Never Alone
I grew up in the Mormon religion, but the pressure for perfection and good works was too much. By the time I turned 26, I left religion altogether.
For 10 years, my husband and I decided to teach the Bible to our children at home, but it was very sporadic, as was my personal relationship with the Lord. Unfortunately, at the time, I was choosing the hard way of doing things by myself. Then three or four years ago, I started feeling a pull toward religion— mostly because my children were at very impressionable ages and I felt a need to find a community for them.
We moved to Orlando a little after that and, well— there is no time like the present to start fresh with God! I found Summit online and we attended our first service a few weeks before Easter. What started out as a quest for friends and a bible study for my children, ended up being the beginning of my own personal relationship with Jesus as my Savior. The Lord entered my heart that first Sunday at Summit as I stood and sang with those around me.
I thought I knew Jesus, but I was mistaken. I never realized how alone I was until I gave my soul to Him. As I started to slowly change my ways and let Jesus into my life, I thought about being baptized. I was baptized as a child, but felt like the Lord was calling me into His water by my own accord. I was nervous though; I had never publicly proclaimed Jesus as my Savior before. I wrestled with the idea for eight months before I finally allowed the thought to take root.
The day of my baptism Satan tried hard to block my path. It was a rough day with my kids, my car started acting up, and when I —one hour before we left for the beach— took the car in for an oil change, I had barely pulled into the service station when the car sputtered and died. It was completely out of oil. If I hadn’t taken it in, we would not have made it to the beach. Little did Satan know that that occurrence only put more fire into my soul and nothing else would stand in my way.
The whole day at the beach was beautiful—waiting and watching my brothers and sisters accept the Lord was an amazing experience. When I came up out of the water and saw my children and my spouse waiting for me on the shoreline, I never felt so loved. The Lord was with us.
“When I came up out of the water and saw my children and my spouse waiting for me on the shoreline, I never felt so loved. The Lord was with us.”
My walk with the Lord has progressed steadily over the past year since that day, and I now know for a fact that I am not alone and never will be. I know that anything that comes my way is meant to strengthen me through Him. The Lord is my Savior, Jesus died for me, and he died for you too.
Our next Beach Baptism is April 10th. If you feel like God has been calling you to take this next step of faith, we would love to stand alongside you on your baptism day and cheer you on. You can find more information here about how to register for baptism and where you need to be on April 10th to celebrate those in our church family being baptized.
Amanda Osolu, her husband, and her four children have been going to Summit for two years. She is an RN who loves running and everything outdoors! Her family is in the process of moving to Michigan soon, and while they’re sad to leave Orlando and Summit, Amanda trusts that God brought her family here so she could find Him during this time.