I accepted Christ when I was young, but I didn't know what it truly meant to be saved. By the time I was about 6 years old, my father became an alcoholic, used drugs, and became abusive. Since my father was not safe to be near, my parents divorced. All my grandparents had died and my best friend Cillian died of leukemia.
When all this happened, I felt like God no longer loved me. I thought that if He did love me, then He wouldn't make me go through all this. This made me basically reject God.
One day my cousins came on a long trip to see us, and they wanted to go our church so I said, "Sure." (I hadn't really gone to church for a long time.) That Sunday, my pastor was talking about how people try to live life by themselves, how people think they are fine without God, but that He will NEVER let us go—even when we have let go of Him.
I had heard it before, but that time I was very impacted. I was reminded that God gave His Son so that we all could have eternal life (John 3:16). When I was 12 years old, I honestly accepted Christ in my heart. Already I have seen why God has put these struggles in my life, and why they happened. He has brought me happiness and a purpose in life!
Everyone has a struggle, but I just want to say to you, God can do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING, sometimes you don't get what you want, but that's because God has something greater for you.
—Carly - age 16, 10th grade
