My earliest memories include full participation in the Covington Indiana Fifth Street First Church of Christ. I learned about Jesus and the Scriptures in Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, Sunday Morning and Sunday Evening sermons. I wanted to follow Jesus Christ and asked to be baptized when I was very young, I think about six years old. I did not know much about doctrine, but I was eager to know the Bible. My parents and members of that church provided examples of what a mature Christian is like. I told people that I wanted to be a missionary when I grew up.
However, when I started high school, my family left that congregation. I took this as an opportunity to slip into an un-Christ-like lifestyle for a couple of years. I was disobedient to my parents and disobedient to God. If I had any Christian testimony, I am sure that it was stained at that time. I had friends that encouraged me to do as I wished and disregard the consequences. By then, we were attending church at the Covington First Assembly of God. The Word of God was preached. The Holy Spirit was present. I felt like I got saved every Sunday and backslid every Monday because I returned to my wishy-washiness.
I feel like I woke up. I didn’t want to be the person that I was going to become by following my own desires. I wanted to know Jesus. I wanted to be able to talk to Him without the shame of my own selfish disobedience. I committed my life to Jesus Christ. I asked Him to lead me and promised to follow. I also made a commitment that if I should stumble that I would get back up and keep following. I felt like the stains were all washed away through my Savior, Jesus Christ, who died for me. I was baptized in water. I began to believe that God was asking me to become a minister of the Gospel. My parents helped me to find an appropriate Bible school. The summer before I started college, my church sponsored a short-term missions trip. God worked through so many people to set me in the right direction.
Since then, I have listened to God and followed where He took me. And each time that I stumbled, the Holy Spirit picked me back up so that I could continue following Jesus.