Happy and Sad

Note to Teachers: Ask a 14-year-old girl to share this story, or show the picture of Alice to your class and explain that she wrote her own story that we will read today.

My name is Alice Coditoiu, I am 14 years old and in the eighth grade at the Adventist Academy in Craiova—a city in Romania. I live 12 kilometers (7.45 miles) from Craiova in a village where we can really enjoy God’s creation in nature.

I was born into an Adventist family, and they taught me to know God. Being an only child, my parents poured all their love towards me, but they were careful not to turn me into a selfish child. It actually helped me to offer my blessings to others who were not as blessed as me.

I like animals very much, and I love my two puppies! But I especially like horses, and last summer I was able to go to a horse riding camp. I really liked that!

Need for God

Something else I enjoy doing is playing the piano, especially when I can honor God through my playing. A while back I started to notice that the people around me really need God, and I wanted to dedicate a big part of my time serving them.

Sometimes I’ve been able to do a little bit of work selling religious books and being a literature evangelist. Doing this makes me happy and sad at the same time. I’m happy because I can participate, but sad when I see that not everyone is interested in learning about God.

These experiences made me think about my own personal relationship with God. I started to participate in a baptismal class during the summer of 2015. I was interested in learning more about the church doctrines. I loved studying the Bible, and having Jesus as my friend, but I felt that I wasn’t ready to get baptized. But even though I thought that I wasn’t ready, God showed me that if I give Him my heart, He will work in me the changes needed according to His will.

So on November 21, 2015, I stepped into the water and was baptized. After my baptism I continued to learn to trust His promises more and more.

Some Advice

If I could give some advice to other children and young people who have not yet decided to get baptized, I’d say:

“Don’t let Satan fool you into thinking that you are not ready for baptism. His plan is to make you think that you are too evil to be accepted by God. Remember that Jesus came into this world to search for you, to save you and to offer you everlasting life as a gift! Repay His sacrifice by offering Him your love!”