What was life like before you met Jesus?

I've been a Christ follower for nearly all of my life, but it's time for me to be obedient to God's command to be baptized. While I don't remember a time before I met Jesus, I do remember when I didn't actively invest in my relationship with Him. It used to be that I only engaged with Him through prayer or reading His word when I had a 'need' that I couldn't control myself.

How did you meet Jesus?

It wasn't until my husband and I began having children in 2017 that I finally realized I would never have control—no amount of planning could orchestrate a life without worry, stress, pain, fear... the list goes on. But, God. Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."

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

A renewed trust in the Lord and surrendering all of my life to Him was what I needed. This meant diving into the Word daily and reminding myself to turn to Him before anyone else in times of joy or hardship. It also meant investing in a godly community and becoming involved in a loving, God-centered connection group. I'm so thankful for such a loving God who sacrificed his Son for my sake—a God who is active and sovereign in all things, a God to whom I can surrender all, a God who is close and uses everything for our good.

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” - 2 Corinthians 5:21

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” - Romans 8:28

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 8:37-39