The Best Gift I Could Ever Receive

The Testimony of Sean

When I look back over my life, I can see that Jesus was working in my life long before I truly understood what He was doing.

I just couldn't see it yet.

When I was 12 years old, a friend of mine named Travis Shuler gave me my first Bible as a birthday gift.

I remember him telling me:

"It's the best gift you could ever receive."

At the time, I don't think I fully understood the meaning behind those words.

I was just a kid receiving a Bible from a friend.

But looking back now, I realize that gift was the beginning of something that would eventually change the direction of my life forever.

Then Life Happened

Fast-forward through the years, and eventually I met my wife, Susan.

She became the love of my life.

Together, we have walked through some incredibly difficult seasons.

We've experienced financial loss.

We've faced struggles involving child custody and former spouses.

We've been through circumstances that tested us in ways neither of us expected.

And then came one of the hardest moments of my life.

Susan was involved in a motorcycle wreck right in front of me.

She didn't know I was driving behind her on the highway.

But I was.

I watched the wreck happen.

Seeing someone I love go through something so terrifying left a lasting impact on me.

Afterward, I struggled with the trauma of what I had witnessed and the fear that came with it.

There were moments when I wondered how I was supposed to keep moving forward.

There were things I couldn't fix.

Circumstances I couldn't control.

Fears I couldn't simply talk myself out of.

And that is where Jesus began teaching me something deeper.

Faith Doesn't Mean There Won't Be Storms

Jesus taught me that faith isn't about having a life without storms.

It's about knowing who is with you when the storms come.

Through everything we've experienced, Jesus has been teaching me how to surrender.

Not just surrendering the things that are easy to give up.

Surrendering my fears.

My plans.

My circumstances.

My marriage.

My family.

And my future.

All of it.

I'm still learning.

I don't have everything figured out.

I still have moments when fear gets the best of me.

I still struggle with wanting to control things that are completely outside of my control.

But I'm learning that when I surrender those things to Jesus, He gives me a peace I cannot create on my own.

Travis Was Right

That Bible Travis gave me when I was 12 years old turned out to be exactly what he said it was.

The best gift I could have ever received.

Because it wasn't just a book.

It introduced me to the One who would eventually become my source of hope, strength, peace, and salvation.

Today, I'm thankful for every part of the journey.

The good.

The bad.

And even the painful seasons.

I wouldn't have chosen many of those hardships for myself.

But God has used them to teach me to trust Him more.

And as I continue this journey with Susan, the love of my life, I'm learning that my job isn't to have every answer.

It isn't to control every outcome.

My job is to keep my eyes on Jesus.

To trust His plan.

And to surrender my will to His.

I'm still growing.

I'm still learning.

I'm still surrendering.

But through it all, I know this:

Jesus has never left me.

And the same Jesus I first heard about through a Bible given to me when I was 12 years old is the same Jesus carrying me today.