My Testimony

I am thankful for eternal life because I am reminded that this life on earth is not the end. I have hope because of Jesus.

I remember telling God that I want to know that He is real and to have a tangible reason why. One day when I was 15 in the tenth grade, I felt a heavy burden in my spirit that I needed to be praying for my high school's football game the next day- specifically for safety. I prayed whenever I thought about it, but that burden didn't go away. The morning of the football game rolled around, and I still felt horrible- the burden kept getting more intense. Within the first play of the game, one of my good friends dropped his shoulder while carrying the ball. Next thing I knew, he was sitting on the sideline with a huge lump on his shoulder and left for the ER. We later found out that he had acromioclavicular joint separation, which was visible to the naked eye. I stared sobbing because I felt like I hadn't prayed hard enough. He got an MRI and was awaiting results. I felt led to pray, so for two days some close friends, teachers, and I gathered during our lunch break to pray for good news. On that second day, he received a call letting him know that he would need an invasive surgery requiring an extensive recovery time. We decided to pray for him one more time before he would have to go to surgery, and on that third day, he was healed in front of our eyes! He couldn't even lift his arm or write before, but after we prayed, he was able to wave his arm around and throw a football. He ended up being able to recover without surgery, shocking the doctors, and now plays division 1 football while sharing this story. God answered three prayers for me that day- obviously He answered the prayer for healing. Secondly, He answered my prayer for a tangible reason to believe. And lastly, He fulfilled a prophetic word that I had written down in my journal months prior to this experience- I wrote that "I will experience God's miracles first hand." Since then, I have witnessed other healings as well as a million tiny miracles that testify of God's goodness.

While I received Christ at a young age, I still have struggled with pride, insecurities, questions, and sin. I struggled with a lot of "church hurt" and spiritual manipulation from the church that bought the Christian school I attended, causing me to have to switch schools my senior year. This left me confused about my faith as a whole. I had to get to know Jesus all over again because of the picture that was painted of Him by that church. The Jesus I know now is gentle, patient, and kind. I have learned that the Holy Spirit is a gentleman and that my salvation is not works-based. I am so thankful for the free gift of salvation and that I get to be with Jesus forever.