Dawn Gildersleeve

My life prior to my Salvation

I was actually baptized as an infant in a Presbyterian Church because my parents wanted to show that they planned on raising me in a Christian home. So we attended church at a Presbyterian Church in Maxwell since I was young. But in that church there were only two other youth. After 6th grade, my parents and I decided we needed to find a church that had a stronger youth program so that I could learn more about the Lord. So we all started attending a Lutheran church and I was confirmed after 7th grade.

I guess I never really thought that much about what all of that really meant. I kind of just thought that Confirmation was the way to show that we had passed and graduated our confirmation class. I got some positive things out of the weekly classes and I tried changing my ways some, such as not gossiping, being nicer to my parents, and not lying, but I didn’t make too much of an effort for any of it because it was just too hard! We continued to attend church regularly but everything in the sermons and such was just way over my head.

Circumstances leading up to my Salvation

So I had made some new friends in 8th grade and by 9th grade they were making some decisions in their life that were against my own morals. I knew they were wrong, but the more I hung out with them and heard about their Friday night experiences, the more I doubted my own morals. What was the big deal anyways? My parents wouldn’t find out, I’d be having more fun, and I would get to experience a lot of new things. I continued to avoid everything but it was definitely getting harder and harder.

God definitely saw all of this happening because, lucky for me, he sent Paige Milosevic to my rescue in December 2006, before I made any shady decisions. Paige always seemed to go out of her way to invite Dani Hadaway and I to youth group events and different things that she was doing. The 3 of us would always spend the night with her afterwords and sometimes go to church at Lakeside in the morning. (My family was still attending at the Lutheran church so I rarely went with them to Lakeside.) During those numerous sleepovers, Paige would casually mention things to us about God’s word and answer any questions we may have had. It was just a very comfortable atmosphere and it didn’t feel weird when I would ask her a “silly” question about Christ.

My Salvation Experience:

So one Sunday morning in March, we all went to church together. I found out later that Paige and Dani were a little tired from the night before and didn’t hear much of Pastor Dave’s message, but I heard the entire thing loud and clear. I sat there and heard the entire message without my thoughts wandering elsewhere, which was probably a first! It really spoke to me and I mentioned something to the girls after the service about how great the sermon was! They agreed with me, but just kind of shrugged it off.

A while later, Pastor Dave came up to me and started talking to me about myself and my life. He asked me where I was at spiritually in my life and at first I thought I knew the answer, but after he started asking me all these spiritual questions, (that I couldn’t answer!) I realized that I was definitely missing a major part of my life. He asked questions like did I know Jesus had died on the cross to forgive my sins? Yes, everyone knows that! Do I know where I’m going after life here on earth? Well, Heaven… I think! Did I put my trust in Christ with all that I do? Yea, sometimes I guess. After a lot of talking and learning he shared with me these verses: Romans 10:9-10, That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Pastor Dave explained things about salvation and life that I had never heard before and it all finally made so much sense! He put it simply, just like in Romans 10:9, if I confess that I’m a sinner and know that Christ died for those sins, and if I surrender my life to Christ, I’ll spend an eternity with him in heaven. I thought, how simple!! That is just awesome! So Pastor Dave asked me if I would like to make that change in my life and pray before I left today. “YES!” I said “that sounds perfect.” I asked Kristen, Paige, and Dani to pray with Dave and I. At first, I was really nervous and I didn’t know what I was supposed to say, I mean, what if I messed this up and it didn’t work?! How embarrassing that these girls are seeing me cry about this, and what will they think about what I say during the prayer? But Dave reminded me again that I just need to confess that I am a sinner and that I understand Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection from the dead was to wash away all my sin. I needed to surrender my life to Christ and trust him in all my ways, that he would lead me right.

So I prayed and said everything that had been explained to me. (And it was a lot easier than I had expected!) I didn’t get any “whoosh” feeling like Sara and Bri say they felt, but the rest of the day I felt like I was on top of the world! I wanted to tell everyone about how awesome Christ is and that we really do have a reason to live here on this earth! It was awesome.

Evidence of new life since my Salvation

Since that day, my life has changed in so many ways. I rely on God with my problems and they are no longer the big crisis that they seemed to be. Things that used to seem to be so difficult to solve, feel like nothing now because I know that everything will be alright in the end if I trust in the Lord. I feel like I got the chance to start completely over with my parents and I get along with both of them better than ever before, and I can feel that special trust and bond growing in all of us every day.

I have been reading and learning about God’s word and praying daily. I look at life in general from a completely different angle and I don’t take any day for granted, because I see what a gift life really is. I now feel like it’s an honor to live my life for the Lord, rather than just a bunch of rules that make my life more hectic than it already is, like I used to. God has already made such a difference in my life in these short months, I can’t wait to see the impact he has on others as I share his word with them!