When I was in middle school and high school I used to LOVE
cheerleading! I used to eat, sleep, and
breathe cheerleading. I used to practice
cheers everywhere I went… in the aisle of the grocery store while my mom was
getting groceries, in the hair salon where she worked at, in our living room,
in the car, etc! I cheered 8th -11th grade.
I wanted to be a cheerleader in 7th grade but I was too shy to try
out! I was NOT shy around friends, family, people I was close to though! I was
also terrified to be in front of crowds (still am!) -- not quite sure how
cheerleading and I worked out! ;) However, I am eternally thankful it did
because through cheerleading I accepted Christ as Savior. In high school one of
my cheerleading coaches was a Christian. Joyce wasn’t a pushy Christian or weird
one or anything..she simply lived a Christ-like life out before my eyes in
great times and in heart breaking times! I knew I wanted whatever it was she
had! One weekend I stayed with her and her daughter who was also a cheerleader,
because my mom had to be out of town. Joyce invited me to church. I went and to
my surprise the pastor wasn’t boring, the church people there weren’t weird..it
wasn’t as BAD as I thought! Side note: I
went to church camp when I was around 10 or 11 years old with my childhood best
friends and IT WAS NOT FUN! And yes I thought all of the people were dorky and weird! Anyways through Joyce inviting
me to church I eventually accepted Christ as savior in high school and then in
college chose to make Him Lord of my life! Some people do that all at the same
time, me on the other hand am a little slow. It all clicked a few years later! I like many people
through my younger years made a lot of dumb decisions! I failed a lot but
thankfully God is faithful everyday and His grace is everlasting!!! Thankfully
God loves us right where we are no matter what we have done or where we have
been!
“You see, at just the right time, when we
were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous
person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us
in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” ~ Romans 5:6-8
“But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities; the
punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” ~ Isaiah 53:5
By the way God definitely has a sense of humor...I would have never in a million years dreamed that I would one day grow up to be one of those dorky christian women, nor would I have ever imagined a life being on a WiLd RiDe of a FAITH Journey and married to a pastor. Who would have thought I'd ever end up LOVING church camp and ministry!
