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Reagan Baughman

Honors Lit 11

Ms. Hoover

9 February 2018

My Faith Journey

When I was in elementary school, going to church on Sundays was the extent of my faith.

I did not pray on my own, I did not read the Bible, and I did not think about God outside of

Sunday mornings. I put God in a box that I only opened once a week. I knew who God was, but

I did not know God on a personal level. I believed in God, but only knew of Him; I didn’t

understand the magnitude of His existence. I went through the motions of religion. I simply

acknowledged His existence rather than pursuing a relationship with Him.

This lack of a relationship with God harmed me in many ways. I lacked a sense of

purpose; I believed in God, but I did not follow God. I was living aimlessly, simply existing

with nothing to guide me. Although I now know that God was there the whole time, I didn’t

realize it at the time. I craved that guidance and purpose.

Going into middle school, I already had a really good group of friends picked out. Every

girl in our group was a Christian that came from a Christian family. Except they were different

Christians than I was. They had that piece that I was missing. They were Christians 24/7,

whereas I was only a Sunday morning Christian. Suddenly, I was surrounded by people who

talked about God in conversations and prayed throughout their day. They showed me that my

God box should be open all of the time, not just Sunday mornings when I had to open it. They

had the crucial piece that I was missing.

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After our 7th grade year, my friend, Catherine, invited me to go to church camp with her

over the summer. There, I finally found my missing piece.

Beulah Beach is one of my favorite places in the world. It’s right on Lake Erie, making it

the perfect place to feel God’s calming presence. The atmosphere there is different than

anywhere else, and it is because of Jesus. The entire staff exudes joy and love and makes

everyone feel so welcome and important. The girls in my small group always have beautiful

hearts for the Lord and every year they inspire me to chase after Him faster than I ever have

before. Beulah is a place where everyone is welcomed and loved no matter what. Whether

you’re playing basketball, worshipping, or jet skiing, everyone is always talking about Jesus.

The Lord is so evident there.

I had a revelation at Beulah my first year. On one of the last nights, Beulah always puts

on the Crosswalk. They reenact Jesus’ death. The staff gets dressed up as the different

characters and they walk the campers all over Beulah to the different scenes leading up to Jesus’

death. No one makes a sound the whole time because it’s very humbling. The suffering that

Jesus endured is really put into perspective. The soldiers whip Jesus, covering Him in blood.

They make Him drag His cross and set it up. They nail is His hands and feet to the cross, and

shout derogatory things about Him. It’s so powerful and moving.

After Jesus is crucified, Mary Magdalene and Mary come running and shouting, “The

tomb is empty! Jesus has risen!” We then see resurrected Jesus walk over, and every camper

gets in a line and hugs Him. During this experience, I really felt the Lord calling me to Him and

asking me to follow Him with my whole heart. In this moment, I knew that I needed to start

living for Him everyday of my life. I couldn’t be half-in any longer. I wanted to jump in head

first and trust that He would catch me. I wanted to follow Him wherever He called me, even it
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was scary. I wanted to let Him guide my life and stop trying to do it myself. I wanted to give

Him all control over my life.

After the Crosswalk, campers have the opportunity to ring a giant bell if they made the

decision to dedicate their lives to Jesus. Every time the bell rings, there’s a party in heaven

because one more person has joined the Kingdom. I made the decision to ring the bell that night,

and my life hasn’t been the same since in the best way ever.

Since that week at Beulah, God has grown my faith exponentially. My family decided to

switch churches and start going to North Terrace Church of Christ, and my dad baptized me

there on November 15th, 2015. God has given me so many amazing opportunities through North

Terrace. I participate in their weekly youth group, I recently joined a covenant group, and last

summer I traveled to Colombia on a mission trip. These experiences have all been life altering

because they have all shown me parts of God that I have never seen before. I now can see

everything God has done for me and everything He’s doing for me. I try to seek God’s will in

everything I do rather than living aimlessly. Finding Jesus has changed my perspective on the

world in the best way possible. I see God’s work in everything and I see all of the love He gives

through His people. Eight year old me would have never thought that this is where I’d be today,

but I’m so thankful that I am. I can’t wait to see what God does next.