A warrior for Christ

My dad is a police officer, because of that I was brought up with a more than average drive to protect those around me, especially my friends and family. We were taught to prioritize others needs as more important than our own, and that "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend."* But even with this background it wasn't until I was about 14 that I became hyperaware of my surroundings, and had a drive to do hard and dangerous things just because they were hard and dangerous. My pride also skyrocketed in this time. I accepted that the warrior life was the road for me and made plans to join the military, but Jesus had a different plan. He was working overtime in my life and inside a year I had a dilemma. My two seemingly opposite characteristics- being a warrior and being a child of God- were crossing. They had crossed quite a few times in the past, but they just seemed so opposite. It took me a bit, but by God’s grace he won and I gave up. I told him that if he would have it, I would give up my "Warrior Mentality", even though at this point it meant giving up my career plan as well. But that is not what he wanted, his plan was not to take away the comfort I felt with keeping my stuff clean, with doing hard things and training my mind. He wants us to sacrifice for Him. He tests us, like when Abraham was told to kill Isaac*. He is faithful when we give it up.

It was about that time he gave me the idea for my book Guardian Angels. There he showed me how to practice blending my two “Worlds" and before I knew it, I was not only willing to laydown my life for someone, but also take criticism for them. I no longer just protected the people around me out of duty but rather, because I loved them. I saw Jesus move in me, and I knew that I would not be able to do this if I had not offered him that sacrifice.

Fast forward to where my book was well underway and God was laying publication heavy on my heart. I had a story to share, a unique approach to living for Jesus. I set a goal to publish my book by my graduation, but still God pushed me to make my work public, thus this blog. He did not push me with no reason. Someone needs to see this stuff before my book gets published. So, if it’s you, or you know someone who needs to hear that you can combine being a warrior and a child of God this way. I'm glad. And it’s worth it.

*John 15:13

*Genesis 22