Allyson Blasel
So a little background is I'm the oldest of three siblings and I grew up in and out of church. My sister races cars and so we always had to clean up on Sundays from the race on the Saturday prior. We always went to church for holidays, but other than that we only went when we had free time. I was baptized when I was an infant. I had always known of God, but not really all of what he has offered for me. I was confirmed in a Lutheran church when I was 13 years old and yeah.
My home life was never very good. It looked good from the outside but it really wasn't. I don't want to get into too much detail but when I was 11 I didn't want to live anymore. I would plead with God that he would send me a different family every night and ask him to just take me out of this earth. I always had so much pressure on me because I am the oldest and am supposed to be "the example." My parents always fought constantly, and they still do. My parents call themselves Christians and I really hope they mean it. They've done some pretty harsh stuff.
My testimony really starts when I went to Camp Forest Springs in 2024. I shared a cabin with some really wonderful people and finally got introduced to a personal relationship with God. I felt his presence and the peace that he has to offer to us all fully wash over my life, and he showed me the goodness he created the world with. I truly felt that he has a plan for my life, but I didn't give my all to him. I went home and kept on having my lukewarm faith. I kept hanging out with bad influences because they were the only people I could get to be friends with me. Their habits started to rub off on me.
I go through my freshman year of high school in 2024-25. Something you should know is that I've put a lot of my identity in sports. I grew up playing basketball, volleyball, softball, wrestling, dirt-track racing, etc. Well during my freshman year, January comes rolling around and I decided for my New Year's resolution I'm going to lock in with God. Yeah, so that lasts about 8 days. On January 8th, 2025, I broke my leg.. bad. I had to get surgery. I kept asking God, "Why would you do this to me?" I had spent my last year completely surrounded by wrestling and now it's just gone. Instead of surrendering my life to Christ and using my free time to read my Bible, I decided to start chasing boys. I found this guy that I really liked and we started dating. Things were good until they weren't.
By this time it is May, I just got back to wrestling after a 5 month injury and school has just ended. I am still hanging out with a bad crowd and I start indulging in the same bad habits they are: drinking, smoking, partying, vaping, etc. I'm still dating this guy and I am not proud of where our relationship is going at all. I start feeling like I want to break up with him, but I just ignore the feelings.
Time for Camp Forest Springs rolls around again and I go. The whole time I am thinking, "Okay, things are going to be different now. I'm going to stop partying and all that other stuff." When I'm at camp this time I get a really great cabin again. We have this night at camp where it's just girls at camp and we break off into little groups about certain topics. I really want to hear God speak to me so I say a little prayer, "God please help me go to the group that you are really going to speak to me from. Please help me hear what I need to hear." I had kind of been thinking that I should go to the one about relationships but I had been pushing it off. At that moment it hit me like a train that that was the room I needed to go to and that I needed to get out of that sinful relationship with my boyfriend at the time. I go to that group and my fears are confirmed. After, I find one of my friends and we talk for hours about every single thing. One of my main fears is that I won't have any Christian friends to support me once I get back home.
Well as it always does, church camp ends. I go home and instantly end my relationship with my ex. I decided that, "Yeah this is going to hurt and it's going to be really hard. There is going to be a big whole in my heart, but I want God to fill that hole, not a guy." I stop all that partying and vaping and drinking and stuff and spend my time in nature and in God's word. I back at home and one of my really great friends help me to stay in my bible everyday.
Then, out of nowhere, I break my other ankle at volleyball practice. At this point it is still July 2025. I know in my heart that this is my second chance to really throw myself at God, instead of running to a guy. So I do and I don't regret it at all. I start going to church almost every Sunday and it's so good. I join a youth group, start leading FCA at my high school and all that fun stuff. I pray more and it is so, so good. God helps me to forgive people who have wronged me, including my parents and gives me a reason to live everyday for him.
My testimony is mine and I am proud to share it with everyone. God gave me a reason to live, and helped to show me that the way I was living would only lead to sin and eternal separation from him. I am still human, and of course I make mistakes. My testimony is definitely not over but I really wanted to share it. If I you could get one thing out of my testimony I hope you would understand that you are never too far gone and that God has a plan for you always. As it is written in Micah 7:7, "But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me."
