To My Elevation Family....

Elevators!

I have thought over and over again the last few months about how I could ever begin to express what God did in my heart and life on July 4, 2010, the day of my baptism.  While words could never do it justice, I will try to express it as best I can.

To make a long story short, through Elevation, God has turned my life totally around. If it wasn’t for Elevation, I would still be stuck in the idea of working my way to heaven by trying harder and doing better, a way of life that eventually led me on a path of self-destruction and self-hate by high school.  I always thought of myself as a Christian, but through Elevation, God opened my eyes to the lie that I was living. I left my life of religious hypocrisy for a radical fully devoted life of truly following Jesus.

 I was baptized in the Lutheran church as a baby; an event that did well for my parents, but was one of little significance to me.  When Easter time came up, God spoke clearly through His Word to my heart that I had to make this choice of being biblically baptized on my own. God continued to speak boldly on this subject and when I got an email in late June about baptisms on the Fourth I knew my answer no matter what the cost.

I truly thought my family would come around or at least be there out of love, but they weren’t.  Not one of my family members showed up. The morning of the Fourth, I was half an emotional wreck and half ready to shout Jesus’ name from the rooftops. I was excited that I was finally nailing my decision to follow Jesus down, but also disappointed and sadden that my family did not support the most important decision of my life.

Stepping into that tank I felt all the burdens, hurts, and worries of the past come into that tank with me. At that very moment, I truly understood why God had allowed all the bad, hurtful things to happen in my life. He knew it would bring me to my knees and that 8 months later, after giving my life to Christ, I would end up here, in this exact moment, on my own without the support of my family, nailing this decision down for everyone to see.

Coming up after being dunked was truly something I will never forget. I knew that at that moment I had truly left all those burdens that I brought into that tank there and had come out new. The second thing I will never forget and that I will forever be grateful for was God showing me who my real family was. I truly felt God told me “What do you mean your family’s not here!? LOOK AROUND!”  Coming out of the water I saw the faces of my greeter team, my eKidz team, my community group, and the many other friends I had made at Elevation, all ecstatic, some even in tears, celebrating my decision. These are the people I love, who support me, who speak God’s truth into my life, who slap me in the face when I’m about to make a wrong decision, and who are always there in good times and bad. These people are my family.

Like I said earlier, words alone could never do justice to express what God has done in my life through Elevation, the people of Elevation.  I could never thank the original families and Pastor Steven enough for the audacity it took to just pick up and move. But I hope each and every one of you knows that it was well worth it. I know some people don’t like that we are all “about the numbers”, but I am truly grateful we are, because I was one of them. I was a life far from God, who “just so happened” to end up at Elevation during the worst part of my life. A life that ended up here during a series that “just so happened” to exactly pertain to what was going on in my life at that exact time. A life hungry for God, but broken by life. A life God redeemed for good, a life now filled with Christ.

Thank you so much!

With Love and Gratitude,

Kimberly Wheeler