From loving the church to friendship with the living Savior

I knew Jesus loved me and I loved Him. I enjoyed my experiences at church and I wanted to be good so God would be pleased with me, too.

My parents were Christian and very involved in church. They took my brothers and me to church every time the doors were open. It was part of who we were and seemed natural to me.

When I was in 5th grade the pastor came to explain salvation to our Sunday School class. For the first time I realized that the great and wonderful love God displayed by sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross was not just a general gift to the world, but it was His gift to me personally. I recognized that I could never be good enough to please God and He knew it. His plan was to pay the price for my sins for me. But He was asking me to receive this fantastic gift. I said YES. I knew for sure then that I had received forgiveness for sins and the gift of eternal life.

After this salvation experience my religion turned into a personal relationship with Jesus. When I read the same Bible that I had read before, it was alive in a way I had not previously experienced. I sensed His presence with me when I was with friends. I wanted to obey Him, but not because I feared punishment. I just loved being His friend.

I remember I went to a YMCA camp that summer. Because I had read in Luke that when someone asks for something, you should give it and don't ask for it back (Luke 6:30), I was very selfless with my fellow campers. One girl in my cabin recognized this and took advantage by asking me to make her bunk bed and do extra chores. She was laughing at me, but I felt I had a special friendship with my living Lord that couldn't be taken or harmed. I truly just prayed that she would have that relationship with Jesus, too. As I grew and matured, there are some terrible times when I turned my back on Jesus. However, He never turned His back on me. Not only that, He drew me back to Himself and completely forgave my rebelliousness!

I know without a doubt that my home is in heaven. Living with Jesus, aware of His presence, growing in the knowledge of Him and seeing Him work in and through me - I have so much joy and peace even in difficulties. I have purpose and enjoy life in Christ and am so looking forward to eternity in His presence.