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BY LAUREN STITZLEIN

I have been a Christian for seven years now, because I became born again when I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and committed to live my life for him on the floor of the Ocean City Convention Center at ROCK 2004. I came into that retreat pretty broken but believing that I had it mostly together.

I had been going to church since I was born and faithfully attended Sunday School, VBS, then Youth Group, church choir and so on. One would think hearing so much about Jesus I would have a great relationship with him, but I came to ROCK 2004 still riding on the coattails of my parents' faith.

Praise the Lord that he had compassion on me and used three powerful moments at that retreat to break me down and forever change my life.

The first and last were dramas performed by the Fort Myers Master's Commission (FMMC) and the other was a personal conversation with Reggie Dabbs.

The first drama showed me that Jesus is my rescuer, who is merciful enough to meet me where I am and pick up the pieces I have left in my life.

Later that day, in Reggie Dabbs' breakout session, he told a story about a young girl he met in Australia, who had accepted Christ and was killed in a car accident with her youth leader that same night. But she was ready for eternity. I told Reggie how that story so resonated with me because only 18 months prior to ROCK my whole family lived through a nearly fatal car accident with a drunk driver. Reggie's response was to tell me that if I survived then, the Lord clearly had a plan for my life that was not yet over.

Finally, at the Saturday night retreat session, God used the Master's Commission again to seal this deal on my heart and life.

They reenacted the crucifixion, and I watched Jesus get beaten, and whipped, and given a crown of thorns, and standing as though on a cross. He was covered in corn syrup and red food coloring, and sweat. He screamed and gasped and cried aloud. I had never seen anything like it. It was grotesque, but in those moments, God was telling me,

"Lauren, THIS is what I went through for YOU. This is more than a tired story. This is the real deal. This is the price I paid for you. This was my plan, and you are too."

It took seeing what God paid for me to finally give God what he paid for. I surrendered my life to Christ after watching that drama. I called Jesus' dying on the cross only a story for a long time, but I could not have been further from the truth.

It's sad for me to think about how much God had to do to get my attention, but I know I am not alone. My generation is an image-rich culture, saturated in photographs, graphics, video and the like. God knows that about us and that's why he uses events like ROCK to communicate his message the way that he does. I wish I could say that I had believed from simply hearing the Word of God, but like the apostle Thomas, I had to see it. I had to see that blood and hear those cries from my Savior to recognize him.

God speaks to us in such a variety of different ways, and this was his plan for me. Like I said before, I know I'm not alone, and my prayer is that the people involved in ROCK will always be open to how the Holy Spirit wants to speak to the souls God brings into that convention center year after year. Amen!

Lauren Stitzlein, 19, was CCYM president in 2009. She can be reached at .