This morning I had coffee with a dear friend. The subject about how I became Christian came up, and I said, “I became a believer at a very young age, I experienced God at a very young age.” She looked at me with a curious
expression and asked, “What do you mean by experiencing God at a young age?”
I smiled thinking back to the time when I first accepted Christ into my heart. You see, I invited God into my life at age 11.
I had been going to a Baptist church with my mom. My mom was very loyal to this church. They had taken my mom in since she came here as a refugee from Cambodia back in the late 70s. They helped her find a place to stay and helped her get accustomed to this new world she was living in called America. Growing up in the
Baptist church, I was drawn to the Pastor and teachers there, who loved God with a passion. I could see it in how
they loved us, shared bible stories with us, and were just, well… different people than I’d ever met before. I
was very drawn to who Jesus was, and why these people loved him so much. Looking back now, I realized the love of Christ shone so brightly in them, at such a young age it drew me close and peaked my curiosity. So I invited God into my heart at age 11. From that day on I tried to understand what it was to be a Christian. I would pray and talk to God. My life at home was still the same. My parents worked fulltime jobs and were never home. I was expected to watch my brother and sister at age 11 with no adult supervision. Now before you think this is crazy, this was a normal in Cambodian culture. Back in Cambodia, kids became helpers at age 5. You should already know how to cook rice, clean, watch your brothers and sisters, and should be married by 15.
My parents needed me to be responsible. There was no other way to make a living and so I knew
what was expected of me. That of course came with a lot problems. My siblings and I fought all the time, not just verbal abuse at one another but fist fights even. One night we got into it and got into a physical fight again. Being the oldest, I had the upper hand and.by the end of it both my brother and sister were lying there on the floor crying hysterically. Fuming and furious I walked away and left them to cry. As I sat in the bathroom trying to drown out their cries, I felt a presence come over me and felt a nudge. In my heart I knew it was God. I heard God say to me, “You know what you did was wrong. You really hurt your brother and sister.” I answered back, “Yes I know, but they really really made me mad!” God answered, “You should go and say sorry to them.” I thought it was the craziest idea. My siblings and I never got along. I was the oldest and felt sure I was always right, and there was never a time I ever apologized to either one of them, so you could see how this made me feel. I thought about it for a moment, a looooong moment. And then very slowly and resisting almost I slowly walked over to my brother and sister and told them I was very sorry. Almost immediately, compassion for them came over me and a peace I had never felt before. I started to soothe them from their crying. It was at that moment my relationship
with my siblings changed forever.
Today, we are close. I couldn’t go one day without calling one of them just to talk or check on them. We have the weirdest inside jokes that only we would understand that would have all of us holding our stomachs laughing so hard tears would flow. That moment had changed my relationship with them forever.
I’ve shared this story many times with my Sunday school kids. I wanted to remind them you are never too young to hear from God. Being Christian is not just for the old folks.
You can hear God at any age.
He can use you at any age.
Since then, I’ve had many sweet nudges from God. I’m not going to lie there have been times I did not listen at all, and I have regretted those times, but the times that I did..
Well, let’s just say it changed things.
I smile when I think of his nudges, it warms me up inside knowing how much he cares about even the littlest things in our lives that we often think are too small for him.
So it begs the question, If he cares so much for the little things, how much more would he be involved in the big things in our lives? We all try to take on so much, how much longer will we continue to carry it? I leave you with this.
"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:29-30
expression and asked, “What do you mean by experiencing God at a young age?”
I smiled thinking back to the time when I first accepted Christ into my heart. You see, I invited God into my life at age 11.
I had been going to a Baptist church with my mom. My mom was very loyal to this church. They had taken my mom in since she came here as a refugee from Cambodia back in the late 70s. They helped her find a place to stay and helped her get accustomed to this new world she was living in called America. Growing up in the
Baptist church, I was drawn to the Pastor and teachers there, who loved God with a passion. I could see it in how
they loved us, shared bible stories with us, and were just, well… different people than I’d ever met before. I
was very drawn to who Jesus was, and why these people loved him so much. Looking back now, I realized the love of Christ shone so brightly in them, at such a young age it drew me close and peaked my curiosity. So I invited God into my heart at age 11. From that day on I tried to understand what it was to be a Christian. I would pray and talk to God. My life at home was still the same. My parents worked fulltime jobs and were never home. I was expected to watch my brother and sister at age 11 with no adult supervision. Now before you think this is crazy, this was a normal in Cambodian culture. Back in Cambodia, kids became helpers at age 5. You should already know how to cook rice, clean, watch your brothers and sisters, and should be married by 15.
My parents needed me to be responsible. There was no other way to make a living and so I knew
what was expected of me. That of course came with a lot problems. My siblings and I fought all the time, not just verbal abuse at one another but fist fights even. One night we got into it and got into a physical fight again. Being the oldest, I had the upper hand and.by the end of it both my brother and sister were lying there on the floor crying hysterically. Fuming and furious I walked away and left them to cry. As I sat in the bathroom trying to drown out their cries, I felt a presence come over me and felt a nudge. In my heart I knew it was God. I heard God say to me, “You know what you did was wrong. You really hurt your brother and sister.” I answered back, “Yes I know, but they really really made me mad!” God answered, “You should go and say sorry to them.” I thought it was the craziest idea. My siblings and I never got along. I was the oldest and felt sure I was always right, and there was never a time I ever apologized to either one of them, so you could see how this made me feel. I thought about it for a moment, a looooong moment. And then very slowly and resisting almost I slowly walked over to my brother and sister and told them I was very sorry. Almost immediately, compassion for them came over me and a peace I had never felt before. I started to soothe them from their crying. It was at that moment my relationship
with my siblings changed forever.
Today, we are close. I couldn’t go one day without calling one of them just to talk or check on them. We have the weirdest inside jokes that only we would understand that would have all of us holding our stomachs laughing so hard tears would flow. That moment had changed my relationship with them forever.
I’ve shared this story many times with my Sunday school kids. I wanted to remind them you are never too young to hear from God. Being Christian is not just for the old folks.
You can hear God at any age.
He can use you at any age.
Since then, I’ve had many sweet nudges from God. I’m not going to lie there have been times I did not listen at all, and I have regretted those times, but the times that I did..
Well, let’s just say it changed things.
I smile when I think of his nudges, it warms me up inside knowing how much he cares about even the littlest things in our lives that we often think are too small for him.
So it begs the question, If he cares so much for the little things, how much more would he be involved in the big things in our lives? We all try to take on so much, how much longer will we continue to carry it? I leave you with this.
"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:29-30
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