Happy Birthday (of Sorts)

Five years ago, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend a missions trip with a group of other students from my school. We loaded into vans and drove the many hour trip to Birmingham, Alabama. To be quite honest, I didn't enjoy my time that week. Hanging out with friends was fun, but I didn't like the people on my crew, the food was hardly edible, I got sick one day of the work week and had to sit around doing nothing. Needless to say, it wasn't the greatest time of my life. But God was using all these mediocre experiences to mold me into a new person for Him.

On the way back home after the long week was over, we stopped at a hotel in Louisville, Kentucky and gathered together to unpack everything that took place that week. In that time, God broke my heart for Him. Hearing other people's stories and witnessing their love for the Father, I knew deep down that I wasn't like them. Not yet. 

That night I met with a leader on our trip, my former volleyball coach, and she asked me what was going on. I was sobbing uncontrollably and honestly remember very little of our conversation. But the details are unimportant. The big picture is that on that night, June 28, 2008, five years ago today, I asked the Lord Jesus Christ to come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior.

I've never been the same since that experience. Since then, I've gone in the same trip to Birmingham year after year and now I understand what the other students knew that night in the hotel. Now I could relate to them in a spiritual bond that only comes from the Father. He's done amazing things in my life once I surrendered to Him. In fact, just over a year ago, I publicly professed my faith and was baptized in front of my family and my peers.

This road of following the Lord and keeping His commands is not easy. In fact, it's the hardest thing I've ever had to go through. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. So today, I'm celebrating that God, the Creator and Sustainer, would love me so much that He would die for me and allow me to live in relationship with Him forevermore!