Let me set the scene. You found the job posting of your dreams on LinkedIn, swiftly made a few tweaks to your resume, and submitted your application within the first week of the post going live. Within 72 hours, you received an email to schedule a phone screening. Soon after, you had an interview with the hiring manager and a couple of potential teammates. You aced it, leaving absolutely no doubt that you're the candidate for the job. Whether it goes in your favor or not, you can walk away knowing you did your best. Days later, they call you with an offer. Imagine clicking the mouse to sign your signature. The offer's accepted and now your mind is swirling with ideas for the perfect first day fit. Your yes made all the difference between where your career was and where it's going now.

Maybe the concept of a dream job sounds unappealing. Understandably, dreams of working don't seem like much of a dream. Let's consider a more universally celebrated yes. 

You're dining at one of your most treasured local restaurants with a human who simply makes your life easier. Entranced in good food and great company, you're practically glowing from the inside out. Your friends and family see it, but you can't help but count down the nearly 20 months and 600-something days you've spent calling this extraordinary person your boyfriend. For tonight, you decide your imaginary timeline can't compare to the here and now. After dinner, he insists on grabbing dessert from your favorite creamery as the sun begins to set. You stroll through town reminiscing on the past and dreaming of the future, while your belly fills with exuberant laughter and decadent scoops of frozen cake batter cream.

Just yards away, you see a small crowd gathered in a courtyard, lit by hanging lights too dim to make out exactly what's captured their attention. Suddenly, your boyfriend takes interest in grabbing a table in this unnecessarily crowded courtyard, only for you to realize you know each and every single person there. You freeze up in shock. He grabs your hand and eases you into the middle of the gathering of your dearest family and friends. He proceeds to kneel on one knee, and ask the question you've longed to hear. Overjoyed, you proclaim a heartfelt "Yes!"

I share these illustrations because much of my life's greatest dreams have centered career success or romantic relationships, but faith in the Lord Jesus has shown me there's so much more than I could ever imagine or comprehend. More what? You might ask. I can't even answer that. I can only share my testimony.  

On my 30th birthday, I got so high. The type of high where you don't desire to think or speak anymore. You just go to sleep.

Five months earlier, the Holy Spirit urged me to get baptized, but I couldn't encapsulate it in my mind. I thought, I've been baptized before. How crazy would it be to do it again at this big age? What about my hair? It would be a mess afterward. And who would be in the room to support me? Lord, I'll do it, but not today.

My final answer was, "No," all because I couldn't comprehend it. 

In reality, I didn't know how to say "Yes," to someone I didn't know. Though I had grown up going to church every Sunday, I never actually had a healthy concept of what it meant to be a Christian. If I said "Yes," to Jesus, what kind of party would I be RSVPing to? Not to mention, the shame of feeling like my life looked nothing like what He would desire. I told myself, you're just not ready. 

There I was, slumped on the couch, high, dozing in and out of dormancy. When I finally awoke, long enough to steady my conscious, I thought, I'm never doing this again. God, there has to be more. You have to have more for me than this.

No, my next step was not getting baptized, as previously instructed. Instead, I let go of the weed, and I started opening and reading my Bible. Eventually, I purchased a couple devotionals to give my scripture reading more thematic structure. It was a season that beautifully sparked my relationship with God, but I still found myself where I had always been. Overcome by feelings of isolation and loneliness, I realized the more that I had asked of the Lord was directly dependent on the more that I was willing to give to Him. 

Our Creator is good. So good, that He gave it all. God is a generous giver. His character is gentle, kind, and patient. Whatever we give to God, and that's entirely dependent on us because He only gives and never takes, He will multiply it exceedingly and abundantly beyond our imagination or comprehension (Ephesians 3:20).

I didn't know it then, but I know it now. God didn't care about what I was doing or how I was living when He sent the invitation for my baptism. I was all that mattered to Him. My anxious thoughts paled in comparison to His plans. Even when I RSVP'd "No, I'm not ready," He graciously understood and patiently pursued me anyway.  

​A year after I had felt the tug on my heart to get baptized, I finally gave Jesus my full and complete "Yes." The absolute best and greatest "Yes," of my life!

As my pastor, Darren Scheske, always says, "Go all in with God for 1 year of your life and you won't even recognize yourself a year from now." This single statement sums up my experience. Baptism unlocked the YES in my heart. Ever since, God has used me as a vessel for His glory, and it has been an absolute joy serving his righteous, holy kingdom.  

There's so much more I want to share, but I'll progressively share my faith journey just as God gradually reveals Himself to us. If you're on the spiritually curious spectrum, you're in the right place. Just know that you too were created for more because you were designed by God for eternity.