Hi, my name is Kaylee Fong, and this is one of many stories of how God saved a broken, wretched, depraved sinner. By God's grace, I was born into a Christian household with parents who loved the Lord and sought to raise me and my siblings under the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

When I was around five years old, I remember praying the prayer with my parents, asking Jesus to come into my life, but not truly having a heart of repentance nor a true understanding of what it actually meant to accept Christ into my life as Lord and Savior. Because of this "salvation" that I had, I viewed myself as a Christian, whether it was doing my best to be a morally good person or going to church every Sunday.

However, while I didn't question God nor the validity of the Word, I lacked a renewed heart, mind, and ultimately a personal relationship with God. My hardened heart recognized the gospel as something meant for new believers or converts, thinking I could be saved while continuing to live any way I wanted and not understanding how the gospel is at the very center of true faith.

I was still dead in my sins, blind to the varied things that separated me from God and lacking the righteous fear of God. To sum it all up, my attachment to the world was apparent with the pursuits of my heart. By God's grace and love, He disciplined me in my sophomore year of high school through my relationships with some of my friends at the time.

During this period of my life, God revealed my sins to me. Especially during the beginning of these problems, I sought comfort in my non-Christian peers, seeking those who would agree with the justification of my own sinfulness, playing victim when I was the perpetrator not only against my friends that I hurt, but against God.

These actions led me down a bad path with gossip fueling the flame. Looking back, I think that this was the first time I hated myself and my sins and had a desire to turn from them. My life at this time was filled with the desire to satisfy my own flesh, to be accepted and liked by my peers, and even clear my name at the extent of tainting the reputations of others.

I will forever be thankful to God for this child and His faithfulness throughout it, guiding me with a loving family who prayed for me, encouraged me, and pointed me to scripture, even rebuking me in my wrongdoings. As the problems came to a close, while relationships were lost, God continued to lead me closer to Him.

Later that year, when my older sister Sarah came back home for the summer after her first year of college, I saw the change in her heart and her desire to follow Christ's example. She led Bible study sessions with me and my younger sister, challenging us to dive deeper into the Word and to truly apply God's Word into our own lives.

In these moments, God softened and renewed my heart, and I truly desired to know God in the way that my sister knew Him. I can say with confidence that I was truly saved and regenerated with a new life in the Holy Spirit around this time of my life. It was also during the summer that I began to be in the Word daily up to this day.

With this, I know that it was only truly God who gave me this desire and hunger for the Word, and that it is only by Christ's death and resurrection on the cross for my sins that I am able to have this relationship with God. God has given me so precious a salvation and new life, allowing me to see and experience true peace, joy, love, along with many other blessings.

After being saved for these past few years, God has continually reminded me to surrender myself to Him and to live my life according to His will instead of my own. Despite COVID times being difficult, God has provided so much fruit in my life through the time I was being discipled by an older sister in Christ, my transition into college, and my search for a church where I can grow alongside other believers.

God has provided me with a greater boldness, courage, and openness than I have ever experienced, showing me that I should not be afraid to share the precious gift of faith that I have been given with others, and has taught me to let go of the struggles I face by lifting them up to Him who is able to conquer all things.

It still amazes me to this day why God chose to save me, or why He loves me, a sinner who has fallen so short of His glory. One passage that I really love is Romans 38-39. It says, "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

While I cannot fathom the true depths of our Creator's love, I can know with full assurance that no matter what may come in this life on earth, I can place my hope fully on the living hope, Jesus Christ, who I have died with to sin and have risen with in new life.

All I can say is thank you, Jesus, for saving me. Thank you.