Baptism is a symbol of the new life believers have in Christ. This is Aspen Eubank’s public profession of faith in Jesus from her baptism on Sunday, April 21, 2024.
Growing up, I wasn’t raised in a religious household. I was baptized Catholic as a baby, and attended church services until i was maybe 4, but I don’t really remember anything other than getting a donut after it was over and being able to wear cute dresses. When I moved to Colorado when I was 6, I became friends with people whose family went to church every Sunday and I would attend with them sometimes. I couldn’t tell you what was talked about during those services, I was just happy to be with my friends. When I got to high school, my first boyfriend came from a Christian family and they attended church regularly. His mom tried her absolute hardest to get me “on board” but I just didn’t understand it, or honestly really care.
My freshman year of college, my first time away from home, I’ve met some really great people, I’m part of the softball team, and I meet my absolute best friend. There were three of us that were always found together, inseparable. My best friend passed away unexpectedly on the morning of January 31, 2015 and my whole world was turned upside down. I fell into such a deep depression fueled by anger and sadness that I turned to alcohol as a way to cope and to numb the pain I was feeling. I turned my heart away from God and believed there was no way he was real if he could “allow” something like this to happen. I was lost in such a darkness. I was drinking heavily, all while still fulfilling my collegiate athlete responsibilities. I was able to hide the dark depression I was in because I was around other teammates and friends who also liked to drink and they never questioned it. That was the start of the “I can fix things all by myself” mentality spiral that lasted years.
I moved to Texas in October of 2019 to live with my sister and to try and start over. I initially felt “happy” but as time moved forward, I found myself feeling more lonely and lost, even with my sister and the few friends I had by my side. Nothing I was doing satisfied me, something was missing from my life and I didn’t know what it was. I was tired of going out every weekend, and being around people who didn’t care about my well being. I wanted to be around people who liked me without all of the extra stuff, people I could be myself around and actually cared how I was doing. I needed community.
In late September of 2022, I got a text message from my sister that I never thought I would receive in a million years. It said “Do you want to go to church with me? Lol” I responded saying “That’s random, but sure”. When I got home that night, she told me about how someone from work invited us to go to church with him and his family and she accepted. I didn’t feel obligated to go, I was curious, but I also only wanted to support my sister in whatever she wanted to do. I did research online and noticed “we are a church praying to become broken people loving broken people” on the church website, and I felt something I haven’t felt in such a long time. Hope. I felt as broken as a person could be, this felt kind of like fate.
On October 2, 2022 we attended our first church service in this purple building. I was nervous. I didn’t know what to expect, and most importantly, I didn’t want to be judged. Ash and I got introduced to Micah, Camille and Kevin. They were so nice and truly made me feel welcome. Marcus and Ashley Mathis invited us to breakfast after service and after leaving that breakfast, I felt lighter but not fully “convinced”. We kept coming back, week after week, more and more people remembered my name, telling me how happy they were to see me and meant it. I continuously felt so loved every Sunday, by people I had just met.
On November 20, 2022 Living Hope by Phil Wickham was played during worship and I felt something move in my heart. It was the first song I truly sang during worship and in that moment I knew I felt ready to surrender and to start walking by faith. I was tired of pretending I was in control and getting no results. He was the living hope I’ve been searching for. It felt like I had finally found the light to guide me out of the darkness that had consumed so much of my life. That December we joined the Young Adults community group and I knew I had finally found that community and friendship I have been longing for. That was the first prayer that was answered for me. Martie and Wayne, thank you for loving us, and especially loving me when for so long I felt like I wasn’t worthy of it. And now I leave you with my favorite verse, Proverbs 3: 5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”