Erin’s Adoption Story
Having the blessing of being raised by strong Christian parents is a gift I am forever grateful for. Both my mom and my dad encouraged me to know about Christ and invested in my spiritual needs. Ever since birth I was taken to church, taught to pray, taught Bible stories, and taught the importance of Jesus. At the age of seven, I came to the point in my young life that I realized I needed Jesus. I finally understood that Jesus loved me even though I sinned, and He died on the cross for me, and rose again. I can remember walking down the stairs at my house and telling my parents that I wanted Jesus in my heart. My mom walked back up the stairs with me to my bedroom where she led me to Jesus! It was on that day that God adopted me into His family as daughter.
Since that life-changing time I have continued to learn more about what it means to really follow Christ. I stayed involved in church and have tried to live my life in a way that honors my Savior who gave His all for me. I engaged myself in my church youth group, in Christian organizations at school, in Christian camps and mission opportunities, in sharing Jesus with friends, and in learning how to have a daily time alone with Jesus.
As I made my way into my teens and heard the testimonies of others who had radical life changes, I started to feel like I didn’t have a “testimony” worthy of telling. Fortunately, I came to the realization that I do have an amazing testimony because I have a story to tell of how God rescued me from an eternal separation from Him and saved me from experiencing the wrong path that many endure before recognizing a need for Christ. My relationship with Christ has guided my life through the ups and downs. I honestly cannot imagine going through life without Jesus IN my heart guiding me through. Currently, God has allowed me to be the wife and pastor’s wife of an amazing man of Christ.
Eric’s Adoption Story
Being raised in a Christian home, my parents sought to instill Christian values in my brother and me. We lived a normal life and attended church on a regular basis. As I grew older, I was very active in the youth group and became a leader among my peers. Entering my junior year of high school, I began to think about what I had heard for years in church and read in the Bible. The one question that kept coming to my mind was, “Where would I go if I died today?”
Weeks and months went by as I wrestled with this question daily. One day I realized that I did not know where I would go when I died and I wanted to know. I had heard about Jesus from growing up in the church, but had not given my life to Christ. The reason I hadn’t given my life to Christ was because of my sin. My sin had separated me from God. Because I was separated from God, I could not have a relationship with Him. This led me to the answer of my question: because of my sin, I would go to Hell. So on May 15, 1997 at 4:15 p.m., I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and know that Heaven is my final destination. It was on that day that God adopted me into His family as son.
After giving my life to Christ, I immediately felt God calling me to serve in the church. I prayed as well as my family and attended a Bible College to study to be a pastor. After college I attended seminary in pursuit of studying for a staff position in a church. While in seminary, God began to burden my wife and me for college students. We prayed and sought God on what He was calling me to do. Now we are at Kennesaw First Baptist Church and I serve as the College and Discipleship Pastor. This is exactly where God has called us and enjoy every minute of this ministry as God has called me to this place and position.
