Hey hey! My name is Ainsley Markou and I’m ready to get out my comfort zone!! One thing about me is I can be very shy at points so I am guilty of never getting out my comfort zone but this year… we all know has been one heck of a year. This year has moved my life around and I am honestly a completely new person.
Let’s just jump into it. My life has definitely been a roller coaster! I have never really had a relationship with Christ. I never gave him all of me, he was just my guest who I welcomed when I felt alone and abandoned. I never understood the concept of giving God everything. Let me tell you, the world brings you a temporary smile; however, God gives you an eternal life of joy. I would put everything I have to the world because I was so terrified to be alone. Every time I turned to Jesus I would be known as the “Jesus freak” and I would deny it every time because I didn’t want people to think of me differently. I never read my bible because I thought of it as boring and just hard to understand. When I was at church I worshiped just because I saw the people around me raise their hand and when I prayed it was to just close my eyes well the pastor said a prayer I completely ignored. I didn’t understand what a relationship with Jesus meant. I grew up in a Christian household so I would go to school to do the normal “cool thing” I would cuss and follow everyone else’s footsteps not wanting to stand out. This year we obviously have had tons of time on our hands with quarantine so I decided to open my bible. I remember I decided to flip to a random book in the bible and I opened it to Colossians. I began to read and came across Colossians 1:22 (“But now he has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him”). I instantly paused and was blown away by just one sentence. God sent his only perfect son to die for we could not just be saved but presented as sinless. I read over that verse at least a million times and that when I decided to commit to taking time to get to know Jesus and what a relationship with him meant. Over time I began to take time in my room to worship and devote prayer towards him. I slowly started to understand and my life began to fall into place. August 17, 2020, was the day I thought to myself I’m ready. I prayed and prayed that night over a huge decision and I finally said yes. That Friday (9/21/20) I said yes and got baptized. My life has changed. I have been happier then I have ever been and for the first time I don’t wont to be in a shell all the time, I want to get out and let everyone know my story! I’m done walking alone and I want others to walk with me!!