My Testimony

For those who don’t know, my family and I moved here to Tomball almost exactly 5 years ago from Kansas. I was about to start my senior year of high school in a brand-new place, away from everything I ever knew.

The question I’m frequently asked is, “Was it difficult for you to have to start over in a brand-new place before your last year of high school?”

The answer to that question is surprisingly, “No, absolutely not.”

Seven years ago I went on a mission trip that changed my life, and not in the way you would think. The minute I stepped foot on that plane, the course of my life—or rather what I thought my life would be—was different.

Bullying is a form of abuse, and there are many types. I had experienced bullies growing up; you don’t really forget the first time you’re shoved into a desk.

But the bullying that began on this trip was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. The months following that trip were an intense season of targeted, aggressive bullying.

Hateful texts, being battered on social media, glares and intimidation in the halls, friends deserting me, and then the height of it all—an afternoon where my life and the life of my brother were put into danger, leading to police involvement at my school.

Kids should not be afraid to go to school or be afraid to get in their car to go home because of the physical or emotional threat of another person.

This is just a glimpse into my high school years. What some people remember as their “glory days” are the years that I sometimes wish I could erase from my life. They left me lost. Questions like, “What could I have done to deserve this?” circled my mind. I remember telling my parents, “I don’t even know who I am anymore.” Not only did I lose myself, but truthfully, I had lost sight of who God truly was.

I accepted Christ at a young age, and I truly believe that Jesus Christ saved my life. He died on the cross for my sins and rose again on the third day because He loves me.

In the midst of that trauma, I lost hope in the whole picture of who Christ is. I never once doubted God’s love for me or my salvation, but I lost sight of Him and who I am because of Him.

I constantly searched for who I was. I would flip through the pages of my Bible, searching for Scriptures that told me exactly that, but when I read them, I didn’t believe them.

My life changed again just over 5 years ago when my parents sat us down and told my brother and me that God was calling us in a new direction. Little did we know that direction would be here, but I was ready. I thought what I needed was just an escape from the bullying, but God’s plan was—and is—so much bigger than that.

There’s a concept I love: “the exponential yes.” You never know how one yes of obedience will not only change your life, but the lives of others around you, and the lives around them.

My parents said yes to faithfully following in obedience when God called us elsewhere.

But what I didn’t know at the time was that Jana Patrick and Ashley Nelson—who hadn’t even met me yet—had also said yes in a way that would greatly affect me.

They had said yes to leading a group of high school girls and had developed a method of studying the Bible. They said yes to the Lord and began teaching that group of girls, who would become some of my best friends in the world. And when I showed up in their group, they said yes to discipling me one-on-one. They said yes to speaking truth into my life and teaching me how to study my Bible.

They said to me one night, “The Bible is a book about God, Caley, and for God’s glory. We can’t even begin to know ourselves until we know who God is. What is true about us and our identity is only true because God is who He says He is.”

Their yes to speaking that truth to me rocked my world and forever changed my life. It changed my approach to looking at God’s Word. It’s His Word, and it’s about Him and Him alone. What’s true about me and my identity is only true because of who God is.

I can stand here today and tell you with complete confidence that Jesus Christ changed my life. He saved me. He saved me from sin and death, He saved me from the hands of a bully, and He also walks with me through the continuous struggles I have with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and battling a chronic illness.

The trauma I experienced triggered a series of health issues that seem to be without any organic cause. I spend every day battling symptoms of a chronic illness and have days where it’s all I can do to move from my bed to the couch. I have also had a difficult mental health journey.

There is no way I could walk through any of that if I didn’t believe the truth of who God is and what He has done—that He is always with me and for me, and that He cares for me.

If I didn’t know and believe that God has the best yes of all:

Jesus’ yes. Jesus’ yes to humbly be born as a baby here on earth, to live an absolutely perfect life, to die on the cross for the sins of the world, and to rise again. He said yes to that. What a beautiful yes.

And we have the opportunity to say yes—to believe in what Christ has done for us and to share that truth with others. I pray you would say yes to the things the Lord has for you, whether it’s to trust and believe in Him today or something else.

So when people ask me if I was sad to move, the answer is no.

Because I get to stand here and tell you how miraculous our God is and how His way is truly better, even if we can’t see it. In the midst of pain and trauma, He is still working. Jesus Christ changed my life, and it is my joy to worship Him alongside you here at TBC.