Welcome to the Blog!

Hey, hey! Welcome to our first post. We wanted to start by giving you all a little background about the two of us. What better way to do that than to share our testimonies? Revelations 12:11 reminds us of the power that our testimonies hold. 

“ And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony” 

We have VERY different testimonies, which is a testament to the many ways God works. We hope that in one way or another you can connect to our stories and see the ways God is moving in your own life. 

Here we gooooooo !!!

ASH 

My testimony began when I was just a little girl. My grandparents were pastors of the church I grew up in, and I can still remember looking forward to going to church every Sunday in one of my favorite dresses. However, it wasn't until recently that I realized how significant this part of my life was.

As I entered my teen years, my grandparents were adamant about me getting involved in a church with a larger youth and student ministry. They knew the importance of building a community and walking through life together, and let me tell you, I did. Church was my LIFE (and still is), and around this time, things with God started to change. I had believed in God for as long as I can remember, but I began to form a relationship with Jesus that was more than just following a religion.

Thankfully, I had an amazing community and some people who took me under their wing to disciple me and grow my spiritual relationships.

Looking back at my life, I  had my fair share of struggles and a lot of small bumps to work through. But there was never one moment where my life was radically changed, which led me to believe that I didn't have a testimony and that my story would never be powerful. At every youth gathering, summer camp, or church summit, I always heard stories of people living in a dark place and doing terrible things, but then all of a sudden, God showed up in a supernatural way and radically changed their lives. I didn't have that big moment, and I thought that meant I didn't have a story to tell.

But let me tell you, I am so THANKFUL that I don't have to deal with past decisions or skeletons in the closet. Even though it was a slow and steady story, it is my story, and my story holds power. When I look back at my life, I see HUGE growth that I am so proud of, and I see God moving in miraculous ways that could have easily been overlooked.

Even though I don't have a moment that changed everything, God was moving constantly on my straight and narrow path. And if I never looked back at where I came from, I would have completely missed how His hand was there for the whole journey.

BRY

Growing up, God was not the main topic of conversation in my household. Every once in a while we might hear about that Jesus guy on holidays like Easter or Christmas, but other than that, I never really knew who this guy was or why He had all these days dedicated to celebrating Him. My family was more of a lazy Sunday than a get dressed up for church on Sunday morning type of family. 

I always believed in God and told people I was a Christian, but I never actually understood what that meant. When I got to middle school, I started to see firsthand through my friends what it meant for people to actually be living a life in relationship and on mission for the Lord. I was drawn to the light of Jesus shining from within them even though I might not have realized that that’s what it was at the time.

My last year of middle school is when things really started to change in my life. I was always a great kid. I had straight A’s, I never got in trouble, I was involved in clubs and on my school’s dance team; so, there wasn’t necessarily something radical that needed to change in my life. The problem was that these things became my identity. If I got a B in a class, I simply thought my life would end (don’t worry, college really changed that for me). I was constantly seeking validation and approval from the people around me and struggling to find what my purpose was. Every day felt the same and I was just stuck in this constant loop. I just sort of felt lost. 

One day my friends invited me to a friend’s night at their youth group, and if I’m being honest, the free Chick-fil-A is what really made me want to go. Little did I know that this was the night that was going to change not only the rest of my life, but also my eternity. For the first time ever I heard the Gospel. I finally understood who Jesus was and what He did for me on the cross. Those little things that would consume me suddenly dwindled away as I found my identity in Christ. I recognized the need for Jesus in my life and ultimately made the decision to make Him my Lord and Savior. 

I didn’t quite know what came next, but I knew that my life was about to change. My friends were so supportive and immediately started to invite me to youth groups and to come to church with them. Deep down though, I struggled with comparison and was really overwhelmed with stepping into a church. I was scared they were going to ask me questions I didn’t know the answers to. I was scared I wasn’t going to know the words to any of the songs. I didn’t even own a bible. Fear was holding me back from fully surrendering everything to Jesus. It took time, but once I broke down those walls, I found my second family in my church. I eventually made the decision to get baptized and live a life that was just fully devoted to growing closer in relationship and on mission for the Lord. Jesus became a real presence in my life as I allowed Him to take directional control and lead me down the path He set before me.

Fast forward to where we are now! God has continued to move in ways that I can’t even comprehend. College has been a huge season of growth in my spiritual life. I’ve really started to grasp what a personal relationship with God is like and am learning more and more every day!

We truly could sit here and talk about how faithful God is and all of the amazing ways He has moved for HOURS…

but we’ll have to save that for another day ;)