Welcome to Christianity.com. My name is Leah Arthur. I'm the family editor for Crosswalk.com, and I'm a Christian. Here's why.
I grew up in a Christian home, blessed with two parents who follow the Lord. I was also an army brat, so I grew up moving consistently every year. That caused a lot of change for me in my childhood years, and the only real consistent thing I had was faith. I accepted Christ into my heart when I was about six years old, with my brother and my sister going to bed one night after having a family devotional.
I remember talking to them, asking if I was a Christian, and saying I wanted to become one. I wanted to have what they had. I saw the light of Christ in my family's lives, and so they walked me through a very simple prayer. I had a very simple, childlike faith that the Lord graciously grew.
We moved every year, but my parents continued to find churches in every new state and town we were in, which I'm very grateful for. In high school, I was in Annapolis, Maryland. After being homeschooled, I went to a Christian high school and went to a public school that gave me a lot of head knowledge about Christianity, which was beneficial. Still, I didn't make it my own until college, and I think everyone who is a Christian has struggled at one point or another or multiple times to grasp faith and what it looks like to live as a devout Christian because our world is not an easy place to be a believer in. So, in college, I did InterVarsity, a Christian ministry I got plugged into right away. I think that was great because I think you can go one of two paths in college, and I chose that one. That ministry helped challenge my faith, the decisions I was making, how I lived, and how I loved others.
I was at a secular college, and so I had many times where I was personally challenged by other students who would see that I was living differently and choosing not to party and not to do these certain things and I had several times where I was able to say it's because I'm a Christian and that is why I live my life differently. So those years I led a small group, I was in a small group, I was on a worship team singing worship songs every week and that just really poured into me. I went on a mission trip to Nicaragua.
I got to do so many amazing things and learn more about Christ every week, and I have grown a lot since then. I've been in a local church and have been married and in ministry with my husband, serving at our church in many different ways, hosting a community group, and doing things that have just really poured into me and led me to where I am. I can't imagine my life apart from Christ and my hope in him. I frequently think I would have been lost if I had gone down a different path.
That's the only word that comes to mind. So many things were pulling at me in different directions, especially in my teenage years, which are hard for everyone. I know that I could have lost myself in things of the world, but I'm just grateful to the Lord that he has continued to pull me close to him and put people in my life who have challenged me and have encouraged me in my faith and have just been a light. So that is just a simple synopsis of my life and why I am a Christian, but I'm just grateful to the Lord and have seen his faithfulness and how he has worked in my life and continues to work in my life and grow me and teach me things.
Photo Credit: SWN Design
