Rany's Story
My name is Rany Perry. I’m going to start by telling everyone a little bit about myself. I’ve been coming to New Heights for about three years now. I met my husband Mike nine years ago and have been married almost three years. Between us, we have four wonderful kids.
I came from Cambodia and I’ve been in America for about 27 years. We came over to America when I was about 11 years old, so I was pretty much raised in America. Life was tough for all of us kids, being raised in two different cultures. We have to act differently between being at home and outside of our home life. When we’re at home, we have to follow all the Cambodian culture and tradition and when we’re outside of our home, we have to follow an American culture, so we can fit in.
Both of my parents have passed away, but I still have three sisters and two brothers living in the United States. I was raised in a Buddhism household. All my siblings still continue practicing and following the Buddhism religion. Both of my parents were very generous people. They went out of their way to help others. We were taught to be kind, considerate, treat others like you would like to be treated, and to respect others. The biggest thing in our culture is to respect your parents and elders.
I had so many questions regarding the Buddhism religion. I asked my parents about it, but they didn’t really have a good enough explanation with the way they do things. During that time, all the kids just did what our parents asked us to do when it came to praying during all the Cambodian holidays. As of today, I still don’t understand the Buddhism religion.
The first time I was introduced to Jesus Christ was by my husband, Mike. I wasn’t interested in hearing about this Jesus Christ person. In my mind I’ve always known there’s a higher power, but not this person called Jesus Christ. Back then, my husband would read his bible and he would talk to me about it. I felt he was trying to force it on to me, but I know he was excited about being connected again with the Lord and he just wanted to share with me. I have to admit from time to time I would get irritated by Mike. In my mind, I wondered why he prayed to this person called God, but I never bothered to ask who God is.
One day Mike asked me, “Rany do you know who God is?”
My response to him was, “Some guy I guess.”
“Why don’t you look in the dictionary who God is?” he said. So I did what he asked and the definition of God (higher power) struck me from that moment on. It wasn’t hard for me to want to hear more about Jesus Christ.
Since then, I’ve been attending New Heights and doing bible study at home with my husband and continue to learn more about the Lord. I remembered the moment I made up my mind to accept Jesus in my life was during church. There was a young woman raising her arms up during one of the songs we sang and I couldn’t stop myself from sobbing. At that moment I said to myself, the Lord Jesus is my savior and my only God that I should pray to. After we walked out from church that day, I felt relief, like a load of heavy stones just got pushed off my shoulders and I felt so light, like I was walking on air. To this day, I know this one decision I made was the best one of all.
I see myself changing throughout each day. I used to worry about life and what was going to happen in the future. Now, I’ve learned to take one day at a time and put trust in the Lord and not to worry what’s going to happen in the future. By doing that, my relationship with my husband and my children is more important to me. I find every moment I spend with them is precious and I feel blessed.
I know that the Lord has softened my heart and lets me see things in a positive way. He’s always there for me through good and tough times. All I need to do is to remember He is always with me. I look back where I was three years ago and compare to where I am today. I look at each day as a blessing that He’s giving me. Knowing He blessed me to get up and allow me to see my family each day is enough for me to have Him in my life.
With Him sacrificing His life for me and with all His blessings and knowing He’ll be with me at all times, I want to give my life to Him and serve Him in every way. I’m looking forward to one day being with Him in heaven.