The following is what I wanted to say. Maybe not exactly what I said, but close. Now that I have a chance to write it out, this is what I was feeling. I will remember Sunday, November 2, 2025, for the rest of my life. Here’s my baptism testimony.
I used to credit “luck” when something good happened to me. I’d say, I’m lucky. Now I say, I’m blessed, and that has made all the difference.
When I say I’m lucky, I give credit to myself. When I say I’m blessed, I give credit to God. I can’t do what God can do. It is His way, not my way. His will, not mine.
God has taken my crooked lines, like scribbles on a page, and straightened them. He has taken my brokenness and mended it until I am whole. He has taken all of my story and put it to good use.
And as proof of that, all you have to do is see that Dorie, the woman I love, and Lucan, my son, are standing up here with me at Freshwater Church in Paw Paw, Michigan. I could have never thought-up this scenario in a million years.
I decided I wanted to walk with God in the spring-ish of 2021. At that time, I was going down a lot of rabbit holes searching for truth, and I kept coming back to the ultimate truth, the goodness of God revealed in the Bible.
But it wasn’t some big transformation or celebrated conversion. I simply started meeting God, little by little. It began with questions. My best friend is a believer, and I would pepper him with questions that he answered as best he could. Then he would leave me with resources, prayers his family was praying, or different Bible translations to explore.
I met God when I started nibbling on Scripture, little passages here and there like John 3:16. I met God when I found myself attending church. I met God when I had lunch with the pastor. I met God when I joined a Bible study group. I met God when I read the Bible cover to cover. I met God when I began praying on my own every morning.
Little by little, I kept meeting God.
Dave Ramsey has a quote I love. He says, “We meet God on the way up, we need God on the way down.” That has been true for me. When something really hard happened, I needed God, and He was there.
God is always there when I need Him.
Thank you all for being witnesses that my heart is tender toward God in Jesus’ name.
Amen.