Hello, everyone. I am going to share my testimony with you guys. I feel like I need to introduce myself. My name is Shalia. I am a first-time blogger. I live in Sherwood Park, Alberta. I am 28 and the oldest of 2 younger siblings. I love to grow in my relationship with God, play my violin, hang out with friends, play games, chill, and do some summer activities like kayaking. That is who I am!
I will now share my testimony with you all. First off, my parents. My mom was Canadian, born and raised, and my dad was already living in Hawaii; he was born there. I was born and raised in Maui, Hawaii. I grew up in a Christian home. I have 2 younger siblings; we are all in our 20s. I’m 28, turning 29 this year. Crazy! Long story short, my parents got divorced in 2011, and it wasn’t finalized until 2012. You know, as a kid, you’re wondering why. I know that some kids thought it was their fault or something else. To me, I never really thought of anything like that. I reacted slowly to their divorce. It did hurt me, but I also thought my parents getting a divorce was kind of stupid. I won’t share too much of it.
The funny part is that God knew my life plan during my parents’ divorce. He knew that I was going to live a better life here in Alberta, Canada. I remember my old children’s pastor; she came over to our house when we were moving and said to me that it would be a new adventure. Honestly, I gotta believe her on that. Moving to Alberta was a challenge and an adventure. That meant I had to start over and make new friends, etc. Like, it was a lot. Thankfully, our parents took us to Disneyland!! Whoohoo! I remember that week so well. When we were at Disneyland, we went to this one place called Space Mountain. No one in my family told me what it was about. I assumed it was about space stuff, but then I got thinking: why would a huge line-up and minutes be passing by? LOL. You know what I mean? So anyway, we got closer, and I heard an unusual sound, like roller coaster noise. I got so scared that I almost took off when I saw the ride, and my dad grabbed me and said, “Nope, you’re going on.” I said, “Okay, as long as I’m by you.” Somehow I ended up sitting next to my sister, and I was just screaming and almost crying the whole ride. That ride was insane! I was not expecting that ride at all. The worst part was that the cameras caught me crying. LOL
Just a little backstory about my parents taking us on our last family trip. I did remember feeling sad after my dad had left us and we hopped on a different flight to Alberta. The best part of moving here, I got to see all of my Canadian cousins :)! It had been a long time since I saw them. Now I see them a lot at every family gathering, or sometimes my one cousin- they live 5 minutes from my house- and one night he rode his skateboard thing to my house, and I was watching a show. I received this Snapchat from him saying he was at my house. They were scared when my brother opened my bedroom door. It’s been a hot minute with this side of my family.
I mean, I have so much for my testimony to go through. We moved here in 2012. I had just turned 14 because my birthday was in December. I turned 14 in 2011. I’ve lived here in Alberta for 14 years. I’m 28! This math thing! After we moved here, it was more of a year of exploring Alberta. Then sadly, when the school year came back, our mom had to tell us. We were all sad. We wanted to stay homeschooled. If there are any homeschoolers or was, big shout-out to y'all. That meant we had to make new friends and listen to teachers that weren’t my mom. It was a whole new environment for me. At 14, you discover so many things about yourself and your peers.
Grade 9 talk: Oh boy, this one is a heavy one. My relationship with God at 14 was a struggle, even though I believed in God and loved Him. Did I make some mistakes in grade 9? Yes! I fell in love with boys who weren’t Christian at all. Up until grade 10 was when I learned my lesson: Christian boys. I dealt with not just boys but also bullies. There was this girl who randomly decided to be mean to me one day. Sometimes I don’t even know or remember what I did that made this girl mean to me all of a sudden. All I wished to learn was to love her and even say “I love you” to her. I wasn’t strong in my relationship with God, so I didn’t dare to do so. I prayed for forgiveness over her heart and repented for my actions later on. I wish I had been taught how to love my enemies back then. I feel like that would have been a lot easier for me if I had done that. Grade 9 was rough too, because I joined a youth group that a friend invited me to. Of course, more boys. LOL. Christian boys! I was interested in one guy for years. Somehow he isn’t with me. I’m glad he is now happily married to someone else, and I know that God has someone greater than that boy. I even had some situations with some of the people I attended youth group with. God helped me through it all. I ended up bullying a girl. I felt bad afterwards, and I know I hurt her. I know God forgave me because I never did it again. I’ve gossiped about people and judged people harshly. I learned to stop because I knew that was wrong to do.
