church with my grandmother as a little girl. I could sing “Jesus Loves Me” and I did believe that song to be very true.
I was like most people living without Jesus. I didn’t think I was a bad person; in fact I felt I was doing fairly well. I lived my life to please others; whether by making good grades to find acceptance with my parents or in the friendships and relationships I chose as a teenager and in college.
The Lord allowed the relationships I relied on the most to crumble all around me. He allowed my heart and my will to break into a million pieces, only for me to reach the end of myself and the lowest point in my life. It was at time I could only look up to Him. I am thankful for friends who were able to show me the road to true life through a relationship in Jesus Christ. It was during this time that they took me to church and I heard for the first time that there was a difference between knowing who Jesus is in your “head” versus knowing Him in your “heart.” I knew at that moment that I needed and wanted to know this Jesus they were talking about. For several nights after that service, I would pray that I needed God and I wanted Him to take control of my life. I knew that He was the one who was Lord over my life. It was hard for me to accept that He had died on the cross for my sins, but it was so overwhelming to believe that He did it because He loved me so much. It wasn’t until the next Sunday that I walked the aisle to discuss my decision with a minister and he explained to me that if I truly meant what I was praying every night that I was saved and that I was a child of the King. I was so relieved, overwhelmed and changed.
Over the next few months, God replaced all of my old ways with ones that honored Him. My life and every part of me was made new. It was an exciting time. He continues to change me and grow me to this day. The life that I experience through Christ is greater than I could have ever dreamed and it is all because of the marvelous grace of God.