Testimonials
My name is Eleanor, I’m 12 years old and been a Christian member of St. Bart’s Church all my life.
At 4 months old I was Christened here at St Bart's and started Junior Church when I was 3. I attended St. Bart’s Primary School and now go to St. Peters, both of which are Church Schools with a Christian ethos. Until the Alpha Course I thought I had nothing more to learn about God or Christianity, little did I know how wrong I was.
About half way through the Course we had the Holy Spirit Day…now this really was the beginning of my journey. I was talking to Mick Caddick about the Holy Spirit and what it actually was when a thought came into my mind about a passage in the Bible, Job Chapter 38. I remembered my dad showing it to me before the Alpha Course. It was one of the most exciting, beautiful pieces of writing I had ever read. I told Mick about this incredible passage and asked if he had seen the Rob Bell DVD that talks about Job. A DVD called Whirlwind. The passage tells how Job expresses his bitterness with God and how although he refuses to give up on God he cannot understand why he is allowing him to suffer. Job questions God when everything is going wrong. God replies to Job and says I will question you and you shall answer me. God asks questions such as: “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”
Now, if you’re a Christian you will understand that at least once in your Christian faith you will probably get angry at God and feel like blaming him when life gets difficult. Sometimes you’ll get angry because of a big thing, like losing someone you love, but other times it will be because of smaller things like you’ve had a fall out with your friends. I often get angry at God because the stupidest little things and take my life for granted. Instead of getting angry with God we should learn to put our trust in him as God knows what’s best. We should be saying what can I learn and how can I grow, not who did this to me and how can I get out of it?
Being 12 is a funny age, there are the positives like starting a new school and making new friends. And there are difficulties like having to make so many changes. You think you’ve learnt such a lot by 12 but you’ve still got so much of your path to follow and so much more room to grow. Sometimes life’s confusing at 12. One minute you feel included and popular and the next you feel like everyone’s invited but you. Teenagers using social network sites such as Facebook ask you to click ‘LIKE’ or pass on a message to prove you love God. When God asked us to follow him, he didn’t mean on Twitter! God doesn’t leave anyone out, his invitation is for everyone…. we just need to accept the invite. And so as I confirm my faith in God today I’m saying that God’s party is one I’m not going to miss.
Eleanor Age 12.