Sally rymer's faith story

My walk into Christianity was really kind of an all-of-a-sudden thing. I wasn't into a lot of bad stuff, asking questions about creation or existence, or in a desperate situation when I became a Christian. I was just living life as I always had. It was the middle of my 6th grade summer, and a good friend invited me to go to Vacation Bible School with her. I agreed without thinking much about it. My family was never really much into going to church. We were people who went to church on Christmas and Easter and that was about it. So needless to say, being in a place where the focus was entirely on God for an entire week was a very new experience for me. I had always believed that there was a God, and people who lived a pretty good life got to go to heaven when they died. That week at VBS, I was confronted with the truth that what I had assumed all those years was very wrong. For the first time I heard that Christ had died for me, because without His blood I would forever be dead in my sins. For the first time someone shared the story of Christ with me; His life, His death and His resurrection. I was told that all I had to do to spend eternity with Him was accept that I'd never be good enough to earn salvation, and that He lovingly died for me. Hearing that changed my life forever. I accepted God’s love and we began a journey together, a journey that gradually reshaped my heart, reordered my priorities and changed the way I look at just about everything.

My dad was a Navy pilot, and when I became a Christian we were stationed in England. Now, military churches are pretty different from churches here in the states. You see, people are constantly moving in and out, so it’s really hard to stay stable. The youth group there was weak and almost nonexistent, plus the normal pastor was deployed, so a new reservist pastor would come in every two weeks. Needless to say, this wasn’t the best environment for a brand new Christian. But looking back it really was a blessing to be there for my first year as a Christian. Because I wasn’t super-involved in or supported by my church for that first year, I had to become really dependent on God to help me grow as a Christian. That meant developing habits of daily Bible study, and prayer without a lot of support from other Christians. This has helped me keep growing through those disciplines even when it’s tough. A year later my family moved here to Missouri and I straight away got involved at church. I jumped right into anything our youth group had to offer and grew so much as a Christian by simply being involved. That was when my faith really became a lifestyle for me, and I grew to know God on a much more personal level.    

I love to say and I know it’s true, that Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship. It’s a fellowship with a God who loves us unimaginably, and who always has us on His mind. He’s completely crazy about each and every one of us, and as we get to know Him better, we fall in love with Him too. Last year being a follower of Christ became less about rules and rituals to me, and more about knowing God and walking through life with Him. (Granted when you know God in all His greatness, you’ll want to follow the rules he lovingly set down for us.) I’ve come to know God as my best fiend, my teacher, my biggest cheerleader, my loving Father and so much more. He’s taken on a strong presence in my every day life, wherever I am. I’ve gone from living a day-to-day life filled with stuff to do just to kill time, to a life lived as a journey with a deep passion for serving and loving my God. He’s certainly not a God who just waits for you in the pew every Sunday. He walks with you every day, every step of the way, even when you can’t see Him. He’s there for you always. God wants to struggle through life with you. He cries with you when times are bad, and dances with you when things go great. God yearns for a deep relationship with each of us, and ours souls are only truly filled when we’re in a relationship with Him.

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