I always hear testimonies from people about the day God made them whole. The time God made Himself known and filled their hearts. Funny thing for me is, I met God because He broke my heart. He shattered me so that He could be the one to put me back together.

Let me explain.

I have always had the "everything happens for a reason" mentality. But when something absolutely horrible happens to you, it's hard to begin to fathom that reasoning. God made it known to me that 2016 was going to be the year He took over my life. He did the only thing He could to snap me out of my secular ways and really get me to turn to Him.

I thought I had my whole life planned out. I was on a schedule, living every day like an itinerary I had made up years ago. I was comfortable and had no intentions on going astray from what I had planned. But God knew that my plans were not the right plans. It took true heartbreak for me to realize that I am not in charge of my life. God is.

I'll admit that 2016 was one of the hardest years of my life. But I grew more in those 365 days than I have in the entire 20 years before that. I grew as a student, as an individual, and as a child of God. He took every broken piece of my heart and put me back together. He filled that emptiness inside of me with His word and His grace. God sends His toughest soldiers to fight His hardest battles and He knew I was prepared for the months ahead of me.

I thank God every single day for breaking my heart. It's been over a year now and I am stronger and more confident than I ever have been. I know God in a way that I never imagined I would. I see my life in a different light. I went from wondering if I would ever make it out of this darkness, to wondering how I ever spent my life without the light of God. When God speaks to you, it's not always about getting what you prayed for. It's about getting what God knows you need. He knew I needed Him and there was only one way to do that, so He did it. My testimony is not about miracles or a life devoted to my faith from birth. My testimony is about God getting my attention. My testimony is about God breaking me down so He could put me together. My testimony is about survival. And I thank God for that.