having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

Colossians 2: 12

Hello! Me again! 

Behind every Christian is a story of how they came to know Christ - a testimony! During the length of my faith journey so far, I've had the privilege of sharing my own testimony many times, to both Christians and non-Christians. And you'd think that after telling it so many times, I'd be tired of repeating the same thing over and over again. But honestly, I never get tired of telling it. I think a testimony is one of the greatest stories we could ever tell because it is living, breathing proof that God's love is 100% real and beautiful!! 

That being said, I wanted to share my testimony on this blog for two reasons.

1. This is a way of getting to know me better! A testimony is very intimate and I wanted to share it with you guys so that you can really get to know the writer behind the words, as well as the reasoning behind a lot of what I say.

2. As I said before, a testimony is proof of God's love. And I’d love to share with you guys how my life has changed since I've come to know the extent of God's breathtakingly beautiful love. And if you're a new believer, (first of all, welcome to the fam!!!), I hope this encourages you and excites you for all the amazing things coming your way!

***

Once upon a time…

I grew up in a Christian family. My dad was a deacon at church, and my mom helped out in various departments within the church. Christian values and Bible stories were impressed on me basically all my life. I went to Sunday school, church, and AWANA every week, and considered myself a "good" Christian. You’ll hear this from many Christians who were born into the faith, but looking back, even though I grew up surrounded by Christians and engaged in “Christian” activities, I didn't truly know what it meant to be a Christian and follow God.

Fast forward to the summer before high school. Even though it had been 4 years since I “accepted Christ,” I hadn’t matured spiritually, and that was because I still didn’t understand what it meant to live and love like Christ. At the time, I thought I was a super faithful Christian, not stealing, not cheating, not skipping church. But these were all just “rules” that I followed because I knew they were the “Christian” things to do. None of it actually came from a sincere desire to live in the image of God. I also viewed love as a transactional process, where I’d only give as much as I felt I was getting from the other person - that’s only fair, right? That unhealthy mindset led me to believe I lacked community at my church. Because of the loneliness I felt at church, I disconnected myself from the community there and made no effort to love that community. After all, I wasn’t shown any love from them, so I shouldn’t have to show love to them, right??

The summer before my freshman year of high school, my family moved to Ohio. I was SO angry that I had to leave all my good friends in Texas behind and fell into a cycle of bitterness. During this time, I struggled with loneliness and feeling unknown, like no one cared about my existence. We checked out a new church there called Columbus Chinese Christian Church (4C) and I was super scared because in my past church experiences, people weren't very welcoming to new people. But little did I know, that inside that little building on Maize Road, were people whom I would build unforgettable relationships with -- relationships that would challenge my perceptions of love and change the trajectory of my faith journey.

We did the whole newcomer routine. Free lunch, they tell you about the church mission statement/values, people are introduced to you yada yada yada. I was introduced to 4 girls my age... and lemme tell ya, we CLICKED! They were so open and welcomed me with open arms. I remember feeling stunned at how willing they were to be kind to me even though I hadn’t contributed anything to the relationship yet. It was such a foreign experience that I actually didn’t really know how to respond at first. And I soon found out that they were not the only ones like that. The people were what drew me back to this church, over and over again. They treated me and my family with a warmth and love that I had never experienced before. I remember thinking to myself: so THIS is what Christian community looks like, THIS is what God’s love looks like. 

In the following months, I was able to observe and see their hearts for God. Hearts that were so selfless and willing and EXCITED to serve. And that was so contagious- it made me eager to serve as well. And I was soon presented with an opportunity. After that, more and more opportunities came and I found myself wanting to do as many things possible to serve. Through that, I really discovered what it meant to be a part of the body of Christ, I discovered the joy that comes with being in a relationship with God, I discovered what being loved by God and what loving God looked like. I realized that all my previous perceptions of what love was supposed to look like were so wrong. Just because I didn’t feel any love from my church in Texas didn’t mean that I shouldn’t show them any love. Because that sure wasn’t the thought process that went through God’s mind when He sent Jesus to die for our sins.

And so, the Easter of my freshman year in high school, I made the decision to get baptized.

And I have never once regretted it. Time and time again, God has shown me how rewarding and how precious it is to be in a relationship with Him. Only he can truly satisfy and only He can love as well as He does.

*Sorry for the low-res photos. This was back in 2014, when we didn’t have kool cameras like the iPhone X.