My 7th Spiritual Birthday...Storytime!!!
Today marks 7 years of a committed life to the Lord! I always get weird looks when I say that I was just baptized 7 years ago. Why? Because the majority of the people that grew up black or grew up in the “Bible Belt” were baptized as children. And I actually was as well.
I was baptized at the age of seven I believe. I was brought up in a Tennessee Baptist church. I always believed that there was a God or at least was always told that God was real. Honestly, that was part of life…you went to church every Sunday and one day you told your parents you wanted to get baptized and you did…you got baptized. I can’t speak for everyone but my personal experience, there really wasn’t much discussion in my fellowship about what baptism was what it really signified defined by scripture. Actually, I wasn’t truly clear on what repentance was and it wasn’t until adulthood that I truly understood what it was & what confession of my sins was.
Throughout my early years and early adulthood I wouldn’t classify myself as a bad person but if I’m honest with myself I was not leading a life pleasing to God there was a lot of hidden things, character flaws and the like…You name it! I mean use your imagination…I went to a huge university, I pledged a popular sorority for African-American women…you can only imagine all the mess I engaged in!
Well I met my husband in college, we married after college and started our lives together. Quite frankly, our lives from the outside looking in was great! but again if we were honest with ourselves, we knew that something was missing. we were striving after the typical worldly things. From chasing money & our careers to partying, drinking and smoking constantly…all these things were just temporary fixes of what we really needed in our lives. There was a moment that we try to find a church home but nothing seemed right. Eventually we moved to Texas and was reconnected with Melvin’s old church that he attended in college and that is where my spiritual walk started.
At that point, I was in desperate need of relief in life. there were a series of events that happened in my life that really left me really bare and vulnerable. I was at a point where I was ready to know the truth about life and I was tired of living the life that I was in. It was getting exhausting and I was just flat out tired of keeping up the guise of perfection.
I first sat down with a lady named Paromita and then later on when I move to Texas, I sat down with a group of ladies( Jaque, Cheryl, Pree, Neyla, & Carla). They helped me to start navigating the beautiful word of God it was like my eyes were opened just liked Saul on the road to Damascus was blinded and just like scales falling from my eyes, I was able to see…that’s how I truly felt!
After weeks of studying I decided to commit myself truly and fully to God on January 13, 2012! Here’s a few interesting points: it was on Friday the 13th and it’s also funny because the number 13 is a special number for me. I am a member of the illustrious sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated which was founded January 13, 1913. On my line, I am number 13. A few years later, I got my first tattoo of a symbol that means, amongst many things, living water. Who would’ve ever thought that years later, a tattoo on my ankle (the symbol for living water and 13) would share significance with me being baptized in living water on the 13th of the month. All I can say is that’s how the Holy Spirit is and all I can do is smile & rejoice about the meticulousness of God!
These past seven years have not been rainbows and kittens. I’ve had to really work on my character and put in the work to follow Christ. But I can honestly say that it is the best decision that I have ever made I can’t go back…I won’t go back! This is where I belong. I think of a passage in John 6:
“At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God. ”
John 6:66-69 NLT
Well guys, I hope this has given you a better understanding of who I am. I’m just a flawed woman trying to get into heaven and while I’m at it, bring as many as I can with me.
