My Story

My story: I grew up in a Christian household and went to a private Christian school pretty much all the way up through high school. I remember coming to know the Lord at a very young age and starting to really grow then. My life though was wrapped up in doing "good" things because I saw that people liked me more when I did those things. I was a goody-goody to say the least. I looked down my nose at others who struggled with "big" things like sex and drinking.
My senior year of high school turned things around as I ended up being the one who was struggling with purity. I started to see I was not any better than anyone around me. I finally started to understand God's grace for the first time in my life.
Then college started. My high school boyfriend broke up with me in the first few months of college and I found myself jumping in and out of relationship after relationship after him. I was still somewhat listening to the Lord at this time but never truly finding my identity in him.
My sophomore year of college was the life changing year. I dated a guy at the beginning of the year who was not the best influence on me at the time. I had a mentor who finally confronted me about this relationship and I broke things off with him. The following weekend he shows up drunk to our football game and completely ignores me. This is when I told God that I was sick of doing the "good" thing if this is how I would be rewarded. What followed was a crazy weekend in Knoxville and tons of bad decisions. It just spiraled from there. My life then became an empty one filled with parties and boys. For almost 2 years I spent my life at bars and parties. I was miserable to say the least. Of course I was having fun but my life was so empty. I would still talk to God every once in awhile but my lifestyle was not one that glorified him at all.
My husband and I started dating in May of 2007. It was through him and God's wooing that I turned back to the Lord. My husband loved me so much that it reminded me of a love that I had found only one other place, God. Then after every night of going out and partying, I'd wake up and feel this emptyness like I had never felt before. This is the beginning of my redemption story.
I finally gave in and told the Lord he was the only one I wanted to follow. My life didn't change automatically. It took several months for God to break me and completely bring me back to him. These months included a broken engagement, failing nursing exam, and a loss of a job. It wasn't until about August of 2009 when God "set me up" to meet back up with a high school friend, that I really became dedicated again and stopped riding the fence. This friend has shown me the Word in a way I've never seen it. God has spoken through her to me in so many ways. Now I'm at a place where I feel like I'm growing continually. Now I want to pour into other lives so they can see the Savior that loves them completely and wants a personal relationship with him. He has an abundant amount of grace and will forgive any sin if they will only turn to him. I want others to see this God for who He really is. I want the Holy Spirit to pour out through me like he has to me through my friend. So I hope some of these enteries can encourage you and somehow bring some of you closer to the Lord. There are so many more details to my story if you want to hear them please ask. I love to share with others how the Lord has changed me!