Growing up a pastor’s kid was hard for Teia

Being a Pastor’s kid was hard. Growing up, I never felt God myself and I never genuinely wanted a relationship with Him. I only pretended to have one because my parents did. I only went to church because I had to and I only prayed because my parents said it was good for me. I never wanted Christian friends, to go to youth groups, or participate in any church event. I felt that God was mad at me because of the life I was living, so I chose to live life without him. In high school things got rocky. I was led into temptation and surrounded myself with the wrong people. I was always in trouble and ended up losing my job and people that God had given me, as a result of who I chose to hang around with.

I saw that God was my only answer.

The Bible says “Bad company corrupts good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33). It was then that my eyes were opened, and I saw that God was my only answer. I started to notice that I allowed the people I hung around to define who I was and how I lived. I knew that I didn’t want to live like this anymore. When I was 17, I fully surrendered to God and gave Him my life. I want to serve Him to the fullest and want Him to direct my life and use me as an example to those of this world. I learned how much God valued me and wanted to meet me in His presence. I felt the love of God and felt the Holy Spirit. I chose to follow Him fully, and God began to show me things and gave me the gift of discernment. My perspective shifted when it came to the world and I told myself I no longer wanted to conform to it’s patterns, but to conform completely to Christ. Since then, God has been with me and taking every step of life with me. I love that I am chosen by Christ and that no matter what trials I go through God will stand by my side. I plan to serve God to the fullest and walk as Jesus did.