Student Voice

My Story of God's Grace
Nov 29, 03:15 PM
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My story starts way before I “started” in a hospital in Lima, Ohio in 1981. My story starts when, before I ever existed, God chose me to be His own child (Ephesians 1:4-6). If you knew my life well, you may be tempted to ask the question: Why did God choose such an ungrateful, ornery, and selfish guy like me to be his son? You’ve got me, but He did and I’m a living example of God’s truly amazing grace, patience, faithfulness, and love.

Up until the age of 13, I knew very little about God or Jesus. We never went to church as a family. As children, my parents were forced to go to church and they had some very negative experiences at there. Although they weren’t against the church or God, my parents vowed that they would never force their children to go to church and so we didn’t. It wasn’t until the beginning of eight grade that I first came into contact with the God who had loved me even before I was born. Mandy, a very nice redheaded friend of mine, invited me to come to a youth group. Many of my friends went to this youth group, and I had heard that they frequently played video games and ate Pizza Hut pizza – how could I say no? It was at this first youth group meeting that I opened a Bible for the first time in my life. For the first time I learned what Jesus was all about. I was never the same from that day forward.

Up until that point in my life, Jesus was just something you muttered when someone stepped on your foot or you lost something. Yet, the truth about Jesus that I learned that first youth group riveted me in a way I still can’t explain. I knew I did some things that were wrong, but I never really thought I was so bad that I needed to be “saved”. But from that day forward, I knew Jesus was the answer for me. I knew I needed Jesus although I knew next to nothing about Him. I didn’t even know what being a Christian meant, but I was about to find out.

About two months later, I went to a youth conference in Lansing, MI with about 15 kids from my youth group. I believe it was the second night of the conference when the speaker invited kids to come down to the front who wanted to accept Jesus into their heart. I remember I was sitting up in the balcony of this large church. I really had no idea what you did to “accept” Jesus into your heart or what it totally meant, but I found myself running (literally) down a couple of flights of stairs towards the stage. No one else from the youth group followed me and I found myself standing in a sea of people who seemed to know how to accept Jesus into their hearts – I didn’t. Out of the crowd came this big guy who walked right up to me, hugged me, and led me through the prayer that would start my relationship with Jesus.

Now, I’d love to tell you that from that day as a 13 year-old I’ve done nothing but follow Jesus and love Him with all my heart. The truth is, I haven’t. There have periods in my life when you would seriously questioned whether I was a Christian at all. Upon leaving high school and going to college at MSU, I walked far, far away from God. I drank and did drugs; I did what everyone else was doing. My faith and walk with God were weak and my first two years of college brought me to the very bottom. But, and please don’t miss this point; God is faithful – even when we’re not, He still is. God doesn’t give up on people even when they’ve given up on Him and/or they’ve given up on themselves. I did both and God still came and brought me back. No matter what I’ve done, “He’s given more grace” (James 4:6).

God brought me back to Mt. Pleasant and, more importantly, He brought me back to Grace Church. Through the teaching of the Word and God’s people here at Grace, I was given a second chance to again walk with the God who loves me. The rest of the story is some amazingly blessed history. We don’t have time for it now, but just ask me sometime and I’ll tell you the myriad ways God has blessed my life in the last seven years here in Mt. Pleasant and at Grace Church.

I do still ask the question of why, out of a world full of people, did God choose me when He knew just how much I would fail Him in my lifetime. I don’t understand it, but I’ll take it. I get to have a relationship with Jesus and that’s all that really matters.

— Andy Saltarelli


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