Heidi's Story Unpacked ..."grow up Christian" seem to never grasp the reality of who God really is-how holy & great He is. When you were growing up, what was the spiritual environment like in your home? I was raised in a family of six children. My parents genuinely loved God and expressed that love not only with their lips but also with their lives. I noticed they were different from most parents; they prayed together, read the Bible together, cried together, and stressed the dire importance for us each to know God. We saw the power of Christ in our parents' marriage and witnessed firsthand how the gospel can help us weather the storms of life. What would you say are some of the spiritual dangers of growing up in a Christian home? When a child hears the gospel story from an early age, it is very easy for him to take it for granted and miss the amazement of it. It's possible for a kid to miss the amazement that God is totally holy, completely unique, and the most perfect Being of all. He doesn't owe us anything, but He reaches down to us in deep compassion. Sometimes well-meaning parents and Sunday school teachers unwittingly present children with the idea that Jesus is sort of like a charm that one can carry along in one's pocket. Reading the Bible, especially the Old Testament, I learned of God's awesome power and greatness and saw also his tremendous love-it's a truly humbling thought to grasp. When was the first time you heard the Good News that Jesus Christ died to pay for your sins? I don't remember at what age I first heard the Gospel. My mother would share with me about how she was searching for God all her life and knew there must be something more to God than just attending mass and going through all the religious motions. A caring friend shared with her that God personally loved her, cared for her, and desired for her to be free from those empty rituals. Mom discovered that a priest could not really be her mediator with God but only Jesus could, that she could go straight to Jesus! She fell in love with Jesus, and He saved her from her sins and her ritualistic attempt to save herself. Through my mother's story, I fell in love with Jesus and wanted the relationship my mom and dad had with Him. I was only four years old. In a small way I understood that God was perfect and holy, that He could not allow any sin to go unpunished, and that hell was real. I learned that sin is any thought or deed that displeases God, anything short of His perfect ideal, or even anything that isn't done with the motive of pleasing God. By those standards, I knew that I was a sinner, even at the age of four. I realized that even if I tried to be as good as possible from then on, I could not erase the sins I had already committed. But I learned that what I couldn't do, Jesus could. I learned that God lovingly provided a way that we could be freed from the eternal punishment we all deserve. Jesus offered to take away my sins. He had already paid the price for them on the cross where he suffered as a sacrifice for sin. That's heavy stuff, and I'm sure I didn't fully understand it all. But I knew that if death was the penalty for sin, it must be pretty horrible, and I need something pretty amazing to save me. I saw I needed Jesus' forgiveness and presence in my life, so I gave over the rights to myself and surrendered all to Him. How has your life been different because of what Jesus Christ did in your life and soul? I was saved at a young age, and I didn't live a prodigal life. But God saved me from the pain of a life living apart from Him. I know that if I had grown up without Christ, my life would've been completely different. Christ affects every single aspect of my life. I think a lot of people look at Christianity as just a possible component of life. They think they can separate what they believe from their lifestyle. I believe that what one believes completely permeates every aspect of how one lives one's life. When I turned to God I offered up my whole life to Him. Jesus said He won't take us any other way. Matthew 16:24 says, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me." If we want Jesus, we need to be willing to lay aside everything for Him. I know that to deny yourself is totally opposite of all that our society deems as normal. When Christ has saved you from sin, and you see Him as Master of you life, He changes you completely. The worldly things, which before you held on to so dearly, no longer matter. It's a totally new life. That's why Christians use the term "born again" (an expression that Jesus coined). I desire to live to his glory in all things. I see my life as His. I desire so much for everyone I know to know Christ, because I've experienced a joy, peace, and freedom from sin and judgment that they can have, too. My life is still a work in progress, and there's still a residue of sin in my life that Jesus is working on. The Lord Jesus, with great kindness, gently reveals the sins that entangle me. The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God every day to convict and encourage me to live more like Jesus. I've come to see that I need Christ and His Word even more than my daily food. What are some of the challenges that God has helped you through since you've become a Christian? Boy, there are a lot of challenges that we all face-many of them just common things like trying to earn a living and dealing with things that seem unfair. But for me, the most amazing help that Jesus has brought to me is help with my attitude about my challenges. Over the course of the years, He used many different external difficulties with situations and relationships to expose my desperate need for Him. Over time he has changed me to become a person who cares more for people than what people think about me as a person. He has changed me from a person who was very proud over my accomplishments and talents into someone who sees that any good I have comes from my Creator alone and are to be used for His glory alone. He has shown me that my significance is not in me, but in Him. He has shown me that when Christ is all I have, Christ is really everything I need. I still struggle with some of these areas-less than I used to-and God is faithful to work on me each day. What verses on salvation are most precious to you? Why? It is really hard to pick out only a couple; the Bible is so rich. I love I Peter 1:3-5: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." This passage is so beautiful to me because it has so many words of certainty about my salvation. God's power is strong enough to keep me where my faith has placed me-in his loving arms. This hope I have is alive because its based on the power and certainty of the resurrection of Jesus. If Jesus could conquer death himself, how much more able is he to bring me through death. I've got an eternal inheritance that will never vanish, unlike everything else I have. Down here nothing can happen to me that will upset my eternity. Another passage that gives me great joy is Philippians 3:8,9: "More than that, I count all things to be loss, compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but loss that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith." This verse helps me remember that my Christian upbringing is no substitute for knowing Christ Jesus for myself. There's just not substitute for trusting Jesus for the righteousness that he gives. I can also truly say that I am thankful for experiencing the disappointments of life-even the deepest ones. It's not that they were good in and of themselves, but they have helped me know Christ Jesus more. Christ has become my life, my love, and my all.