Who am I?

I am a nineteen year old, money saving, believes safety first, making the best of every situation, always respectful, obedient, mind speaker, sexually pure, a prayer warrior, lover of all, and an elementary education major, who loves the Lord with all her heart. The question is what made me this way. Was it my race? Or maybe it has to do with the way my parents raised me. Or is it the fact that I am Christian? Or could be because I am nineteen years old? Many factors contribute to why I am who I am. I feel the most influential ones are the environment I grew up in, the way my parents raised me, and the fact that I am a Christian.
I was born to, although incredible people, drop outs. My father dropped out of college just before he earned is associates degree. My mother dropped out before graduating high school, and later received her GED. Do to this, I grew up in a house that knew the value of a dollar because we didn’t have a whole lot of them. We rarely went out and always bought food at the best price possible. Clothes were almost always hand-me downs unless our nana bought it for us. I learned at an early age the worth of a dollar, and now am always saving rather then spending. We lived in a poorer neighborhood as I grew up and statistically, the neighborhood had a higher crime rate. So my sisters and I learned really early that we only trust Mommy and Daddy, that strangers are dangerous. Even today, I refuse to even go out with someone I do not know that well. Safety is first in my book. There were many things that went wrong just do to the environment. So our family had to make the best of our situation, and always looked at the upside. The environment I grew up caused me to save my money, put safety first, and to look at the best side of things.
My parents are amazing people who love us and everything around us. One thing they are big on is respect. It doesn’t matter who it is, we must respect everyone and every thing around us. If we choose to be disrespectful my sisters and I were punished greatly. I remember one time I kicked our neighbors cat because I was angry at the fact that I had to go inside. My mom made me sit in time out for ten minutes, which was a very long time for a seven year old. Then I had to go and apologize to our neighbor, and to my mother for disobeying her. This leads me to my next thing. My parents expected us to obey them. If I didn’t obey them I knew the consequence. This was a time out to think about why we did what we did and depending on the degree, a spanking. When I was in Kindergarten my best friend wanted me to meet her boyfriend by sneaking off school campus. My mom told me the only time I am allowed to go off of the school is if she is with me. Disobediently I left campus, and later paid the price. Almost conciliatory, my parent always encouraged me to speak my mind. If I thought some thing was wrong, they didn’t let me get away with an “oh well.” They forced me to explain my reasoning. My parents taught me to be respectful, obedient, and to speak my mind.
I have been a Christian since I was six years old, well that was the first time I asked Jesus into my heart. But at fourteen is when I started to live my life for Christ. God has laid certain things on my heart. First and foremost my purity is to remain sacred till I am married. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 NIV says, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” There fore I will honor Him with my body, by keeping pure. He has also taught me that I need to pray all the time, especially when times are hard. Philippians 4:6-7 says "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" This took a long time for me to start doing. I always like to solve problems and giving my problems to God was almost impossible, but I am praying that it will become easier. God has also taught me to love everyone, even my enemies. Matthew 5:44 says “ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” Although it is hard, I try to love EVERYONE. My Christianity has shown me that I need to be sexually pure, a prayer warrior, and to love every one.
Through the environment I grew up in, the way my parents raised me and the fact that I am a Christian all has a part in making me who I am today. I love that I follow my heart and do what’s right, but without these three main factors I would be nothing.