confirmation Personal statement pg.1

If I went back four years and tried to say what my favorite verse was I would have pulled a Ralph Kramden, humana, humana, humana. That is because four years ago before the summer of 2005 I had never read a word of the Bible. Of course I knew all the stories, God made the world in 7 days, and He had a son Jesus who died for us; that was the extent to my Biblical knowledge. Then I came here which lead to my trip to Camp Berea and on July 15, 2005 I received my first Bible the one I have here now. I remember the moment exactly, the shiny black cover and the crisp white pages, all new and slightly foreign to me. I then proceeded to read through it, read isn’t the right term here I devoured it. It was like giving bread to a starving man it was all so new and interesting it was like I had seen the world for the first time and I wanted to take it all in. In my zeal I ploughed through many verses one of them is Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” This verse has been particularly meaningful to me because I believe that God has used it to tell me something about my life. One thing I’ve learned in the 15 years of my life is that we all feel pain and disappointment. I’ve felt it many times in my life and have also seen it in the lives of my friends and family. When God made the world He made it perfectly, it was literally Heaven on earth, but when sin entered the world it blackened it, like ink blotches on a piece of paper the world became dirty imperfect. It is through that, that pain entered the world. Job felt it; he spent about 30 chapters telling his friends about it. Daniel felt it when he was dragged away with the exiles to Babylon. Even Jesus felt it in the garden of olives when His sweat was like blood, He knew what was about to happen and it brought Him pain. But there is a common theme in all of these cases to use an old Sunday school answer: God. When Job lost all he had and heard his wife’s nagging who was there? God! Who kept Daniel safe in the lion’s den and made him favorable to Nebuchadnezzar? God. Who gave strength to His beloved Son to save His people? God did. On July 15, 2005 I learned something; I’m not alone in this world. We are not alone. We all feel the hurt of pain in our hearts at one time or another and the sting of disappointment. When I accepted Jesus as my savior I expected Him to come with a sponge and washcloth to clean me up, instead He came with a chisel and hammer to break me so He could make me. Yep that’s what I said God needs to break us so that He can make us more like Him. Here’s a story, last year I tried out for the high school baseball team and was cut.