Introduction: To What... who knows?!?

Always looking behind you, leads to a lot of missed adventures. Hanging on to the past does you no good. What was, is not longer applicable, you have to strive for what could be.

There are so many things in my past that I'm not proud of, and that has allowed me to become the person I am right now. I'll be different tomorrow and the next day, as I continue to experience new things. This should come as no surprise, every decision we make, every thought that runs through our heads effects us.

I want to stop playing off my life as the line of insignificant events. I have been through a lot, and it has effected/affected me in many ways. In an attempt to make myself seem insignificant, I play off my past as no big deal. When it comes to my walk of faith, there have been a lot of things that I've struggled with over the years--no big deal when talking about my past.

I've been asked, on a few occasions, questions pertaining to my testimony, and I always answer the same way: It isn't that significant, I never had that conversion moment as people often describe. I didn't grow up in church, but I eventually found myself there, got saved and dunked (in the Iowa River, no less!), and it stops there... which is, oddly enough, where a lot of people's testimonies stop--where they got saved.

I don't want to debate the validity of anyone's testimony, it's theirs. However, a walk of faith doesn't stop when you're saved or baptized. It extends beyond that in both directions. What do you struggle with? Unless the assumption that once you're saved the road is paved perfectly for you to trod on, in which case I've missed something.

The reason I am writing this right now, is that I was reading a blog post from a ministry group, Stuck With Pins, pertaining to testimony, and I felt challenged to be real. To tell how it has really been for me, pursuing God. Even though I'm not going to do that in this post, I just wanted to start moving towards that. So, there you have it; An introduction of something to come. Much love.

Stay True!

-Andy J. Graves