I came to know Christ when I was eight years old. I was on my way to church with my mom, and I asked her what it meant to be a Christian. She told me that I had to invite the Lord into my heart and ask Him to be my Lord and Savior. I remember placing my head on the dashboard right then and there, and asked Jesus to be my Savior and come into my heart. However, it was not until later in college that I began to truly find out what it meant to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
By the time I was a freshman in college my Christian testimony had been overrun by my lifestyle. I was already drinking and involved with drugs, and not living in obedience to the Holy Spirit. In my head I knew what it meant to be a follower of Christ, but in reality, I had no clue how to BE a follower of Christ! It was not until my senior year in college that I met someone involved with The Navigators who took the time to come alongside me and model for me what it meant to follow Christ! He was very intentional about our relationship. He took the time to meet with me and to get to know me – which is what discipleship is all about! I began discovering what it means to become a follower of Christ. He not only taught me how to read the Bible, but how to understand it and how to apply it daily to my life. I learned how to handle conflict in a healthy manner and what it means to be a good steward with my finances. I discovered what meant to look for a godly woman and how to be a leader of a household. The thing that meant the most to me throughout our discipleship relationship was his patience and constant encouragement when I was struggling with life’s issues or when I just did not understand what he was trying to teach me about how to live a Christ-centered life.
