my Testimony :)

hello! this post is actually a “Homework” from ate avis. She told me to write my testimony and print it out. but I’m gonna post this anyway. enjoy  

Hello, I’m Mariel Lynne Alfonso Tan, just turned 18. I’m glad I was given the opportunity to write down my testimony, the story of how God has been so great and awesome in my life for the past 18 years.

I was born and raised in a Christian family. The story on how I knew about Christ isn’t as exciting as others would have. Nevertheless, it didn’t make the works of God in my life less exciting. Since I was from a Christian family I grew up in the church. I remember me as a kid, always attending the Sunday school. As I grew a little older and my parents got more involved with the church, I joined the praise and worship team. Even then, I knew something was missing. Since my going to church and being active was so generic, it became so normal to me. The feeling was like “wala lang”. There, I find it wrong. I find it so usual to pray to God and I feel it is not right. My relationship with him felt like a routine and I wanted to level-up my relationship with him.

As for the other aspects of our life, we were not doing so well. I have a family of 6 including me and you could just imagine how hard it is just to survive here in the Philippines. But God doesn’t do it that way. He doesn’t let his children be put to shame. He has promised that He will make our lives here on earth fruitful and abundant. So he granted our family, the biggest break of our lives. My dad, got a job at Doha, Qatar, our whole family was part of the deal. So at 13, our family moved to Doha.

Before leaving the Philippines, I decided to attend the EGR. I’ve been hearing several feedbacks about it, of how good the feeling is after, of how they have met Jesus through the retreat, of how their life was changed through the retreat, and so I did. There I really did encounter God… After the retreat I felt scared because I don’t want to get back to my old self again. I don’t want to literally get out of the church because I know I will commit sins again, worse than before. Right there, God revealed something to me. He gave me my life verse through the song “Still”. EGR has been really a highlight of my life. It felt like it could not go any higher than that, little did I know, God was preparing me for even greater things.

In 2008, my dad had been diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer, stage 3. Those times were the hardest. My dad doesn’t normally get sick, he’s a healthy person but all of a sudden he had to go through radiation and chemotherapy sessions. Good thing the Lord had prepared us enough that we were able to conquer everything. He had given us friends from the church to pray for us and visit us every time my dad has to be in the hospital. The amount of love we were receiving was overwhelming. We can never be more thankful for all the churches that unceasingly prayed for my dad’s wellness. We didn’t even have problems any problems at all. The government paid for my dad’s hospital bills, the company had been flexible with my dad and let him have a lesser load of work, and our church mates were excessively caring for us. And, with the faith that my family has, the prayers of everybody and the grace of God, my dad was healed completely. As of today, he is doing really well. He still has some medications but all of them are nothing to worry about. We have a big God after all. Even though, that event is so hard to look back on, I am still very thankful that it happened. Through that event we have gained a lot. Our family has never been the same. We grew to love each other more. We grew to be more in love with Jesus.

Today, as I struggle to fulfill my dream of being a medical doctor, I am happy to say that I know that God is with me. With all the pressure that is with me, and all the loneliness I am feeling, being away from my family and all that, Jesus never made me feel alone. I get to experience things I never imagined I would. I get to receive love I never thought I deserved. I know that God’s love for us is unconditional but I never imagined it would be this awesome. Sometimes, I even feel like I’m his favorite. But that’s just the way our dear Lord loves us. When he says something, get ready to be blown away. Hold on to his words and for sure he will never leave you empty-handed.

From the 1^st part of the story up to now, I can say that my relationship with Jesus grew deeper. Though I know I am still in the process of knowing Jesus every day. Reading the bible and praying is what really helped to get me where I am today. And of course, going to church and attending small groups contributed in my maturity as well. I have always been so thankful to God for MFBC. Through this church, I know I am where I’m supposed to be. I never leave this church without learning something new.

Before writing all of this down, I have planned to write all the things that I am most thankful to God for. But then, it is just impossible. Every waking moment of my life has been so great and God had done A LOT in my life. I couldn’t ask for more actually, but still He is giving more. He has blessed me and my family in every way possible. I am assured that he has still greater plans for us in the future. I know that where ever he takes us in the next years, he will never leave us and will always be with us.

As for me, I have promised God that I will live my life in such a way that He will always be glorified. That every time a person would see me, he would see the love of Jesus for me.

My life story ends here for now, but I am sure I will be able to write new things tomorrow. For that’s how Jesus loves his children, never ending. If I want you to remember something from this, that will be this verse from Psalms 46:10 “Be still and know that He is God” I hope that by knowing a glimpse of how Jesus works in my life, you gain encouragement and hope that even though this life is crazy and unexplainable at times, all you have to do is be still and know that he is God.

God bless!