I was thinking about my blog website last fall and it occurred to me that I may have not have shared my personal testimony on how I became a Christian. I checked, and I had not! I am remiss in not sharing my personal testimony on my blog, so today’s post is to make up for my negligence.
Before Christ
I was born overseas into an American military family. My being born overseas and also being biracial (with neither of my parents being white) made for a unique growing up experience. I was exposed to multiple ethnic cultures early in life and was fascinated by the differences I saw between different cultures and countries. My acknowledgement, appreciation, and enjoyment of most ethnic differences continues to this day.
My dad was the son of a local traveling evangelist, but we were not raised going to church or in any religion. He took us to church when I was in second or third grade, but the atmosphere was boring and dead, and I didn’t like going those few weeks that we went.
My mom tried to get me interested in her religion, but it was the only part of her culture that I did not embrace. It felt wrong, and I didn’t even want to go through the motions. Looking back, I could see that it was God protecting me from accommodating a belief system that would spiritually trap me in a powerless religion that would give demons access to my soul.
One incident stood out in my younger growing up years that would later shed insight on the level of God’s protection and guidance in my life.
We had a big, old family devotional book that we never used. I was drawn to it, and would pore over the pages to look at the pictures and absorb what they said. Once, I stopped at a painting of a young woman holding a Bible with Psalm 119:105 as the caption: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” I didn’t know that the word “Word” was a synonym for scripture, so I thought that this was talking about God’s favorite word. After pondering what God’s favorite word was, I concluded it must be Jesus. I believe the Holy Spirit dropped that into my soul and used this as an arrow pointing toward Him for salvation in the future.
My dad tried again to get us into church when I was in junior high, but my parents didn’t feel welcome and felt it was because of their biracial marriage. Later, he tried again to re-church us when I was in high school. This time, it stuck a little better. I was given a scholarship to a one-week youth camp. That week changed my life.
How I Met Christ
We’d moved from the Midwest to the Northwest that summer, and I was going to be a junior in high school. I was still a shy and reclusive but inquisitive bookworm of a nerd who’d left all the friends that she’d grown up with to move to an environment that was completely foreign to her. I’m talking rain without thunder or lightening—for several months out of the year. I mean everything staying lush and green due to the mild and rainy climate. I mean wild animals living in the midst of the city. And I’m talking life going at a faster pace from living in a burgeoning metropolis of large, interconnected cities.
I barely knew anyone at our new church, but I was looking forward to experiencing camp, something I’d never done before. At this youth camp, I was exposed to a bunch of kids my age who were regular kids. They had a wide range of personalities and backgrounds, a variety of interests and aspirations, and loved playing pranks on each other. They also loved God, loved each other, loved the Bible, and had an unshakeable faith and purpose that I’d never seen before.
The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ was presented simply and clearly, in a way that I could understand, during every presentation and group discussion. I wanted that. I wanted all of that.
On Tuesday, August 23, 1977, I gave my heart and my life to Jesus Christ. One of the camp counselors, a college-aged gal named Amy, led me in praying to God for the first time in my life.
There was no thunderclap, no big show of emotion, but something changed that day. The evidence of His Holy Spirit coming to live in me became evident over the next 24 hours.
After Christ
The next morning, I felt like there was sunshine in my soul. I felt inspired to write a poem about the Bible, the Word of God, and it came to me as a song. I was not a musician or a songwriter, so that was unusual for me, but write it, I did.
Each large group camp meeting ended in all of us holding hands and someone praying a benediction out loud. I felt led to sing this poem as a benediction prayer, and it scared me at first. I couldn’t do it the first meeting after I got saved—I did it the second meeting. The other kids ran up to me after that meeting to express awe and appreciation at someone doing something so creative for the benediction.
Looking back decades after this initial incident, I figured that the Lord was showing me spiritual precursors that would form the basis for my resilience and my ministry. I took these precursors to be the Word, worship & praise, prayer, boldness, creativity, and music. I have always loved being in His presence with worship, praise, prayer, and His Word. Scripture has become a part of me over these decades and has been used by God to shape my character, priorities, and decisions.
Hopefully, the format I shared my testimony in was basic and simple, something you can model your own testimony after (in case you haven’t written your Christian testimony down). Having your testimony memorized (a short version like 90 seconds, or a longer version of 5-8 minutes) can help you share the gospel easily and comfortably with family, neighbors, friends, classmates and coworkers, and even strangers, all of which I have done. And there are few joys that compare to sharing the gospel and/or your testimony, and seeing that person come to know the Lord.
I was going to add a few paragraphs about the most profound influence on my spiritual walk, but I don’t think He wants me to talk about it in this post. What I can share, is that today I will have been following Christ for 49 years. I already have started on a blog post for next year, 2027, when I will have been following the Son of God for 50 years.
For several months, I’ve been reflecting on my journey with Jesus for nearly half a century. Next year, God willing, I will share a longer post on the most important things I’ve learned about following Jesus. Christianity is not an adventure for cowards!
To stay in touch, feel free to stop by my public FB page at https://www.facebook.com/4singlechristians . I don’t do much on the other platforms, especially the ones I made private, but I post a VOTD (verse of the day) and share reposts on relationships, the Christian life, and practical advice on topics like Christian parenting, finances, wedding planning, and personal preparation for a future relationship (and a lot more!) that you might find interesting.
I plan be back with another blog post a year from now. Pray for me! Blessings, ~Glenda