I grew up in a very broken family from birth, crippled with infidelity, divorce, and addiction. Through these painful experiences, I put my hope and worth in how my family viewed me and how well I could “fix” the people in my life. This led to low self-worth, and a lot of pain and resentment. Here is the shocker: We claimed to be a Christian family. Going to church every Sunday pretending everything was fine. It is like when a baby touches a hot stove for the first time because of the pretty red glow of the burner. If this is what Christianity looked like, I did not really care to be a part of it.

Coming to college, it was clearly explained to me for the first time that God loves me and created me to know Him personally and that His love is unchanging and not at all dependent on my actions. This was the first time in my life where I found consistency and comfort. I was overwhelmed that God’s son, Jesus, died on a cross for me and that He wanted a personal relationship with me. The God of the universe wanted a relationship with me? It was explained to me that I had to give up control of my life to God and believe what Jesus did on the cross in order to have a relationship with Him.

I willingly stepped into a personal relationship with God, where I found comfort and a love that is unchanging and unlike anything this world has to offer. I now live free from a life crippled by putting my worth in what other people think of me. My identity now rests in who I am as a child of God. 1 John 3:1 say, “See what kind of love the Father (God) has given to us, that we should be called children of God..”  This does not mean that bad things will not happen in life, and that from here on everything is rainbows and sunshine. It means that I trust in God’s plan for my life, and just because my circumstances change, does not me His love for me does too. I want you to know that God loves you, and has a wonderful plan for your life too!

Thank you for reading my story. Please contact me if you have any questions or comments. If you want to know more of what I believe please view the short video called “The Big Story.”