Janelle Fathauer

Although I was exposed to spiritual realities at a very young age, these truths had no impact on my life. Instead, I created for myself what I thought was required for salvation including regular church attendance, knowledge and memorization of Scripture, and a moralistic lifestyle. In middle school, after my parents divorced, my morals went rampant, and for the next couple years I began pouring my life into anything I thought could bring me joy, satisfaction, and purpose, only to see my void remain. It was not until I came to Indiana State my freshman year that I began to realize that this void I felt was because, although I had a lot of knowledge about Jesus and the Bible, I did not have a personal relationship with him. After a month of investigation, I began to see for the first time in my life how my sin separated me from a Holy and Perfect God, and my only hope of being reconciled to Him was through faith alone in Christ alone. It was that I trusted in the finished work of Christ on the cross for my salvation and was given a new heart and a new identity in Christ. In this relationship with Christ, I found the joy, satisfaction, and purpose that I had been desperately searching for all along.