What was life like before you met Jesus?

Prior to surrendering to Christ, I was searching for validation and approval from others, often looking to my relationships with men and my constant pursuit of perfection to fill this void. Every relationship came up short and was often filled with toxicity. Every time I tried to be perfect in an effort to gain the approval from others, I failed, coming up short. I was looking for validation horizontally when I should have known I already had it vertically.

How did you meet Jesus?

Jesus met me when and where I needed him most; it wasn't me searching for Him, but Him searching for me. He sent someone into my life who pointed me to the gospel and to a bible study group comprised of women of faith. It was within that group of women that Christ showed me what I was missing all along - I was already so fully, deeply, and completely loved that I didn't need to search anywhere else or even prove myself. 1 John 4:9-12 reminds us of how his love was so clearly displayed on the cross and is the only love we need, "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

After being saved by Jesus, what is your life like now?

As a daughter of the King, I know that there is beauty in my imperfection, and I am loved just the same. I know Jesus is using my imperfections just as much as he's using my gifts, and through it all I am being sanctified. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." I now know that Jesus provides my worth, and it's something I don't ever need to work for or prove. As a mother and a wife, I am constantly being shown Christ's love for me - through my daughter's unconditional love and my husband's sacrificial love.