My Story

This is a speech I wrote for Rhetoric class this year about how I've come to believe in Christ. I wish to share it with you, and I hope it inspires someone.

(I removed some names for online use.)

I was raised in a great Christian family. I attended a Church of Christ every Sunday for years. I've been at a Christian School all of my life; and I went to a Christian Camp in the summer every year since first grade. Christianity surrounded my life from day one. If you saw me in school, I was the quiet girl. Being a Christian, at that time, was nothing more than being good, singing pretty songs about God in Church, and learning about the Bible stories.

It wasn't until High School that any drama even affected my life. Some of the issues I met, I had already faced a little in Middle School with friends outside of school; but the only way I knew how to handle them was to ignore it. In High School, even though I was at a Christian school, there were people openly lying to parents and teachers. There were groups together cheating on homework. I heard someone curse almost every day. For the quiet girl who was coming out of her shell, this was a huge change from what I had been used to seeing. I honestly did not know what to do, and I made a lot of mistakes that year.

At the end of February of my Freshman year, I took a trip to Tennessee with my youth group for a huge Christian youth rally called Winterfest. I had been there the year before, and so that year, I convinced my whole family to come with me. It was here that I met real Christianity.

I heard people sing as though God was right before them and listening to their words. I learned new songs with words that were clear about their message, and not hidden behind fancy Bible language. I listened as the speakers explained how there had been a Veil that kept us away from God, and that when Jesus died, that Veil was torn from top to bottom, so that we could be with God again. I spent the last night crying and praying with my friend Alicia. The last day I was there, the speaker announced, "If you feel you need to give your life to Christ right now, please, come forward." I turned to Alicia, and I asked her, "Alicia, will you walk up there with me?" She said, "Of course!" and I was baptized that very day back in the hotel's hot tub. I cried through the whole thing.

For the next year and a half, I have gone up and down through struggles, making mistakes and learning from them. I've been learning how to trust God with my life, how to resist temptations, and how to lead others. I will openly admit: I am not perfect. Being a Christian means always growing, so I know I will never be done struggling with life; but I can say that I am a better person now than I ever was because of Christ.