My baptism was on June 3, 2007. Here are the reasons why I came to God:
MY BAPTISM CEREMONY
My story begins in Taiwan. In 2005, I was in the process of accepting God into my life. I had just moved to Taiwan ready for new adventures. Nothing was going to stop me. My other goal in my life was to improve my walk with God. I even achieved Rick Warren’s Purpose-Driven Life—but I wasn’t ready.
Two years in Taiwan and traveling proved inspirational, successful and most of all, educational. I had learned many new things that gave me that world perspective that I had longed for, but in doing so, I had compromised many of my beliefs. When I returned to Canada, I was very uncertain about a lot of issues in my life. I was uncertain about my long-distance relationship, I was uncertain about the direction of my career, and I was uncertain about the very man I had become. Two months in Canada past and I did the hardest thing I could ever do, I gave up a two-year relationship with someone I loved very dear to start fresh. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but other than my career path, it had become the first decision I was certain about.
At this point because I felt I had caused her so much pain, I wasn’t sure if God would let me back. The only thing I knew in my heart was that I wanted to make a change. That is when God put my long-time friend, Matt Andrade, back into my life.
The ironic thing was that Matt had recently moved back from Calgary. He, too, had recently found God, and his passion really fueled my motivation. Matt really pushed me to come to church. He wanted me to see what he had found while he was away from home. I’ll admit, I wasn’t so receptive at first—fear was a familiar friend.
Matt introduced me to tons of wonderful people and I kept at a distance because I wasn’t sure how I’d be received–pride and self-condemnation are two of my greatest sins. But this time, I did it anyway. The devils in my head would spit it out lies, but this time it fell on deaf ears.
God has helped me move mountains before and this time would be no different. I braved it out and thanks to the wonderful support I have with my new friends, I’m gaining the confidence and the acceptance that God does care about my life. One moment that really touched me involved my friend, Jackie. Usually, if you invite friends to parties, maybe three or four out of ten might show—and that’s if you’re planning well in advance. Well, Jackie was leaving to go to Africa for one month, and after a church service one night, people were invited to her place for a goodbye party. Twelve people showed up-twelve people! I was so amazed on closely knit everyone was—I smiled all night because of it. I saw God’s work first hand.
At my Baptism, I realized one of the main reasons why God had sent me over to Taiwan to begin with — he wanted to show me a culture where togetherness is still a huge fabric in that culture. Myself, so clouded by individualism, didn’t realize that at the time.
There is a difference when you see him present and when you don’t. When you don’t feel his presence, there’s an empty feeling in your stomach. You feel the need to search for a miracle, but when you have God in your life, the miracle is already there. I owe God for everything he’s done—the patience he’s shown and the wonderful people he’s put in my life to overcome some of my greatest fears. I feel I can do no wrong walking with the Lord. The harder things in life have become so much easier. I know I’ll slip and I’ll fall, but the Lord will be there to break it. I’ll cry, I’ll laugh and I’ll be angry. I may even cuss once in awhile, but the one thing I know now, is that I’m not alone– I’m with the Lord–and that’s the greatest feeling of all.
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