Yesterday, my heart leaped for joy with the most amazing news that anyone can hear, someone I love, someone so close to me, accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior. How can I not be excited!? How can I not praise God and weep tears of joy in knowing that I have a new sister in Christ!? That sister in Christ is Shayla, one of the wonderful young people my grandparents have so lovingly adopted. Shayla has always been like a sister to me, and that is what I call her, my sister. And now I get to call her my sister in Christ. It makes me wonder how big God must be smiling when one of His own chooses to follow Him.

For as long as I have known her, Shayla has always been this spunky young lady, always full of joy, with one of the biggest hearts for the loved ones around her. She always brightens my day when I am around her, especially when we tease each other. After all she is the coolest Horned Frog on the planet! Okay, so that was a joke. She’s like the biggest Baylor Bear fan (even more than me), so she probably doesn’t like me calling her a horned frog, the mascot of Baylor’s main rival, TCU. Hehehe.

Yet that’s the relationship we’ve built together, a relationship between a brother and a sister in which the two would walk through fire for the other. So of course like brothers and sisters are supposed to do, we tease each other.

As UMHB’s Welcome Week came to a close, I went with my group of freshmen to visit First Baptist Church in Belton, right next to the UMHB campus. It was such a wonderful experience. Not only was it my freshmen’s first time to visit FBC Belton, it was mine as well. In the packed College House, we talked about Jonah and from this experience, one thing stood out to me… Trust in God’s plan even when it’s not your own and follow Him. In the main service the pastor talked about being salt and light to the world, living as an example for others by following Christ.

If that wasn’t enough to make this experience wonderful, we sang one of my favorite songs, “All the Poor and Powerless.” My heart was filled with joy as we started to sing this song as I realized just how awesome and mighty Christ truly is. One day, when Christ returns, every tongue and nation will cry out that He is Holy, and no matter the pain and suffering we endure, we will know that Christ our Redeemer is Holy!

All the poor and powerless
And all the lost and lonely
All the thieves will come confess
And know that You are holy
And know that You are holy

And all will sing out
Hallelujah
And we will cry out
Hallelujah
And all will sing out
Hallelujah
And we will cry out
Hallelujah

All the hearts who are content
And all who feel unworthy
And all who hurt with nothing left
Will know that You are holy
Will know that You are holy

And all will sing out
Hallelujah
And we will cry out
Hallelujah
And all will sing out
Hallelujah
And we will cry out
Hallelujah

Then with my arms raised high, jumping and weeping for joy, I sang these words:

Shout it
Go on and scream it from the mountains
Go on and tell it to the masses
That He is God
(5x)

As believers, we must shout it and scream it from the mountains until the entire world hears the name of Jesus. As I enjoyed both the College House and the Contemporary Worship service, I was realizing just how rewarding it is to follow Christ and truly shout His name for all of creation to hear and know that He is holy.

Little did I know that 40 minutes south of this service focusing on following Christ and being the light unto the world, Shayla would be answering that call and surrendering her life to Christ. I later received the news as she told me that she would be baptized next week. My heart was overwhelmed by gladness at this wonderful news. As I was singing “Shout it. Go on and scream it from the mountains,” Shayla was doing just that. She was proclaiming that Christ is her Lord and Savior and that she chooses to follow Him.

What a wonderful testimony she can share with the world, that she once was lost and now Christ has found her, brought her out of darkness and into light. With everything our family has gone through, she knows more than many that life doesn’t automatically become easy once you accept Christ. But life is so much sweeter when you can rely on the Lord and place your hope, your faith, your life in His hands. She decided that life’s challenges are only for a brief moment, yet God’s promise of redemption remains eternal.

Once one accepts Christ, that person is made new. This person, this saved person, is now sheltered in the everlasting arms of God with the knowledge of eternal life. Christ died and rose again so that we might have eternal life, and once we accept Him into our hearts, we become new people as believers.

Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (NIV).

When we accept Him into our hearts, we have new lives. No longer do we live as our worldly selves, but we live with the promise of eternal life, with Christ living in us. All of this is thanks to Jesus who gave himself for all of us.

I am so unbelievably proud of Shayla and I cannot wait until she shows the rest of the world her decision to follow Jesus when she gets baptized next week. If I have learned anything these past few weeks, it’s that God is worth it! The truth is that we will struggle. We will face hardship. Yet those things are only temporary. The love of Christ is forever!

So like Shayla, allow Christ in your heart. When you do, you will be a new creation! There are so many in this world (even those around you) that have never heard the Gospel. So proclaim His name to the world!

SHOUT IT! Go on and scream it from the mountains that HE IS GOD!

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Jordan, Leslie, and David Leonard, 2012. “All the Poor and Powerless.” SongLyrics. Web. 24 Aug. 2015.

New International Version. Bible Gateway. Web. 24 Aug. 2015.

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All the Poor and Powerless by The Digital Age

Jesus Loves Me by Chris Tomlin