How the Holy Spirit Changed My Life | A Share Your Story Blog

Hi, my name is Sophia. I’ve heard numerous testimonies in my lifetime and have always wondered how people have had such impactful stories. I never realized that my testimony would be just as impactful as the ones I had heard. 

When I was younger, my mom would buy me books, such as the children’s story on Noah’s Ark. I read these books, but I never quite grasped who God fully was as I was just so young. My mom always said, “We will go to church soon,” but we never made it into one. My parents were never married, so I would split my time between them.  

My mom is bipolar. It’s a difficult disease to see a family member go through, especially when they’re undiagnosed for years. Because of this late diagnosis, my mom was verbally abusive to me and my four half siblings until I was 10 years old without knowing that she had a mental health disorder.   

When I was 10, my stepdad, John, died on the Macomb Orchard trail after suffering from a heart attack. It was late December, and he was missing for one day before he was found. My mom got extremely depressed and neglected me and my siblings in addition to the verbal abuse, so Child Protective Services was called.  

My mom was a good mom some days, but other days she was someone I would wish to spend my time away from. Once CPS was called, a case was opened and me and my siblings were split up. I went to live with my dad, who gained full custody of me. My older sister, Isabella, went to live with her grandfather since her dad, unfortunately, did not want to have full custody. My three younger siblings (my stepdad’s kids), Jaxon, Payton, and Saylor, were about to go into foster care, but my Aunt Paula stepped up and took them in as her own.  

After the first few years with my dad, I had forgotten who Jesus was since my father is not very religious. But then I met a girl named Leah, who encouraged me to come to a church camp with her that summer. At that camp I was reintroduced to Christ, and after it was over I got a Bible and studied the Word. The following autumn, I began attending Oasis on and off with my friend, Kendall. There, I met Mrs. Audrey [Kid’s Ministry Coordinator at Woodside Romeo], who really helped me in my journey with God.  

I kept having this feeling that I needed to go to another camp, and that’s when I heard about the Oasis Winter Retreat [Woodside Students middle school retreat]. I was attending off and on as I said, so I forgot to sign up until it really weighed on my heart the night before the registration closed. I signed up and I went. When I arrived in our cabin, I was a little upset to find that I was sleeping on a cot instead of a bed because I had signed up so late. But after that one night, I was grateful I was there even if I was sleeping on a cot because that trip had changed my life. 

Here’s how it happened. Upon my arrival, I was timid and shy. When we got off the bus, we went into the sanctuary and started singing. This was the first time I had experienced this, so I didn’t really sing. The next day, we talked about how God keeps His promises. The notes I took on the sermon read, “God has always given us a choice, and God will never not show up in your life.” 

This message really moved me. I worshiped that evening in song but was confused about why people were reaching their hands out to the stage. The next night was salvation night — we were asked to give our hearts to Christ, and I didn’t fully understand what that meant. But then they expanded on it and played testimonies of people I knew who did open up their hearts to the Holy Spirit. The sermon asked us to pray and let Christ in. I prayed because I felt weighed to do so by something, but I didn’t know what.  

After the speaker prayed over us, he asked those who’d accepted Christ to stand up, so I did. I looked around, and it was me and just a few others. He then asked our small group to give us a giant hug. My heart was filled with emotions, and it was such an impactful moment. I now know that the thing weighing on my heart was the Holy Spirit.  

That night, when we worshipped again, I reached my hand out to the stage and felt so incredibly free. I had never felt something like that in my entire life. I went home and continued my journey with Christ. Now I’m going to Oasis full time, reading my Bible at home, taking notes, sharing the gospel, attending church when I can, and joining the livestreams when I can’t be there in person. I am so grateful for the opportunity to share my story with people, so thank you for reading. If you have not yet let the Spirit into your heart, I hope that you decide to today. Take it from me, you have a choice. I hope that you choose God.  

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” – John 14:27-28