Hello St Barnabas, my name is Anna and I’m here visiting as part of the Newcastle Mission Team. I’ve been asked to write something for this blog and I’ve decided to tell the story of how I came to know Christ, as I hope it will be encouraging to people. Like a lot of people I know, I grew up in a Christian family, and had a lot of love and support in the faith. Because of this, I had a great foundation for my walk with Christ.
My parents taught me about Jesus, and when I got a bit older, told me that I had to make the decision to make Him my King myself. I began to realize that I wasn’t right with God, that there was a wall between myself and God because of all the wrong I had committed in my life, and that I wasn’t friends with God because of this. And so one day, sitting in my lounge room with my parents when I was 9, I decided to believe that Jesus had died for my sins and taken my punishment away and to live with Him as my King. I decided to make Jesus real in my life, and not to rely on my parents anymore. Looking back, I now fully realize how much grace and love Jesus showed to me.
Having Christ as my Lord and Savior has helped me enormously through my teenage years. During this time I felt a huge pressure from those around me and the media to reach impossible standards and to be better or different to what I was. The need to conform to the patterns of mainstream society seemed overwhelming at times. But I knew that my worth, value and identity was found in Jesus and not the world, and this was a huge comfort to me. Making Jesus as my King every day of my life also included completely trusting Jesus in every aspect of my life, which I confess I have struggled with sometimes in my walk so far. Because of this, my life verse has become Proverbs 3:5-6, which says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Every time I feel like I’ve got this whole life thing sorted out myself, I remind myself of this verse and that God actually has my life in His hands and wants good things for my life if only I would trust Him!
As the saying goes, life is short…this one anyway. I know I have eternity with Christ to look forward to now I have given my life to Him, and that is what motivates me to get out of bed every morning now. I hope that Jesus becomes what motivates your life everyday until your last.
Anna Loiterton, a part of the NTE mission team from Newcastle
Having Christ as my Lord and Savior has helped me enormously through my teenage years. During this time I felt a huge pressure from those around me and the media to reach impossible standards and to be better or different to what I was. The need to conform to the patterns of mainstream society seemed overwhelming at times. But I knew that my worth, value and identity was found in Jesus and not the world, and this was a huge comfort to me. Making Jesus as my King every day of my life also included completely trusting Jesus in every aspect of my life, which I confess I have struggled with sometimes in my walk so far. Because of this, my life verse has become Proverbs 3:5-6, which says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Every time I feel like I’ve got this whole life thing sorted out myself, I remind myself of this verse and that God actually has my life in His hands and wants good things for my life if only I would trust Him!
As the saying goes, life is short…this one anyway. I know I have eternity with Christ to look forward to now I have given my life to Him, and that is what motivates me to get out of bed every morning now. I hope that Jesus becomes what motivates your life everyday until your last.
Anna Loiterton, a part of the NTE mission team from Newcastle
