The Finger Print of God -- Part 1

I started to write this post a couple of weeks ago, but I just couldn't formulate what I was thinking. So I saved it as a draft and went on with my life. I even wrote other posts telling myself "I'll get back to this one." It can be put off no longer! I am now ready to share with you the finger print of God in my life. I forgot that this is Thursday, but I think this is going to be the best throwback Thursday post! =P

Baby picture :) 

I was not a Christian, at twelve years old I knew what I wanted, and it was not to go to youth group. I hated it there. I hated church, I hated that my parents made me go. So I stood my ground. I wouldn't move from the spot. It was like I had sprouted roots to the floor. I yelled "You can't make me!" my parents probably yelled back telling me I had to go. Mom went into her room sobbing, while dad continued to debate with me... until finally 30 mins before church I won. I remember walking away feeling so successful, but strangely empty. I had gotten what I wanted, I stayed home from church it ended up making my mom cry... but it was worth it, right?

In June that year, my parents wanted Stephanie and I to go to a youth conference at my church. Needless to say I wasn't the happiest camper. I begrudgingly walked down the middle aisle into a row that was somewhere in the middle and waited. I was really good at faking in church. I knew how to act like I was a saintly person just like my sister. I could say all the right things and even praise and worship like I loved God. But I didn't know Him. When the speaker came up and began to talk, it was like my heart was being torn out of my chest. He spoke about how we can't wait to make a difference, he said that we had to choose tonight whether or not we were going to follow God. Then he opened up the alter. I remember crying before I even reached the alter and even then I couldn't stand to my feet. I fell before the King of Kings, a broken, weeping girl of twelve and it was there that I met Jesus.

I used to do dance when I was younger... thus the outfit. :) 

My life was completely changed. I started to want to go to church, I wanted to learn and I wanted to change. I was such a brat before, so mean to my sisters that I wanted to be different. I started to try and be different on my own and I couldn't do it. I was a complete failure at this "new me". So part of me gave up. I was  a slave to sin (Or so I thought) I couldn't do anything to stop sinning. No matter how hard I tried, no matter how many times I asked for forgiveness, nothing was working. The following Christmas after I got saved, I received a book called "Do Hard Things"..... I avoided that book like the plague. Just the title sounded challenging. By March of the following year, I had only read the  title, then I realized if I was serious about God I needed to face my fear and read it. I was so inspired by the message of the book, rebelling against low expectations... I signed up for speech class the following school year. I know... weird, right?

Stephanie and I are inseparable, (so much so that some people still think of us as one person) which means as children and teenagers we did everything together. It was almost like "If Charissa goes... Stephanie will be there too" and the other way around. So guess who did speech with me? Stephanie! We ended up loving every moment of it. At the very last minute before a speech competition, Stephanie and I were asked to enter as a debate team (along with doing our duo speech) so that they would have even numbers at the event. So we quickly threw something together and made it work. That day at the speech competition Stephanie and I won 2nd place in both Duo Presentation and Debate, which meant that we could go to Nationals in Pennsylvania. But it was during the summer and God had some other plans for me.

That very same year, I was 15, wanting to make some big difference in the world. The year before I had met the local CEF director Mrs. Hatt and she had told us about Christian Youth in Action, a one week training for teens that taught them how to share the message of Salvation with children. I didn't give it a second thought, no this was not what God would have for me. Maybe a mission trip to Panama or Uganda or something. But this year, 2010, Stephanie still remembered what Mrs. Hatt had said so Stephanie called her. Within a couple of weeks, we were signed up to go. Personally I wasn't totally against it, but I wanted to do something different. It sounded hard but Stephanie couldn't go without me ;) We had to tell ICC that we couldn't make it to Nationals because it landed on the same week as the training and we were committed to it.

CYIA training changed my life.

At this training I learned how to share my faith simply with a child. I learned the essentials of Christian growth and started to apply them to my life. I began to have a quiet time, which is something I didn't even know I should do. When I got up to teach my very first Bible lesson, it clicked "This is just like speech!". Because I had already had so many classes about speaking in front of people, this came naturally to me.

My first year at CYIA..... unfortunately I couldn't find a better picture
right to left: Charissa, Stephanie & Katelyn

That week I experienced something that I had never experienced before, everyone around me loved me. Not one person there wanted me to fail or tear me down. We were all friends, all 80 of us. We knew what we were there for and we became a family in 5 days. On Friday night, I sat with all my new friends at the last devotional time for the girls and sobbed my heart out. Tomorrow I would go home and it would all be the same. I would go back to being the girl I was before.......



This post has gotten really long! I think I will stop here and continue this (at least until I get to present day) on Thursdays.  It will be like my ode to TBT. :)

I hope you can see the Lord working in through my life, like I can see it. At the time it was all so confusing, but He was the one who was ultimately moving the circumstances of my life. And it is amazing to see how He has done it. Maybe this will cause you to reflect on your own life. Take time to see His hand at work and thank Him for it. I am convinced I will never be able to thank the Lord enough for what He has done for me. He leaves his finger prints everywhere, we just have to take the time to look.