Testimony: Psalms 23

Anonymously Written

I was born into a partly Christian family. My dad was Christian but at the time my mom was not but I grew up going to church and mom would join us and sing the song, so I didn't ever know that she wasn't a Christian until we got baptized. I remember hearing her testimony for the first time and just thinking how amazing it was that she had come this far. Then there was my testimony which was written by an 8-year-old which my dad helped me of course. But there was this one story my dad told me about my birth. My due date was sometime in April and my grandfather was very sick. My dad prayed that I would meet my grandfather. Then when I was in the cephalic occiput anterior position I flipped, which meant having a natural birth was dangerous. So I was born early via a C-section just in time to meet my grandfather before he passed due to sepsis. That was the first miracle God performed in my life. If I wasn't born early I wouldn't have met my grandfather.

I ended up going to a public school and I hated it. I was badly bullied. Then Covid hit and my school didn't do much online with us. I was already really behind on my reading and writing so this just made it worse. I ended up getting a tutor for a little bit to help but in the end it didn't really help. My mom enrolled me and my younger brother at LGCA. I was so excited to start new and make new friends, but one day my mom came to me really upset and told me that my brother was waitlisted for kindergarten and didn't want us to be separated, which meant I would likely have to stay at my old school. We all prayed on it asking God if this is what he wanted for us then our prayers were answered and my brother and I got in. The next year we started at LGCA, it was a completely new space and very different from my other school.  

During Covid-19 things got really hard for my family. My mom was a nurse and would have to work really long hours. One day my parents sat us down and said they were separating. I was really upset but told myself not to make it about me as I held back tears and nodded. Soon after my dad moved into an apartment close by. To help me cope with the stress my dad gave me a picture of the two of them, which I hung in between the bed frame of my and my brother bunks. My parents tried really hard to make this transition as easy as possible but it was still really hard on everyone. 

One day my dad told me that he was thinking about getting a dog and since I always wanted one I could help him choose the breed as long as I do the research on the breed first. The dog was going to come closer to the end of summer, except one day we got to his house and a little puppy was there. He was really helpful for my anxiety but he didn't cure it. My parents ended up getting back together. We had lived in a house which our friends  owned, and it was really nice growing up with a second family. But they later decided to evict us which meant we needed to find a new home. In early 2022 we moved into our house the move went smoothly and everything was getting better. My anxiety was regulated and school was fun. But in the summer before grade 6 my anxiety snapped and suddenly I was having panic attacks every night that lasted hours. I was scared to be alone. My parents got me a therapist to try to help. But it got really bad. I remember this feeling that my skin was too tight whenever I had panic attacks. My parents took me to the doctor where  she gave me a tiny medication that would help put me to sleep. I stayed on anxiety meds to help but was able to come off the sleeping meds. I got a therapist that I truly trusted and was able to help me. Soon after I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, and ADHD which I take meds for. So how was God there for me during this hard time? Well I learned to completely lean on him and everything would be okay. When I had difficulties in life God never left my side. A verse my mom showed me which I now know by heart is the Lord is my shepherd (Psalms 23). It really helped me see God’s glory in all the worldly stress.