He has made me new!, by Katy Dassenko

I had started attending Advance in the fall of 2009 and had only been there a short amount of time before I was diagnosed with cancer and put into the hospital. In the summer of 2010, I went with Advance to Daytona Beach, Florida for BigStuf. There I heard Francis Chan speak on Gods blessing and how we think that bad things don't happen to bad people. He reminded us that we're in a WAR every day and blessed are those that persevere when confronted with trials. He gave us a verse: 1 Peter 4:12, which prompted me to read on. As I read on, 1 Peter 4:12&13 became my life verses after having been faced with a big trial. 

In February of 2011, I gave my life completely to Christ and shortly later I came across the verse Hebrews 12:1-3. Telling us to keep on pursuing and running after God and to always rely on Jesus. I had gone to a camp in the summer of 2007 whose theme for the week was The Ultimate Race and they made a song called "Dare to Run". From that week at camp I learned that the race I was running was already won, all I had to do was keep my eyes fixed on Jesus. Sadly in 2007, I wasn't really a Christian, but finding that verse 2 years ago and remembering all that I had learned from that week helped me keep my eyes on God.

Last year in 2012, I was riding to school with my dad listening to Aaron Keyes' song "I am a New Creation". The previous summer (2011), I had a t-shirt made with lyrics from his song which I wore a lot. But I had trouble really understanding and accepting that I really was a new creation. God had taken all my sins and shame, and made me a totally new person. This year as I was searching my heart for a senior quote, I pulled out 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if any one is in Christ, the new new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!", which fit the requirements for how long the quote could be, and also served as a reminder to me that God has made me a new creation! I am no longer filled with the sins, regrets, and fears anymore, but I am a brand new person in Christ! He has made me new! Which is also why I love Gungor's song "Beautiful Things", it reminds me of that old person I was and how God sacrificed his life to make us new!