High school: High school is a crazy topic because, oh boy! We’ve all had our moments with boys in our lives. Up until you ended up secretly dating a boy. He did call himself a Christian, but he wasn’t really living for God. Ladies, especially young ladies. If you are in high school or junior high. If a boy says to you that he is Christian, look at his fruits! I wish I had been taught that in those years. The funny thing with this boy, all we talked about was wanting sex. It was disgusting. Even to this day, I have to give that unhealthy soul tie I had with that boy to God. I do feel much better. But man, this kid definitely wasn’t a Christian. I would hear him drop the f bomb so many times in band class. It was crazy. Part of me wishes that I never encountered him. That is another thing to talk about. If you single ladies are vulnerable. Don’t let the enemy use that to attack you. That is what happened to me in High school. I think I was in grade 11? When I went out with this dude. I don’t remember. LOL.
Key to look for in a Christian man or boy! Look at his fruits. Does he carry the heart of God? Does he go to church? Does he pray? Does he attend church activities? What kind of friends does he have? We need to look for these in a Christian boy/man of God. Anyway, then again, I wish I had been taught all these things when I was younger.
Moving on: I had other challenges in high school. I dealt with more bullies in high school. Some girls decided to be mean to me. Aren’t we called to be perfect, right? Jesus wasn’t perfect. I’ve had friendships end because of a lack of certain things. I struggled a lot. Even identity issues and my relationship with God. Somehow I still carried God with me, and He was with me.
Now, College Life: I went to a Bible college in Edmonton. Let me tell you! I’ve been gossiped about; I had a guy try to be a part of my life, and I kept trying to tell him no; more boys I liked, but God said no, etc. Then again, our lives and journey with God aren’t meant to be perfect. I did about 4 years of Bible college. I studied Youth Ministry. I have my bachelor's degree. One year was a very bad year. I was at a church doing my internship. I made a mistake. Some friends and I thought it was a joke. To this kid, I guess it wasn’t a joke. I did hurt him, and it cost me my place in my internship, and it sadly ended early. At least the pastor let me finish my hours with the other group I was a part of. Now, I should have done the right thing and apologized to the boy. Then again, my courage was weak, and my relationship with God wasn’t that strong yet. That year was difficult for me. Now I have learned that I had some enemies at school. I knew there were a lot of people I ended up making enemies with because of how they treated me. By my last year in college, one person stood up and told me there was gossip. Honestly, I wish that person hadn’t told me. It was my last year. The only reason why this person was helping me was that the girl who was gossiping about me was following me on social media. All I got was lies from her when I tried chatting with her about it. I did lose a lot of friends when I was confronting them. College life was a challenge. Though I was there, growing in my relationship with God, the enemy still found a way to attack me.
One thing about my testimony, my life will never be perfect. Though challenges come my way, I will persevere until the end. God loves us so much that He will never leave us nor forsake us - it is found in Hebrews 13:5. I love that verse because it shows me that God is with me no matter what trials and tests I face; I am not alone. I wish I could go back and rewrite history with some of the people I hurt, and wish my parents didn’t get divorced. There was one day when I was sitting on my bed. I thought to myself. What would have happened if my parents didn’t get a divorce? Would I still have ended up in Edmonton, Alberta? Then I concluded that God brought me here to Alberta for a reason. He wrote my story before I was born. He knew me in my mother’s womb. Jesus calls us to certain places because He wants to prune us. He wants to heal us. He wants to change us, shape us, and mold us into the women He has called us to be.
I may not know where you all are reading this; you might be questioning and thinking the same way. Some of you have moved from your childhood home to pursue your career somewhere else in the world. Some of you may keep moving from province to province or state to state. There could be many places God is calling you to and writing your story. Today, I had a song Write Your Story by Francesca Battistelli, in my head. God writes our stories differently. The waiting, the promise, the why. God knew our hearts before we were born and was already planning this perfect life for us.
I do want to encourage you all, for those who are reading, that you know in your hearts God is with you. No matter what. You are not alone. There are many of us with a purpose and plan; God is calling us to do His will one day. Know why you think God moved you to this place. Know the WHY! God cares for you. He wants the best for you. He knows us best!
Thank you all for reading,
God Bless!
Shalia Grace
Comments
Post a Comment