When I was little, we went to church. My mom was raised in church and her parents were very involved when she was growing up. My dad wasn’t part of a church, but they believed in God. Eventually church became something we did on Easter and Christmas. I don’t remember the walls of the church growing up. I don’t have memories of youth leaders impacting my story, or pastors, elders or anyone else speaking into my life. Church was never something made important.
We did pray, we said grace, and I remember asking Jesus into my heart. My mom worked so much that we didn’t see her until the evenings, and sometimes she made work trips out of state. I guess life of a career woman and 5 kids to keep up with, it just became too busy, and the priority was keeping a roof over our heads and food on the table. And my dad wasn’t about to go to church without my mom, but his job allowed him to be home with us after school, make our dinners and do the laundry.
I grew up not understanding the importance of the roles in the home. I didn’t know the Holy Spirit or the power of the blood of Christ. I didn’t know a lot of valuable information about my Heavenly Father and what I mean to him.
The first time I recall feeling the presence of the Lord was when my paternal grandpa died. I was 12, and we were really close. I lost both grandpas within months of each other, but this one hit hard and was painful. I was laying in bed crying, and suddenly, this peace and comfort like a literal blanket covered me. I felt the weight of Him. I was momentarily confused, but I wasn’t scared, and I just knew.
Years would pass and I would fill the void with mistake after mistake.
Until one day, in my early 20s, my older brother (we are 21 months apart) told me to go to church. He had been invited, impacted, and wasn’t much on giving choices. So, my husband and I went almost 11 years ago and our lives are better for it.
Our pastor is an amazing human, and we love him, so we kept going back. Then we got involved in serving. We got baptized. We stayed because a life with God is better than a life without him. I can’t count on my hands how many situations we made it through because we trusted in the Lord.
We are a non-denominational church because we believe Jesus came for relationship, not religion, and it’s the best relationship by far!