The following is a personal testimony from Taylor Neal.
I grew up in a Christian home and was surrounded by a loving Christian environment. Everyday my parents would remind me that God is always with me no matter how hard life gets. As a kid I used to really eat that stuff up and never doubted anything, but as I got older it started to get a little harder.
My sixth grade year was, I would say, “tragic,” “traumatizing” even because halfway through that year Covid hit and the entire world went into quarantine. During that time, I was faced with fear, anxiety, stress, insecurity, and literally anything else a preteen could go through. I gained a lot of weight, I learned nothing from my online classes, and I sat around all day barely touching grass. Fast forward to my seventh grade year–halfway through the school year my brother and I transferred to Bob Jones Academy. I was immediately faced with fear that I wouldn’t fit in racially or spiritually and that I wouldn’t find a friend group. Fortunately, we were held back a grade and started making great friends.
Now going into my 2nd attempt of seventh grade, I was really excited to go on the Creation Museum Trip with all my friends; however, Covid-19 smacked me in the face with a baseball bat, so I couldn’t go. During that time, I was pretty much bedridden and was on the edge of dying; I was scared, so as a 12-13 year old I thought if I just prayed and asked God to save me, then I would go to heaven. I’m not gonna lie; I knew I wasn’t saved, but up until my sophomore year, I lied to everyone about being saved because I didn’t want to be left out and I was scared of what people would think of me. I felt trapped.
Going into my current year (junior year), we kicked off the year with a worship night; this was the first worship night I’d ever been to since my freshman year. During this worship night, I felt a very strong connection between me and the Holy Spirit, and He urged me to raise my hand a little bit, but I didn’t do it fully because I was scared of what other people would think of me, mainly because of how I’ve acted in the past. After leaving that night, I became super on fire with God and became very interested in when the next worship night was. When I found out when the next worship night was, I got so excited I couldn’t even hold it in.
The next worship night rolled around and before I went, a couple of friends, my brother, and I all went out to eat, and it was the best. It felt so encouraging to be able to fellowship with my friends and brother and to not feel ashamed of praying in public. As I sat there in the restaurant I thought to myself, “Something good is gonna happen tonight.” First we started off with an older song, and as we progressed through the night, I felt so moved. Then we got to the testimony times, and sitting there listening to multiple people willingly telling others that they have struggled to even stay alive was very encouraging to me because of how true it is. People don’t realize that anyone can go to school, work, or the gym and put on a smile but deep down be facing many trials and tribulations.
Anyways, we soon got to a song called “Holy Forever.” I’ve heard the song before, but I’ve never had a strong connection to it. We got about halfway through the song and I just felt extremely convicted. I burst into tears and raised my hands as high as I could; it almost felt as if I were touching God right there in that moment. Over the last year, I could see that God had been working in my life, but in that moment I had never felt so vulnerable in my life and it felt awesome. That night I went home and prayed the sinner’s prayer and asked God to save me from my sins and cleanse my heart and help me to be the woman I was created to be. Ever since that night I listen to “Holy Forever” every morning, and it makes me choke up every time because it’s a reminder that God saved me that night.
Now, I encourage each and every one of you who either are saved or are not to never feel like you can’t talk to someone because I promise you, we care and are ready to listen. I’m sure y’all have heard this from multiple senior classes, but don’t wait for a mission trip or anything like that to become closer to God: start now. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
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