Growing up, I had everything I could have ever wanted. I was an only child, raised in a stable family, with parents whom loved me very well. My father, being a self-made businessman, modeled how working hard brought forth success and achievement. I found myself chasing after any opportunity I could to be the best,…
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Growing up in a Christian home, I accepted Christ at a very young age. Throughout most of my adolescence, I was at church two to three times a week for various youth groups and church activities, in addition to church and Sunday school every week. It was through these experiences that I developed an extensive…
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Growing up as a child, the importance of accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior was always drilled into my head by my mom. My family went to church every Sunday and Wednesday night and I asked Jesus to come into my life when I was 4. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when…
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I have always been very aware of what other people think of me. I’ll try to look at myself from other people’s point of view and see how they would evaluate me. Do they like me? Do they think I’m smart? Do they think I’m pretty? Do they want to be my friend? These thoughts…
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A word that I would choose to describe my life before knowing Christ would be “escape.” I spent a lot of my time trying to escape my reality, trying to escape the pains of my everyday life. Growing up, I suffered a lot from my thoughts and feelings, battling anxiety and depression in strong waves.…
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Christ has been with me my entire life, but He has existed in different ways. I grew up going to a Catholic church in my hometown of Eden Prairie, Minnesota with my family every Sunday. Even when I didn’t want to go, my parents stressed the importance of faith in a person’s life. They said…
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If you had to characterize the impact with which God had on my life, it could only be described by understanding the rebellious, inherent nature in my character. Calling me a defector from the faith (at least the one with which I was expected to adhere) would be putting it mildly. The great weight of…
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I came to UW-Madison in search of academic success, with hopefully a little fun thrown in. My expectation was that success as a college student would translate into the American dream–a great career, financial abundance, material possessions, a beautiful family–in short, a long, happy life. I had learned in my earlier years of training and…
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I grew up in a family where God was mentioned only in a string of curse words. My father was in the military, and we moved from one base to another. From my earliest remembrances, for some reason, I really never felt secure or loved for who I was. I just felt different and wrong.…
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“I grew up in a Christian home” pretty cliche, right? Well, I did. I grew up in a Christian home, with parents who loved me very much, who raised me to be kind and hardworking, taught me about Jesus, and modeled what it is like to live for Him.I never lead a double life, and…
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