This Was the Best Decision I Have Ever Made in My Life
Have you ever felt you wanted to do something, but you knew you needed to wait to do it, so you honor your family or parent’s wishes? I came to Shiloh when I was 12 years old. By the time I was 15, God put the urge in my heart to get baptized.
Whenever I felt the urge to do so, I talked to my parents here at Shiloh about it and what it really meant. After this talk, I quickly found that I needed to really dig into scripture and keep learning and praying about baptism. A year went by, and I really started studying scripture and praying through this big decision.
As I kept praying through this decision, I eventually got to a point where I felt I was fully ready. I went again to my parents at Shiloh, and we talked through it and what needs to happen to get baptized. One of the things I needed to do was talk to my parents back home and get their permission. Then I asked my parents back home and they told me that I had gotten baptized when I was five years old, so I shouldn’t need to get rebaptized. I told them that one of the reasons I was because I wanted a baptism I could remember.
But I respected that decision and kept praying and digging through the scriptures to continue learning about what it truly meant to get baptized. Fast forward to after I signed out of Shiloh and moved out for college, I was on a call with my Mom back home, and I asked her about getting baptized again, and she told me that if this was something that I would like to do, she was okay with it and that she would like to be a part of it, so I told her I would get her a video of it. After that, I kind of thought through it a couple more weeks and prayed through this decision some more. I went home to hang out with my Shiloh family and asked my Dad here to baptize me at church on that Sunday, September 28th. This was the best decision I have ever made in my life.
One thing I have learned so far in college is that it is important to stay in the Word and in fellowship with other Christian people to build more in faith. When I moved out of Shiloh to Moberly Area Community College in Moberly, Missouri, I went to Timberlake Christian Church the first Sunday I was on campus. That day I found a couple of adults to connect with. I learned that it is important to make connections and to talk to different people and introduce yourself to try to make connections. On October 5th, I placed my student membership at Timberlake Christian Church. I also auditioned for the worship team there. I also am part of a group called Cord of Three, a multi-generational women’s prayer group.
Thank you for making Shiloh such an amazing place and supporting us so well. I also want to say a resounding “Thank You” to all the donors and supporters who have given their time and effort to help Shiloh be the amazing place that it is. We truly would not have all the things we have if we didn’t have donors and supporters like you.
THANK YOU!!! Ashley Sievers