Indiana

God was always a part of my life even before I (Mary Xoing) was born. He guided my family safely out of Laos after the Vietnam War ended, protected us while we were in Thailand refugee camps, and eventually made it possible for my family to immigrate to America through a Lutheran church adoption agency.

As a child I was close to the Lord, but as I got older my priorities changed. I stopped going to church, and I became more interested in securing worldly fortunes. My parents came from a very poor country and wanted more than anything for their children to grow up successful, which meant graduating from college and landing a great job that made lots of money. I did my best to make my parents' "American Dream" come true by becoming a straight "A" student, graduating from college, and landing a great job. In the end, I felt only empty inside. I wasn't happy with my job or the person I was becoming. I knew there was something missing in my life, but I didn't know what it was exactly, at first. It took a series of events (not all good) to help me see what I was missing was a relationship with Jesus.

My once-promising computer career went downhill when the companies I worked for declared bankruptcy. I went through a series of temporary jobs, trying to figure out what career would best suit me. It wasn't until after I went on a Maranatha trip to the Dominican Republic that I found my calling to be a nurse.

My fiancé and I began attending Bible studies together with Larry McConnell, a Bible worker at the Cicero Seventh-day Adventist Church, to help strengthen our relationship with God and each other. During Bible study lessons, I realized how little I really knew God. My biggest misconception was limiting God with human characteristics.

Most of my life I felt I wasn't good enough to be called a child of God because I wasn't perfect. I didn't realize I had been made perfect through the blood of Jesus Christ and all I had to do was accept Him into my life. It was so simple, yet I was making it so complex. It was humbling to finally realize God had loved me all this time, even when I did not love Him! I thank God that He didn't give up on me and continued to pursue me.

I will never forget the happiness I felt in my heart on my baptism day, December 24, 2005. The "American Dream" I had been pursuing had been replaced with my own personal dream of being with Jesus one day.

I am currently in my last year of nursing school and will be working as a SNE (student nurse extern) at Community Hospital East in Indianapolis, Indiana. In my spare time, I enjoy sewing, cooking, drawing and painting, as well as singing and spending time with friends and family.

Mary Xoing (pronounced "shone") is a member of the Cicero Seventh-day Adventist Church.