Most of the time when people find out I'm a Christian, they assume is must be because of the fact that I was raised in church. That even though I have my own brain and my own free will, I could not have possibly chosen to have a relationship with a God on my own that has changed my life.
Throughout my entire childhood I can remember going to Sunday school. I can remember singing songs about Jesus and while not really understanding the greatness and the magnitude of who He was, knowing He was special and He made me feel special. I can remember always drawing pictures about Jesus, saying how much I loved Him, almost like He was a close friend of mine. As I got older that faded. The drawings ended and the friendship was now more of an acquaintance. I knew He was there, but didn't necessarily pay Him any attention. I had "grown" out of Him and left Him on my closet shelf like he was an old stuffed animal that I had once needed beside me every night in order to peacefully get to sleep, now forgotten because I felt it was of no use.
Yet every time I had a bad day and someone at school had said something about me, maybe even to me, that hurt my feelings, I'd pull that stuffed animal out of my closet, hold it and cry until I fell asleep, the only thing that could bring me comfort and the only thing I wanted to bring me comfort. No matter how long I had left Him in my closet on that shelf. He was there every time I needed Him. Every time I needed to cry, to vent, to forget the world, His arms were out-stretched, waiting, ready.
Mid-junior year is when I realized I needed Him in every day life, not just when I had a problem that needed solving. He was my friend, someone I could share defeats and triumphs with. I needed Him when I went to school, and I needed Him when I went to work. I took Him off that shelf, and I've carried Him with me always ever since.
I chose God. Though I was raised in church and brought up knowing who He was, I could have chosen to leave Him on that shelf permanently. I could have decided I didn't "need" something I felt I'd no longer had use for unless it was convenient for me.
It was a choice. A choice that continues to bless my life each and every day.
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