Hey guys! Today Erin is going to share her testimony with us. I hope you will find her story inspiring and encouraging to you.
Hi! I’m Erin Hylands. I’m a teenager, a Christian who loves the Lord. I love writing, seeking to write and publish books for His glory. I’ve self published many books, and I am building my platform for when I am ready to traditionally publish.
I mentioned I write for the Lord’s glory, but why? Because He has written a story for me. This is my story. I’ve grown up in a Christian household, so of course I know about Jesus. I always have. I’ve never not had Bible knowledge in my head. I remember when I was younger, I was the one to answer all the questions—until I realized that made me a know-it-all and stopped answering questions until some time had passed.
When I was six years old, I went to my parents after my grandfather and great-grandmother had left the house (they came to church with us every week until we moved away from Virginia). I told my parents that I wanted to accept Jesus into my heart. They led me through the salvation prayer. Like I mentioned, I was six. So I’m not sure I understood the gravity of Jesus’s sacrifice.
When I was eleven, I was baptized. I had been baptized into the Methodist church as a baby, but we had left Methodism after the doctrinal changed that occurred. (Again, I was eleven—I had no idea at the time why we left all our friends at church and joined a non-denominational church.)
After we left Methodism, my mom decided to get baptized again (as she also was baptized as a baby, only she was baptized into Catholicism but wasn’t raised Catholic). I wanted to get baptized again as well. So, I was baptized with Mom. I remember answering this question with an affirmative ‘yes’: “Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and do you accept Him into your heart?”
Fast forward a year. We moved from California to North Carolina (we’re military), and I really struggled with it. I was so angry I threw raging temper tantrums (at age twelve). I tried keeping a journal to help manage my emotions, but it essentially turned into a thing of hate. My parents found it after I had written in it how much I hated my mom (which was such a lie). I was also hitting myself in anger.
Once they realized that, they knew I needed to get counseling. I’m not sure if the counseling worked, as I don’t remember much from it. But my anger slowly dissipated as I adjusted to our new home. I made a new friend, and I was so excited. My mom discovered something around this time. That new friend I mentioned (I’ll call her E)? Well, her mom (I’ll call her Ms. A) invited my mom to do a Bible study with her called Cultivating Holy Beauty.
I watched my mom do this study, and the Lord used it to transform her spiritual life. I wanted that. But I was twelve. Still struggling with childish behaviors like throwing temper tantrums. I was too young. So, my mom got this Bible study called Developing a Quiet Time by Not Consumed. I started doing Bible studies. Fast forward a year. For reasons I didn’t understand at the time (but which I now know was God’s plan), we had to move (my six siblings, my parents, our two dogs, and I) from our spacious six bedroom house to a tiny four bedroom house on the Marine Corpse base.
That day, when we moved, I met a girl who was also thirteen (just five months older than me). I’ll call her G. I got to know G for a month or two, but then she left for six months for a different school. My mom was now pregnant with baby number 8. We no longer saw Ms.A or E very often.
Fast forward six months. Covid hit. Mom had my baby sister. G came back to North Carolina because of covid. A few weeks after my sister was born, G came over for lunch and dinner. Then church. All summer long, she came over every day. She was searching for a family because she did not live with her birth parents. This summer felt amazing to me. I had a best friend to hang out with every day, just like in books. But honestly, G wasn’t coming for me—she came because of my mom. She wanted a mom to love her, and my mom opened the door to that. My mom also shared the gospel with her, something that I knew I wanted to do one day.
But still, I became jealous, and I didn’t even know why (as it has taken reflection to see what that summer was like). I was rude and hurtful. Not to the extent I was two years before, but I still wasn’t a happy girl. When we were fifteen, G got a job and stopped coming to church with us. She stopped hanging out with me, except for once a week, often not at all. We texted.
In December of that year, my parents surprised my siblings with a trip to Disney World. (Mom was pregnant with baby number eight at this point.) G and I texted halfway through my family’s trip. Then, the day after we got back, I went to G’s house. But she was gone. She had gone away to another school. I was angry and sad.
This started to spill into my other friendships I had at the time. Mom invited my sister (who was twelve at the time) and me (who was fifteen) to do a verse mapping Bible study with her. I finally got to do a more in depth study. Through that study, I discovered that Jesus was the friend I wanted. He will never leave me or forsake me. He will always be there for me. He will move with me when my family moves.
Oh, I still struggle with friendships today. Right now, my family is back in California and is preparing to move again. I’m battling signs of depression. But now, I’m seventeen. I’m not the girl I was at six, at twelve, at fourteen, at fifteen. I’m growing up, however much I wish I were still young. My mom is now going to do Cultivating Holy Beauty with me, and I pray that my spiritual life will change as amazingly as my mom’s did.
This is my story. It’s not over yet—this is just the beginning. But I pray the Lord uses my words in ways I can’t even fathom. I pray that this encourages you today in your own faith. Psalm 139:13-14 (In case you’re wondering, I still keep in touch with G from time to time. I’m hoping to get to see her soon, as currently she is staying a few hours away from where my family is moving to. I still pray for her, that she would come to know the Lord.)
Thank you guys for reading. If you want to support Erin and her journey to make books that glorify God, here is about her. Please consider helping her meet her goal: If you’re willing to help her reach her goal of 100 subscribers by April 16, please sign up for her email list here: https://author-3.eo.page/f4bw9
When she’s not reading, Erin Hylands spends her time crocheting, writing, and with her family. Naturally, she spends quite a lot of time writing fantasy and contemporary fiction. She has grown to also love reading and writing historical fiction as well. She is the author of With Eyes of Blue; The Young Writer; Mary, Queen of Scots: A Shakespearean-Style Play; Fairy Tales Made Modern Volume 1; Come Alive: An Anthology (with H. K. Searls); and Poems, Prose and Verse: The Life of a Writer (with Eowyn Bolivette). You can find Erin on the blog she shares with fellow young author Cari Legere https://twofriendsonepen.wixsite.com/twofriendsonepen
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