Growing up, I was raised in a Christian home where we went to church every week. My Dad was on the worship team, and my mom served in the kids’ ministry along with my two older sisters. Both my parents have a strong faith and encouraged my sisters and I to have one as well.

But sometime around my freshman year of high school, it started to feel like I was just going through the motions. Going to church, praying before a meal, just felt like it didn’t really mean anything. I knew about Jesus, but I didn’t have a personal relationship with Him. Then I realized He was trying to get my attention. Every time God came up in conversation, I could feel Him tugging on my heart. He wanted a relationship with me even when I didn’t deserve it. Not just through my family but a real connection. So I started praying, reading scripture, and really listening to sermons and what they actually had to say about the God that loved me so much. After that, I started to see the difference He was making in my life. He pulled me out of the darkness I didn’t know I had been living in. His presence in my life changed me and made me better.

When I was a kid, I thought to be baptized, you had to be perfect. I thought that when you stopped sinning and making mistakes, then you could be baptized and officially be a child of God. I was afraid that I would never be good enough, but when my sister was baptized, I asked my mom to explain what it really meant. She told me I didn’t have to be perfect. Jesus died for us on the cross because we are not perfect. She told me that I just had to believe that He made that sacrifice and died for our sins then came back to life. One of my favorite verses is Psalm 46:5. It says, “God is with her, she will not fall.” When I accepted God into my life, I knew He would not let me fall. And I think that’s pretty amazing!