My Story: Liz Saunders

By Liz Saunders    23rd March 2001    0 responses

If I had been asked two year ago to write about what I believed in or what was important to me I would have found it incredibly difficult. Today however I’m worried by the fact I have a 1000-word limit! So what’s changed? Well, a year ago I became a Christian. It is no exaggeration to say that the last year had been the best, worst, scariest and the most challenging year of my entire life. I hope I can convey some of this to you as you continue to read!

In the last year my faith has become so all consuming that it is difficult to find a place to start, I think the logical place is with how I became a Christian. I was brought up in a Christian family and was taken to church every Sunday. However as soon as I was able to make my own decisions I opted out of church citing irrelevance, boredom and the need for a Sunday morning lie in as my main reasons. I became very cynical about faith and the Church; this was particularly compacted by a number of bad experiences. By the end of my second year at university I was able to very rigorously defend my position that Christianity was irrelevant to my life and that in fact it bordered on being a dangerous myth.

I then met a guy, who quite openly told me he was a Christian. We became friends, and he continued to tell me about his faith. He also introduced me to a few members of the Christian Union. I found great amusement in quizzing them on every aspect of their faith and trying to trip them up (sorry guys!). I was often heard to remark that I found the whole idea of faith appealing, I just couldn’t understand how you got from wanting to believe to actually believing. What I didn’t know then was that it is God that bridges that gap, and that he likes us to ask for his help.

I remember very well the day I became a Christian, I was busy working on an essay and my friend came into my room to say goodbye as he was off parachuting! Before he left he asked me to do him a favour. He told me that he was putting a book on my bookshelf, and that if anything were to happen to him whilst he was parachuting I was to read it. Of course as soon as he had left curiosity got the better of me and I had to find out what it was. It was a book entitled “Why Jesus?” I laughed and had a quick look through and discarded it without much thought. However a few hours later I picked up the book up again and began to read, this time it all seemed to make sense. That evening I first prayed a prayer for forgiveness and of thanksgiving.

When my friend returned from his trip I told him of my decision. He then proceeded to question me for four hours, stopping only when I’d managed to convince him that I wasn’t joking! My friend had witnessed such a big change in my attitude, that he almost did not believe me. I am still amazed by God’s power, and bowled over by his love that he would perform such a miracle for me.

Almost over night I found that the decision I had taken that night was going to be an enormous one. Looking back though I realise (thankfully) that I really had no clue just how big. Suddenly I found that I had the answers to a lot of questions, or at least I had a lot of explanations for things which if I was serious about becoming a Christian I would have to except. At the beginning there was only one thing I was certain about, and that was that God loved me and that he sent his Son to die for my (our) sins.

Over the next few months my faith began to grow and I found my self at the beginning of a very steep learning curve, one that I hope continues for the rest of my life. In the beginning my faith was an intensely private matter, and something which I was reluctant to discuss with others. However over the last year I have grown in confidence, and I find it very difficult at times not to shout about my faith!

One of the strangest things that has changed for me is that I actually enjoy going to Church! St. John’s church in Colchester has become a big part of my life, and has helped me to explore and develop my faith. I have also made a lot of new friends, most of which are Christian. This has helped me to put my faith into context and put some of the theories of Christianity into practice.

Prayer has become a big part of my life, and I enjoy talking to God on a regular basis. Becoming a Christian has taught me a new approach to problem solving, at every stage God has become involved. Sometimes it is still hard for to except and allow God to take control of my life but I am working on it! :-)

Christianity to me is about happiness, support, friendship, service, and above all a relationship with God. Like all relationships they need to be worked on and communication is the key. I am very happy that I became a Christian, and if you take one thing away from reading this I hope it is that prayer works. I believe that if it wasn’t for the persistence of my friend, and his continual prayer I would not have become a Christian.

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By Liz Saunders

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