Michele King

I was born the unplanned first child of a single, teenage mother. The first half of my childhood was unsettled with lots of moving around and lots of people in and out of my life. The summer before I turned 8 we moved to a new town and a neighbor offered to take me with her to an event at her church during the day to keep me occupied and give me the chance to meet some other children.

I loved everything about that week: the music, the crafts and memorizing Bible verses. But the most important part was that for the first time I saw my fatherlessness and my need for one. I met Jesus in that week and He immediately bound my emotional wounds. The very moment I asked I was saved. We moved again a couple of months into the fall and our neighbor gave me a Bible to take with me.

For the rest of my childhood, I never went to church again, but God was faithful to me and I never felt alone or condemned. He drew me to Himself, prompted me to read my Bible and invited me to pray. He set me apart as His and I was not defeated in my circumstances. There were plenty more homes and people in and out, but He was constant and I was safe. I can see now that my salvation was not just the promise of an eventual heaven, but a daily preservation of my joy and potential.

When I left home for college I was free to live anyway I wanted. So I found my first church home. God was so good to use my freedom to bring me closer to Him. He broke generations of painful tradition in my family when He did. Now I am loved and able to love; I have a forever family in my fellow Christians; I have complete assurance in my future.

Michele King