Did that little diddy ring a bell for anyone? Was anyone ever in Awana? I was! I was a Spark for quite a while. I loved Awana! Since Dina did a post sharing her wonderful story of being born again and it "sparked" (hee hee) a few others to share. I thought I'd share mine too!
To start with. I didn't grow up in a Christian home. Let me say though, I grew up in a great, loving, home. Just not one that was centered on Christ. My parents were wonderful and taught me right from wrong and even got me started on my faith journey by sending me to Sunday School. I was that kind of kid that wanted to do everything. So when friend invited me to Awana I jumped at the chance. I am not sure exactly on Awana now but from what I remember it was a time of group singing/Sword drills (who can find a Bible verse the fastest), small group time where we learned/memorized verses and then game time. We sang that song above weekly I think.
Although I don't remember the date, I was around 8 years old. I do remember sitting in the church pew at Awanas and raising my hand to accept Jesus into my heart. I think that I did this for a few reasons. One, I was a follower and two- I wanted all the great things the leader was talking about- living forever with God, having someone love you always... sign me up!
When I got older and people shared their faith journeys, I always thought... mine isn't exciting... accepting him as a child is pretty anti-climatic. But now I disagree. That was the pivotal moving point in my life that led me down a road of growth and discovery and growing into the woman of God that He meant for me to be. Since I've been helping with Upward Basketball these last few years, I've learned that a huge percentage of kids will make their faith decision by age of 14. The chance that they will accept Christ after that drops off very dramatically. I don't know for sure what my life would have been like if I hadn't said yes to Him in the pew wearing my Sparks vest, but I know it had the chance of going downhill and not ending up like this. I praise Him that He gave me the nudge and that I did.
No matter what our faith journey was/is God is moving and working. He can work in the heart of an 8 year old. He can work in the heart of a teenager or a 40 year old. The greatest thing is that HE IS ALWAYS WORKING!
My faith journey took some great bumps along the way. I went through a great valley in college where I thought I'd never see the end... but of course out of the valley comes great rejoicing. I'll share that next week.
Would you like to share your faith journey with us! We'd be honored to hear it and also to pray for/with you!
I love you ladies!
Shannon
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