Review applications

My name is Ashley Rostkowski and this is my story. Growing up, I always believed in the idea of God. When I was younger, I went through a traumatic situation with my biological father, in which I wholeheartedly became angry at God. I knew I could feel his love in my heart but was so angry because I thought he was supposed to keep us from going through bad things. I struggled with anxiety and depression for years, and at times thought I’d be better off away from this world. I couldn’t hear or feel the love of Jesus everyone preached about until I realized I wasn’t trying to feel it. I tried to build a foundation with God for years, but always came up short because my heart wasn’t truly accepting him. It wasn’t until about two years ago that I met a family who changed my life. They openly shared their faith and helped me develop a personal love for Jesus, for which I will always be grateful. At a Father’s Day service, I could only focus on the fact that I didn’t have a dad and tended to wallow in that. But one sentence, “Ashley, you do have a Father.” Immersed my heart in a way I can’t explain. It was at that point I knew I had accepted Jesus. Since then, I have made Jesus my priority and have begun my new story, fearfully learning and growing. Today, I am taking my next step of getting baptized. I plan to use this testimony as a reminder that Jesus has a plan for me. I wish I could tell my younger self that Jesus was always there, even when I couldn’t feel it. But I can now appreciate his grace, mercy, love, and sacrifice. collapse