Growing Life (8) Testimony — Emily Eun

Hi guys, today I’m going to be sharing with you my experience with taking Growing Life, and how it has impacted my faith. First, I want to start off by giving a huge thanks to my shepherd Grace, for reaching out to me and caring so deeply about my spiritual life. Had she not reached out to me; I would not be up here proudly sharing about how much I’ve spiritually matured over the past couple weeks. I have so much to share, and if I were to share it all, there would be no time for Pastor Caleb’s amazing sermon, so I broke down my testimony into three different parts. Pre-Growing Life, during Growing Life, and post-Growing Life.

Prior to taking Growing Life, there was always this one thing I felt guilty about deep down in my heart, which was not devoting enough time for God. I am not proud of this, but I would go weeks without doing daily devos or QT, or even praying each night before I go to bed, other than a quick “thank you” prayer before meals. While still feeling guilty and uneasy in my heart for not spending enough time with God each day, I still carried on with my life and didn’t really see the need or importance of reading the bible or praying each day. The only times I would approach God and pray would be when I needed or desperately wanted something from God, like being accepted at the university that was my first choice, finding internships, or finding a full-time job after graduating. And when God didn’t give me the things I was asking for, I wondered if God was listening to my prayers. I had thoughts like “oh if he loves me why wouldn’t he just give me a job now” or “why did he let my friend find a job first before me”. I slowly came to realize how toxic I was in my faith and found myself in a very dry season spiritually. That’s when my shepherd Grace reached out to me about Growing Life.

I gotta admit, Growing Life is not easy. Weekly verses to memorize, workbook to complete, and meeting up every week to share about your spiritual life, especially when you’re not really the type to share about that cringey stuff. However, I also gotta admit, everything I went through during the seven weeks was so worth it. I have learned so much through taking this life series and it has immensely impacted my spiritual life in the best way possible. As part of weekly homework, I had to complete a workbook which sort of worked out as daily devos. I had to devote at least 30 minutes to God each night, and I was quite surprised at how much it changed the way I saw things. Something that really stood out to me from the workbook was how it referred to quiet time as an “appointment with Christ”. It mentioned that Jesus is waiting for me at the appointed time and place. After reading this, my whole heart shattered, thinking about how much I’ve been ignoring God from my life in the past, and how many “appointments” I’ve missed. That’s when my spiritual growth took a turn. Once doing daily devos each night became a habit, I felt so much more at peace and I really felt God’s presence wherever I went. Completing Growing Life sort of felt like dissecting my own self. Sharing about how I became a Christian, my life after accepting Christ as my savior and so on, has really helped me come to realize the many opportunities and chances I had missed to take a big step in my faith. However, I learned that it’s never late, and God will always be there waiting for me.

During the first couple weeks of taking Growing Life, I was in a season of uncertainty and felt lost with finding my first job as a full-time graphic designer. I went through so many interviews and rejections, I was really discouraged. But sure enough, a couple weeks later, God provided me with the perfect job as a junior graphic designer. Right then I learned that God really provides and knows what’s best for me. Although the journey and process to getting to the final destination won’t be easy, as long as we’re going there with God, he will bring us true happiness. Had I not learned how precious spending time with God each day is, I don’t think I would have this thankful heart and confidence that He answered my prayers. There is so much more I am thankful to God for through Growing Life. I could stand here all day, but I want to end with this.

Jesus Christ is the source of my spiritual life, and there is so much more room for me to mature and grow as a Christian. I can now confidently say that I have the desire and thirst to know more about God and spend time with him each day. Through the seven weeks, not only have I received an answered prayer, but I’ve also realized that my Father’s love was always there, which is all I need.

Thank you for listening.