Life for me was not very different from the average American boy born in the 90s. I played outside a lot, went to school, and tried to stay out of trouble. I have always been someone who tries to follow the rules, at least when others are watching, and not be a rebellious person. My family was always at church, so growing up I naturally was there all the time. I was there Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, Wednesday nights, and on many times we were there on the weekends. I spent a lot of time at church and so it was a big part of my life. I was very concerned with how people viewed me at church and I wanted to be known as a “good person.” The problem was though, that no one is good. No matter how many verses I memorized at AWANA, or how many consecutive Sunday school’s I was at, I couldn’t become a good person. There were still things in my past, and that I continued to struggle with that made me a sinner. I wasn’t always honest with my parents, I got into fights with my siblings, I wasn’t respectful to my authorities. I was not a good person, and I could never earn that status. All that time I had spent at church, hearing about how Jesus saves and how He’s the only way must have gone in one ear and out the other because I didn’t think I needed Him. Until one night, after hearing the story of how Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross for my sins, it all seemed to click. I realized that I had never put my trust in Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord and I was really trying to please Him, but I never really knew Him. So, that night, in the middle of a field at a church camp, I prayed to put my trust in Jesus and to accept His forgiveness and ask Him to be Lord of my life. I was going into 7th grade when all that happened and all I knew that I wanted to do was to grow in my faith. I knew that I didn’t know the Bible that well, I didn’t really know how to pray, and I definitely had no clue what it looked like to make disciples. I began to just take time each day to grow in my faith, to read God’s Word and pray and to start to share what Jesus was doing in my life with my friends. I also knew that as Christians we were supposed to make disciples, and since I had never done this, I knew I needed someone to show me what this looked like. I began meeting regularly with a guy I respected a ton and he showed me what it would look like to continue to grow in my faith and also what it would look like to make in impact in the lives of my friends and family. As I went through high school and then on to college, this process progressed as I followed other people who were following Christ and I continued to grow in my faith. I now work as the Middle School Youth Director at my church I grew up in, hoping to impact the lives of students who, like me, didn’t have a relationship with Christ or are eager to learn what it looks like to grow in their faith. That’s my story, and I pray you know Jesus because He’s changed my life and He wants to change yours.

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