My testimony

Ok, here it is. It will probably be a pretty condensed version.

I was not raised going to church. In fact, my family couldn't even be classified as "cheasters" (people who only go to church for Christmas and Easter). I went to church with my grandma once every couple of years, but that was about it. When I was 10, my best friend Katie told me about Jesus one day on the swings at recess. She told me that if I would die without him in my heart that I wouldn't have anything but if I accepted him, I would have everything. So I did...and that was it. I didn't start going to church or reading the Bible or anything. I went to events at Katie's church from time to time but that was the extent of it. I always thought I was living the Christian life...I never drank or did drugs or had sex or any of that stuff. That's what I thought the Christian life was, but it took me a long time to figure out that that was wrong. I never regularly went to church until the end of my junior year in high school. I had fallen in love with a guy named Matt who had been raised in the church. That was part of the appeal of dating him...I figured since he was a "good Christian guy" that I wouldn't have to worry about him pressuring me for sex or anything...I was wrong. Things got out of hand one night and once we had realized that what we were doing was wrong, I asked him if I could start going to church with him. So I did. I got involved with the youth group and stuff...but I was always known as "Matt's girlfriend" and nothing more. So after Matt and I broke up, I kept going to church for a while but when I realized that I was only half of a couple in everyone's eyes, I stopped going.
The story doesn't really pick up again until I get to college. My freshman year I got just a little wild, but nothing too outrageous. My friend Katie that I mentioned earlier kept telling me I should to to Campus Crusade at WSU, but I never wanted to because I didn't know anyone. So I met her friend Mary that was from Beavercreek who introduced me to her friend Danielle that goes to Crusade at WSU. So I went one day. I met her and her friend Stacy. I started going to Crusade regularly during Winter Quarter of my freshman year. I was still not really walking the Christian walk, but I was going to Crusade, then I decided to go on Spring Break with Crusade to Florida. I shared a room with Danielle, Stacy, and our other friend Drea. Well...I got to know Stacy a bit better and ended up joining the Bible Study that she and Danielle were in. Then drama ensued. Stacy and I shared our concerns for the other too and we gradually got closer as friends. The following year I finally started going to church at Apex and I got super involved in Crusade. I became a Bible study leader, I was on the Media team, I went to Real Life every week, I went to every meeting, every social, etc. etc. I did a lot of growing throughout this time but I eventually got burned out on all the Crusade stuff. On the plus side, my heavy involvement helped me develop some really strong friendships, and Stacy, our friend Anna, and I decided to live together. We couldn't move into our house until the end of summer so in the meantime I needed a place to live. Stacy's parents let me stay with them for the summer which meant the world to me and it still does. Over the summer I dropped in one day during VBS at Bethany. I really enjoyed it, so I decided to go to the Sunday service. Then I kept going and then I decided to join. About that time, we all moved into our house. Put those two things together, and you can bet there was a lot of growing and changing going on. I got very involved at the church and have been ever since. Through the church I gained a family here which has been so wonderful and is so important to me. On top of that, living in this house has been a great learning experiences. It has its ups and downs just like any living relationship, but it has really helped me mature learn how to live on my own.

So anyway...that's a lot of details all to say this. I've seen a lot in my life. I watched my bother get beat by her ex-boyfriend, my dad got sent to prison, fights between my parents which led to one of them leaving, sexual abuse, and so on and so on. One thing I have realized in the last year or so is that God brought me through all that and He did it to glorify himself. So many people tell me that they don't understand how I made it through all that. I didn't make it through all of that, God brought me through it. Every difficult time I've had has been a time of growing, molding, and shaping. I've gotten to a point that I know that when those hard times roll in. Some times the hard times are still just too hard to be joyful about but other times I know that I will come out stronger in the end. So that's my story up till now. There's a lot more that will be added as I go, and I'm looking forward to seeing what God will do with me in the years to come.

God bless!

Pepto