First Hattiesburg Blog

I grew up in a very loving family, but we never attended church on a
regular basis. When I was about 6 my Aunt Carol started taking me to
Eastern Heights non denominational church on Wed nights. During that
time I learned the basic fact that God sent his one and only son Jesus
Christ to die for our sins so that we could be saved and forgiven. As
I child I grasped there was something much larger than I ever
understood looking out for me, but I still was far from completely
understanding the true power of God’s grace. When I was 11 my parents
divorced and I moved here with my Mom and younger brother. The years
following were probably the hardest in my life. Everything was
changing around me and I had no control. That was a scary, helpless
time for me. Through hard times I maintained a relationship with Jesus
Christ but I never truly gave it my all. I held back, and instead of
putting faith in him I tried to fix everything myself.

As years passed I discovered my Mom had left my father because he had
been, and still was, battling a drug addiction that I had never known
about. My relationship with him was nonexistent - he was so ashamed of
who he had become and all that he had lost that he avoided my brothers
and me. I prayed for him every single night, prayed God would find
him, and that I would have a chance to have a relationship with him
before it was too late.

About a year ago I received a phone call and my dad said to me,
“Jessica, I was in jail Saturday night. I went to church Sunday
morning, and I am saved. I have given my life to Jesus Christ.” My
voice trembled and I could not hold back the tears. I was and still am
overwhelmed that after all those years of praying, finally my prayers
were answered. Each day after my Dad was saved he would call me. He
was so on fire with the Holy Spirit! He was so excited about his new
life, and through all those conversations I started to realize that
even though he had lived a life of so many mistakes and I had not, he
was still closer to God than I had ever been.

That fact haunted me for a long time because here I was on the outside
looking just fine, but inside I was always sad. I felt alone. I felt
as though I had to please everyone all the time, and if I did not then
I was not good enough. Inside I knew something was missing that I
desperately needed.

A couple of weeks after this realization my friend invited me to the
opening Sunday service at the new First Hattiesburg campus. At first,
I was going to say “no”, but something told me that I had to go. As
soon as I walked in the doors I felt as though I was where I needed to
be. Jeff’s message was powerful, the band was powerful, the experience
was one I had never felt. I knew God had invited me to First, not my
friend, because He heard my prayers, He knew I was empty and that this
was the place I needed to be to understand what was missing.

That same day I took the steps I needed to take to become a member. I
eventually went and spoke to Byron to let him know I wanted to be
baptized, and that I wanted to announce that I had truly accepted
Christ in my life.

The Sunday after I spoke to Byron, Jeff’s sermon talked about religion
and how people live a balancing act - they have religion, but they
don’t have faith and when he said that it broke my heart (in a good
way) because that’s the life I had been living. I had been saying I
was a Christian, saying I was religious. I would go to church when I
felt guilty. I would do good, to out-weigh the bad, but that is not
faith. That is not anything at all. I needed to believe and put full
faith into Him to know that no matter what I was loved, and that these
earthly problems that are out of my control are suppose to be out of
my control - they are for Him to worry about.

The past three months I feel as though life has changed completely.
All these pressures I face - school, work, relationships, and
friendships - that I used to spend hours upon hours worrying and
crying over, I haven’t shed a tear over. I haven’t spent one second
worried . I realize now it is all going to be okay, no matter what. I
will get through it and I will be fine. God has a plan for me, and it
was not to be perfect and to please all those around me. It was to
serve Him and to share with others His amazing grace.

My father conquered his drug addiction and has re-entered his family’s
life. I have in return given my life to Jesus Christ and have found a
whole new outlook on faith and what it means to be loved
unconditionally. My mother, who has not been to church in years, has
recently started attending First because of the impact she has seen in
my life. My little brother was saved last week because he too realized
something was missing. God is amazing, He is glorious, and He is
mighty, and if that does not show that, I do not know what does.

I am so thankful to be a part of this church family and for the
welcome I have been given. I am eager to serve as well as grow here. I
know God has so much more in store for me.

-Jessica Williams

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