Madison Bennett

Ms. Thomas
UWRT 1101-103
17 September 2014
I realize this paper comes off a testimony, which I'm sure given the assignment, this wasn't what
you were expecting. However, this is how my interpretation of the assignment, some piece of
literature that has influenced my life, and what more powerful influence than the word of our
God?

Literacy Narrative
Throughout my life, I would say there are many things that have made me who I am.
From memorable people I've had, or are still in my life, to family trips, even to certain movies
that bring back wonderful memories. While all of these things have made an impact, both good
and bad, there's no doubt in my mind that the overall biggest influence is my savior Jesus Christ.
I still remember the moment I accepted Him into my heart. I was about seven years old,
and I kept saying that prayer over and over again. I felt like it wasn't sticking. I couldn't grasp the
concept that Jesus died on the cross for me to save my sins, and in order to be saved and walk in
eternal life with Him forever, all I had to do was say one little sentence that ended with amen. So
the next week at good news club, ( an after school program offered at my elementary school), I
walked up to one of the youth group leaders and I remember specifically that I put my hand over
my heart and said "I don't feel like I did it right, I asked Him into my heart but I don't think He's

here." Without saying a word she flipped to a verse in the bible, I'm not sure which one it was
now, but in five simple words it said everything I would ever need to know, "I will never leave
you". Instantly my faith was restored.
While this was a very defining moment in my life as child, I don't feel that this moment
completely shaped who I am today, or who I will be tomorrow. I would love to say that after this
moment I read my bible every night, and went to church every Sunday and lived a Christ like
life; but that would be a lie. I want to be clear in the fact that I can't brag about the love I have for
Christ. I fail Him every day. But He never fails me, which is what motivates me to be drawn in
closer.
Luckily, there are things in my life that I feel help me strengthen my relationship with
Christ. For instance, my bible. When I was sixteen years old my parents gave me a study bible
with my name engraved in it. I was so excited about my new bible, but I didn't know where the
best place to begin was. My uncle Robert then told me to start off with the book of Proverbs,
because everything in that book will help me to make the right decisions, and to become a better
person. One verse that stood out to me in this book is Proverbs 31:25, it says, she is clothed and
strength and dignity and she can laugh without fear of the future. I think that's an important
quality for a woman to possess. So many spend their time stressing about what the future holds,
when in reality, we don't have much control, we have to put our trust in God and realize that he's
got us. Now I get the saying "every girl should be a Proverb's 31 girl."
Something else I feel restores my faith is the Anima Series on YouTube. The Anima
Series are basically different video's of spoken word. They're not long, and there's not much to
them. Just a young man speaking God's word in an empty room, yet I think this makes the videos

that more moving. The way there's nothing else to focus on, just the words he's speaking. The
first time I stumbled upon this series was one day when I felt like I was going nowhere in life. I
felt worthless, and unwanted. Then I happened to see a video on facebook titled "who you are: a
message to all women". Naturally I decided to watch it and immediately my spirits were lifted. I
felt silly for even feeling so upset. The part that really gave me chills and insight was when Jon
Jorgenson says "in the eyes of the beholder you are loved, and you are worth dying for,
regardless of who you think you are." This was just so eye opening to me. I felt so moved by his
words that I decided to email him and thank him for lifting me up, and for inspiring others.
Surprisingly he replied and thanked me for thanking him! Today this video has 2,475,037 views.
While this may be his most popular video, he has so many other faith strengthening video's. A
few other favorites of mine are Not Qualified, The Wall: A Hopeless Situation, and What Are You
Afraid Of?I highly recommend looking these up whenever you feeling down, or lacking faith, or
just in the mood to hear some spoken word. I promise you won't regret it!
While the two things I've just mentioned have helped me to strengthen my relationship
with Christ, something I've felt really helped me to have more faith from a logical stand point is
the movie God's Not Dead. In this family drama, a college student is challenged by his atheist
professor to prove God's existence to the entire class. Putting myself in the student's shoes, I
realized how difficult this would be. To prove there is a God through science seems merely
impossible. However, he proves this isn't. For instance, he discusses how the big bang theory is a
burst of light that creates the universe; similar to the book of Genesis when the Lord announces
"let there be light." Of course there are many other instances like this throughout the movie, this
was particular scenario really stood out to me. I think movies like this are very important for our
generation to see because so many students are challenged by atheist or agnostic professors,

peers, or whoever to prove the existence of our God. So many people think the entire idea is
absurd. And as a student it's difficult to come up with plausible evidence as well while also not
coming off as condescening.
I understand that the point of this paper was to list things in detail that have made me who
I am, yet I rambled on about how important having God in my life is. All of the things I've
mentioned to a degree have made me who I am today. But the thing is, I'm not completely
satisfied with who I am today. I understand that I have a lot of improving to do, and all of these
things I feel will help me to do that. So these influences in my life haven't made me the person I
am, they're currently making me into the person that I will become.