What’s up everyone! How are you? I hope everything is well and that you have been rocking out.

This week I am going to write on something a bit more personal; my testimony. I’m going to try to keep it clear and concise because I tend to ramble.

How I came to know Jesus

I grew up in Azusa, California, where I fell in love with music, skateboarding, photography, and most importantly: Jesus. When I was around 12 years old my mom started taking my sisters and I to a small church in Azusa. After a while of going I began to build relationships with the youth ministry. Before coming, I knew little to nothing about the Bible—I remember even one time as a kid saying the Pledge of Allegiance because I thought it was a prayer.

I wanted to allow God to use me in any way that He saw fit. He had me play on the worship team, help lead events with the youth ministry—and eventually had me leading the youth ministry. From that point on I knew that I had a passion to work with youth. I wanted to inspire them and be a friend. I hope to do that again someday after college.

Tony at a youth service

(Me teaching a youth service - 2015)

In the months after I started going to church, I began to learn so much about who God was and what He had done in my life. My faith grew so much! I loved hanging out with the Youth group and going to all of the events. A couple years later, unfortunately, my mom and sister stopped attending church. Although it discouraged me, it did not stop me from pursuing God on my own. My younger sister and I continued to attend church and be very involved and my mom was still very supportive of us going.

My Parents

Although my parents are not serving the Lord, they were extremely supportive of me wanting to attend Biola. They did everything they could to ensure that my dream of attending a University became a reality, despite not having much money or even knowing anything about college. I am extremely grateful for the parents that God has blessed me with.

Tony's parents outside the venue of one of his shows
Tony's family after one of his shows

(My parents outside the venue of one of my shows) (My family and I after one of my shows)

He knew the exact people who needed to raise me. From the beginning of my journey of getting to know Jesus to the time my lung collapsed in high school; to the times I played big shows with my bands, the times I’ve been at my absolute rock bottom in anxiety and sadness and even in my most victorious moments—my family was there for me! I thank God every day for them—they are such a huge part of the plan that He has for my life.

Now

I can’t lie, regarding my faith, the past four years have not been the easiest. I have had many questions, doubts, insecurities, mental struggles and more. I am definitely not perfect. The cool thing is that I don’t have to be perfect because Jesus is perfect for me. Jesus knew I had to come to Biola because it was here that I learned what God’s grace really means for me. It means that I am deeply, deeply, deeply loved despite the times that I do not love myself right and the times that I do not love Him right.

I know my story isn’t the craziest out there but it is the one that God gave me. You don’t need a crazy story in order to prove God’s faithfulness because He proves His faithfulness in every story. I hope this blog post has blessed you in some way! I’ll see you soon. Remember to be yourself, to do the things you love, and to love God in everything you do!