I grew up as a Shaman but found God during my freshman year of high school. Before I became a Christian, I was always really rebellious but not to the extreme. lol My family was never close, but when when I became a Christian, my life changed dramatically. My family got closer and we rarely fought/argue. When I said my life changed dramatically, I mean it. I stopped swearing, I argue less with my parents, I learned to love and care for the world and the people itself, be less judgmental, etc. I'm not saying that I became perfect or am perfect. I have to admit that I still do make mistakes and sin here and there but it doesn't define me. I know that if I repent and is sincere about it, my God would and will always forgive me. I have encounter many things in my life thus far that God has helped me through. When I couldn't find my birth certificate and was in major need of it, I prayed before I went to sleep and woke up the next morning with a text from my sister saying that she found it. When I lost two friends last year, God showed me love when I needed it the most. He was my love and comfort. I made it through all that was going on without killing myself. lol I received my letter that I wrote to myself earlier that year that my school made us write to ourself. I was totally not expecting what I wrote on my paper. I was surprise because on my paper that I wrote to myself by asking God to help me through everything that I may encounter that will hinder my faith in Him. He took out those two friends from my life because they were a distraction to me. I really appreciate it because if that didn't happen, I wouldn't be where I am today. It wasn't God's fault either because I had prayed for Him to take out anything that was hindering me from moving closer to him, grow my faith in him, and he did - my two friends. Even if my two friend and I didn't end on good terms, I still loved them unconditionally. But who knew that a few months later one of them would comeback into my life. It was all according to God's timing because every time I went according to my time, it never worked out. Whenever He does it, it was always at the right time. There have been many times when God has done so many things to me unexpectedly - when I needed the housing department to approve my appeal for the apartments because I didn't meet the requirements. I was declined because I didn't depend on God about it, but when I had to re-appeal, I prayed really hard for them to approve it and finally it did even though I said the exact same thing I said on the first appeal. He made a way for me because I believed that He will and He did. I don't believe that the whole "if you do good, you will receive good, and if you do bad, you will receive bad" only belongs to one or few religions or whatever. Forgive me if that didn't sound right. lol I also believe in it also to an extent even if I am a Christian. As a Christian, I believe that we are all sinners but because Jesus died for us, we have been set free from that despite the fact that we are still sinners and not perfect. If you knew me before I became a Christian, you would see how much I have changed after I changed from shamanism to Christianity. A lot of my friends have told me that I have changed and gotten a whole lot nice and wiser than I used to be. lol I get really upset when other Christians put down other people just because they don't believe in God. Because so many of them behave that way, a lot of other people labels Christians to be this and that and that they're always shoving the Bible down their throat. I want to say that that's not true for all. I am definitely not one of those people and all my Christian friends and family aren't either.
I really respect a lot of you guys and your religion, and I hope to receive the same in return even if you believe me or not. To make it clear about Adam and Eve, they weren't from Heaven. God created them. I understand that nothing is definite, but for me, I would always believe that God created the earth, Jesus paid the price for me when I didn't deserve it, and that there is eternal life after the Second coming of Jesus.
Hopefully I didn't bore any of you guys or stir anything. Just wanted to put my perspective and belief out there. I am very proud of whom I have become to this day because of this decision I made - converting to Christianity on my own will.