JAMIE'S JOURNEY

I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home and was brought to everything from Sunday School to Gospel meetings and mid-week meetings. Basically all of my extended family are Christians and I said the prayer when I was about 4 or 5 but that was really it, nothing changed significantly at that point. Since I grew up going to Gospel meetings and being part of the brethren denomination I found it very boring as a kid growing up and especially in my teens. A large part of church life that seemed to be recurring was when my older brothers got to the age they could start driving themselves, and so they moved from Ardmore to Emmanuel Lurgan.

I went to Emmanuel for Vital when I got into secondary school and I really enjoyed it. But it was when I was in 1st year that Mum was diagnosed with cancer. At the time however, I was obviously still quite young and didn’t really understand how bad it was or could be. After months of treatment, thankfully mum was healthy again and got the all clear. It was in the Junior High that I began to stray away from God more. I was hanging around with the wrong people and had no-one to keep me accountable. I never really had a meaningful relationship with God and I hated Junior High. I got through it though and off to Lurgan College I went.

Then once I was at this age, I got more involved in lifegroup and more serious ‘God stuff’ in collective. One specific night at collective was an encounter night and it was the first time I experienced the Holy Spirit during worship. It hit me like a truck and I burst into tears. From then on I felt like I was able to truly connect to God in a meaningful way and that He wasn’t a big man in the sky that I couldn’t reach. But rather, He was someone close to my side, closer than any brother. Once I was in the College I went to SU weekly and made Christian friends who were critical to my walk with Jesus. I was in lower 6th when in November mum’s cancer had come back. This broke me and I really questioned God and was actually angry at him. ‘How could a good God do this to Mum?’ Seeing mum go through this process again was heart-breaking and I knew the seriousness behind it now. Due to all the treatment, mum became weaker and had to lose her hair again. Even just seeing mum like that was hard. Thankfully, I had (and still have) amazing friends who were a rock for me to not lose faith in who God is and what He can do. Mum got the all clear after months of treatment (Praise God!!!) and even though it was a tough time, it made our family closer and stronger than before.

From that moment at the Collective encounter night, I fell in love with Jesus all over again and really began to have a heart for worship and specifically worship music. Over the years I’ve practised my keys playing and I am now on the worship team rota for church! I am also taking this year to serve the church with a youth internship. This year I’ve learned more about God than I have my entire life and it has helped me grow in my relationship with God and others around me. To be honest, the worst thing about this whole quarantine is that I can’t spend my Sundays with my church family whom I miss dearly. I can’t wait ‘til this is all over and we can chat, hug, laugh and worship together again!

Until we can be together again,

Jamie