Finding Jesus

My Salvation Story

I am starting off by opening up about myself to you all a little bit. In order for me to open up about my life and trials I need to tell you about how I found Jesus. I grew up In a Mormon church as a child. It is where my entire family, cousins and all, attended. This is where I got my foundation of religion and questioning the truth. As a teenager I was invited with a friend to attend a baptist church in town. I decided to attend and immediately loved it there. The community was indescribable and it felt like home. Soon, My mom, two sisters, and I began going to church at Rockwood First Baptist every Sunday and Wednesdays.

During the altar call one Sunday my older sister, Cheyenne, went to the altar with my mom to receive Christ. I was confused on what was happening and joined in. I prayed a prayer by repeating after a man I did not know, then had to answer questions on what I had just done. I was extremely confused, but went along with it anyways. Soon, I was baptized and continued my life like normal. Later in 8th grade I joined the youth in a trip to a church in Knoxville. The speaker told us all about his life entangled in drugs and sin and it caught my attention. My heart began to pound and I could not stop crying. I joined many others up front to be taken by an adult to be led in prayer for salvation. I did it again. I prayed the prayer, got baptized, and guess what. I continued my life just as I had before. The difference is this time I had an attitude that my salvation means I can sin over and over and still go to Heaven. Let me just say THIS IS NOT THE RIGHT MINDSET. I lived for myself for years and had no idea I was doing it all wrong. This mindset brought me nothing but pain and confusion in my life.

Fast-forward to the summer before my freshman year in college. I went to FUGE with my youth group as a chaperone. To those of you who have never been to FUGE before, it is a week long summer camp where you meet other Christians, learn to grow in relationships, and you get lots of Jesus. Honestly, this camp was such a blessing to my life. I met people I still talk to almost four years later. Everyone there always talks about the last message of the week being the heart-jerker and the one that will get you to turn your life around. Well, not for me! For me it was the very first night. The message was a huge slap to the face. God showed me the way I had been living for myself and had no relationship with him. I was extremely upset at this realization, however I did not pray to receive Christ. About thirty minutes later I found myself on my knees in the floor of the bathroom crying. I called out to God with my hands in air and was saved… in the bathroom floor. Newsflash, it does not matter where you were saved! All that matters is your heart in it. There is no specific prayer that you have to recite word by word. Just call out to Jesus knowing he died for the worlds sins, that he is the only way to the father, asking for forgiveness, and salvation. The joy and peace you will find from salvation is unexplainable.

Yes, there is a lot more to my story. A lot of details to be dug into later, but I wanted to share the basic story first. Life post-salvation is not easy and I am walking proof of that. But I am also walking proof that you can make it through any trials in your life. I promise you are not alone.

KokoNaomi