I didn’t grow up knowing the Lord in the same way that I know now. My Dad would encourage us to pray when we needed things and he taught us that there was a God who existed, but that was pretty much it. My relationship with Jesus was very transactional, not intimate. Throughout High School I was an average kid trying to figure out the direction of my life, but I felt like I was doing it alone.
I lived with my dad and brother, but I often felt like I was on my own. As I grew older, I grew bitter towards family, I became easily frustrated and I vowed to myself that I would make something of my life despite my childhood.
In one of my first church services, I remember the pastor sharing the Gospel in a way that simply resonated with me for the first time and I surrendered my life to Jesus. Jesus saved me from finding my value in success and trying to prove myself and gave me an identify that I didn’t have to earn. He gave me joy to replace the bitterness I had toward my father and he gave me a new community that I consider family to this day.
My life looks radically different than I could have ever imagined but life with God truly is an adventure. I wouldn’t be here without countless people believing in me, loving me, praying for me, feeding me and taking me in as their own. The community of God forever changed my life.
-Jordan