I got married when I was seven years old.

That’s not to say that I live in some backward nation where arranged marriages still exist—no, it was my choice, and my choice alone. I made the decision late one night, when I heard someone speak to me and I realized suddenly that there was something I needed, more desperately than I had ever needed anything before, or would ever need in the future. So right then and there I got down on my knees, and that very night was wedded to a man named Jesus Christ.

Christians have many ways to describe what happened to me that night. “Got saved” and “asked the Lord into my heart” are probably the most common. I myself prefer to use less ambiguous terms—phrases like “forgiven,” “adopted,” or “married.” Essentially, they all mean the same thing: becoming a Christian, and entering into an intimate, lifelong relationship with God.

I chose to become a Christian because at seven years old it was easy for me to accept that there were certain things that I couldn’t do for myself. I couldn’t cook my own food, so my mother did it for me; and likewise, since I couldn’t earn my own place in heaven, God did that for me. To pledge myself to Christ was merely a matter of simple trust—faith as only children can fully master. It was a big decision for a seven-year-old, but one that I’ve never regretted.

My relationship with God is one of love and trust, not wrath and fear. I can’t imagine life without it. It does more than just dictate what I do; it defines who I am. I am the bride of Christ, a daughter of the Most High, a princess in the kingdom of the Almighty. And God is everything that humans are incapable of being: the perfect husband, father, healer, king, and friend, all at once. Even when life gets hard, even when things aren’t going my way, I know I can depend on the love and strength of my God to see me through.

The older I get, the more I realize how lucky and grateful I am to have God in my life. I’m glad I got married when I did. I will never want a divorce.