I'm the
second youngest of 6 kids and have lots
of happy childhood memories. I was a quiet child but loved to
do new things. When I got to
university, life took off with lots of parties, friends and all sorts
of sporting activities. With a degree in Computer
Engineering, I got a job in Switzerland. Life was better than
ever with a great social life, travelling around Europe at the weekends
in summer and skiing in winter.
While enjoying life to the full, I started to wonder if this is all
there was. Was it just about getting married, settling down
and balancing a career with having kids? Although I couldn't
have imagined life much better, I still had a big emptiness inside and
little peace.
I grew up believing in God and going to church. I used to
pray but it had seemed to me that God was so far off. I
finally decided when I left home that I didn't believe in him.
Now as I started to see the
beauty of creation around me I began to think that it must have been
made with love. 'How could such beauty be a coincidence
following on from a meaningless big bang!', I thought.
At this point a student from Northern Ireland joined our group.
When he talked about Jesus, it was like he was talking about
a real living person who was his best friend! I had lots of
questions for him. One thing he said that really struck me
was, 'When Jesus died on the cross, He did it for you, 100 percent,
holding nothing back, and what He wants from you is to give yourself to
Him 100 percent.'
This was a new idea for me, as I had always thought that God wanted me
to do good things for him, not that He wanted me to give myself to Him.
He also explained that the only way that God could deal with my sin, so
that I could be with Him forever in heaven, was by Jesus dying on the
cross.
I had lots more questions for him, and a few months later I decided I
wanted to follow this Jesus that he talked about and know Him as my
best friend.
I prayed to God, acknowledging my need of Him, thanking Him for His
forgiveness and the cross, and gave my life to Him. Then I
bought a Bible and started to read through it asking God if there was
any area I was holding back from Him. I put him first before
my family, my friends, my desire to get married and before everything
that meant anything to me.
Then as I was in my bedroom, looking at a photo of my young nieces and
nephews, the Bible verse came to mind, 'Unless you become like a little
child you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.' I wondered
about this and what it meant. Suddenly I realised that God
wants us to trust Him completely like a little child trusts their
parents. So I prayed, 'God I trust you like a little child.'
At that moment, I felt like I was being filled with an explosion of
love, joy and peace, so wonderful I could barely contain it, and tears
streamed down my face.
From that point, I was a changed person, and I knew I could definitely
now call myself a Christian. I was totally in love with Jesus
and felt like a hotline had opened up to God. I
could feel His presence so close to me and started to see Him answer my
prayers and be involved in my life in very tangible ways.
All I wanted to do was to serve God with my life.
After my contract in Switzerland was up, I felt God leading me to do a
Discipleship Training School with Youth With A Mission and then join
the organisation. God has continued to lead me in ways I would never
have dared dream, He has healed many hurts, given me so much more
confidence and peace, and uncovered skills and gifts in myself that I
never knew were there.
I now have a wonderful husband and daughter and life has been and
continues to be an exciting and challenging adventure
with Jesus.
If
you would like to know more, you could e-mail Annmarie or check out the
Power to Change web-site:
