How were you called to the Lord?

[SnakeMauler]

Just wondering how everyone’s conversion to the religious life went (for all religions). I’ll tell my own story. Basically my dad was raised protestant and never really practiced and my mom was raised Catholic and started practicing again when I was in about 3rd grade at which year I was baptised and enrolled in CCD and all that jazz. I was somewhat critical of my religion in my early early adolscence and I complained about going to church and fought growing up. I came to the Lord though for real probably my junior year of high school. I was being really good my first semester of college this year but 2nd semester now I’m sort of worthless.

Anyways, share your stories here everyone.

-Snakemauler

 

[SnakeMauler]

Has no one else turned their lives to the Lord (or tried to)?

 

[Sufjon]

Has no one else turned their lives to the Lord (or tried to)?

Hi SnakeMauler: I started life in a very different religion than the one I was called to. The Lord started calling me at about the age of about 13. I wasn’t looking for Him. I was complacent with the church I was being raised in, which in my estimation offered a rather low form of spirituality. He called me to something altogether different. Each has their own path, but every path is acceptable.

You mentioned having intimations of worthlessness. That makes me concerned. Are you okay?

BTW your profile says that you’re not yet worthy of the Lord. Don’t let anyone tell you that. You are sacred, important, and heir to everything God has to offer right here, right now, just as you are. Nothing about you has to be changed in regard to your value to God. There may be things in life that are best changed, but even with those yet undone or in total disarray, you are now and always will be, and always have been acceptable to God. You can’t undo or diminish that in any way, even with a great deal of effort, or for lack of effort.

Your friend
Sufjon

 

[Hiskid1973]

Hi…I was growing up in a family with a believing grandfather but parents who wanted nothing to do with the Lord…I was 21 and working in an office with 4 druggies and one was my best friend…I was surrounded with sex, drugs and rock and roll and for some reason kept from it…I got sick from/never liked alcohol and saw too much mess up(one coworked did some drug after work and ran his MGB under a trailer truck about a mile away from work. Really shook a lot of people up…As for woman I literally walked out out a situation I would have regretted(“Love the one your with” was popular)…Anyway It was during this time a cute blond gave me a little booklet of verses and invited me to an evangelistic meeting…I heard the gospel message and went fwd.As I prayed and repented of my sins I felt a heavy weight lift off…I just felt washed inside…I went home and crawled into bed…I felt overwhelmed with love I was so overjoyed I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry …This lasted for a few hours til I fell soundly asleep…It was a powerful experience, like night and day…What was really cool as I found out later was my best friend had a similar experience around the same time…Our office coworkers were amazed as we stated talking about Jesus plan of salvation to others…It’s almost 40 years for the both of us…It has not been with out trials or tribulations but we’re both still pressing onward and upward, even more so as the day of Christ’s return draws closer… Grace and peace to you…

 

[William_Pitts]

Just wondering how everyone’s conversion to the religious life went (for all religions). I’ll tell my own story. Basically my dad was raised protestant and never really practiced and my mom was raised Catholic and started practicing again when I was in about 3rd grade at which year I was baptised and enrolled in CCD and all that jazz. I was somewhat critical of my religion in my early early adolscence and I complained about going to church and fought growing up. I came to the Lord though for real probably my junior year of high school. I was being really good my first semester of college this year but 2nd semester now I’m sort of worthless.

Anyways, share your stories here everyone.

-Snakemauler

My story is a very personal. When I was very young I was sent to live with a family that attended a small Free Will Baptist Church. I received most of my early religious training there. When I was 10 years old my father remarried and I went to live with him. I only went to church occasionally from then on. When I returned from the service in 1969 I soon was married. In 1974 my oldest daughter was born. A few months after her birth I became aware that I wasn’t the kind of person she needed for a father. I really became burdened about this. One night I was really broken and I knelt in a spare bedroom and prayed something like this, “Jesus I don’t know who you are but I need help.” While I was sobbing I felt a presence in the room. I don’t know to this day who or what it was. I was too afraid to look up, but I felt something come over me and in an instant I felt such love. I was startled. I felt my burden was gone and I felt love and complete acceptance.

But there is much more to the story. I didn’t own a Bible, I had to buy one the next day. I wasn’t reading any kind of religious material. I had not been watching anything on TV. But I was changed. I hungered to know who Jesus was. We started going to church. In the spring of 1975 we moved to Nashville, TN and I enrolled in FWB Bible College and eventually ordained. But during all of that time I felt something was missing. We looked at all kinds of churches but I never found what was missing. Eventually I resigned and we left the church.

In 2004 we moved to south florida, and I began watching EWTN, especially The Journey Home. About 3 years ago I contracted a deadly infection. I was hospitalized for a month. Then a year later I was hospitalized for 3 months when the infection came back with complications. While I was in the hospital I lost everything, everything I had. While I was laying in the hospital bed a thought ran through my mind. “Maybe we have to land flat of our back before we can look up.” I was hesitant to look to religion I had been so disappointed before. But I did begin to study the Catholic Church. I had been impressed with conversion stories on The Journey Home. I took a correspondence course on the beliefs of the Catholic Church. I couldn’t find any teaching that I couldn’t understand or didn’t accept.

Finally I told myself that I needed to get serious and attend RCIA. I kept putting it off. Finally I prayed to Mary to help me. I called Holy Redeemer Catholic Church and asked about RCIA. A class was starting in two days and I could Join the class. I attended the classes for a while until I started dialysis and the schedules conflicted. One of the priests from the Church visited me and we discussed any problems I may have in being received into the Catholic Church. I didn’t hear from him for a while.

Late last year I went back into the hospital to have a catheter removed and ended up being in there for three months. While I was in there I asked the chaplain to contact Holy Redeemer and see what they had decided. Last October I was conditionally baptized and received into the Church.

This is where I should have been all along. In the Catholic Church I feel the same loving feeling that I had in that bedroom so many years ago.

Several verses of scripture mean a lot to me.

Joh 6:28-29 Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’

Pro 3:5-7 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

And finally this quote by C.S. Lewis:
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

PM me and I’ll give you my facebook and e-mail info.

And oh yes, you are not worthless. And it’s not a matter of you being good. Love Him and stay as close to Him as possible. It’s really His grace that will transform you. Not your own efforts. Bless you and keep you.

 

[JaredM]

Baptized Catholic, raised Lutheran. Won’t have it any other way.

 

[SnakeMauler]

Hi…I was growing up in a family with a believing grandfather but parents who wanted nothing to do with the Lord…I was 21 and working in an office with 4 druggies and one was my best friend…I was surrounded with sex, drugs and rock and roll and for some reason kept from it…I got sick from/never liked alcohol and saw too much mess up(one coworked did some drug after work and ran his MGB under a trailer truck about a mile away from work. Really shook a lot of people up…As for woman I literally walked out out a situation I would have regretted(“Love the one your with” was popular)…Anyway It was during this time a cute blond gave me a little booklet of verses and invited me to an evangelistic meeting…I heard the gospel message and went fwd.As I prayed and repented of my sins I felt a heavy weight lift off…I just felt washed inside…I went home and crawled into bed…I felt overwhelmed with love I was so overjoyed I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry …This lasted for a few hours til I fell soundly asleep…It was a powerful experience, like night and day…What was really cool as I found out later was my best friend had a similar experience around the same time…Our office coworkers were amazed as we stated talking about Jesus plan of salvation to others…It’s almost 40 years for the both of us…It has not been with out trials or tribulations but we’re both still pressing onward and upward, even more so as the day of Christ’s return draws closer… Grace and peace to you…

Pretty crazy story dude. Its also good how God sometimes uses cute members of the opposite sex to inspire faith sometimes.

 

[Hiskid1973]

Pretty crazy story dude. Its also good how God sometimes uses cute members of the opposite sex to inspire faith sometimes.

Yes to be honest I was more interested in the girl than I was in the message at the time, but once the Holy Spirit starts working !!. I was water baptized about a year later in a farm pond
and had another powerful experience with the Holy Spirit a year after that that set my faith on fire…Desire to read/pray, boldness to witness ect…May the Lord draw you closer…

 

[GaryTaylor]

I don’t ever remember believeing that we were not living in Gods World or feeling the presence of God. And that we live by His mercy alone. I felt God everywhere when I was very young and still do.

Of course there’s been temptation and sin, suffering. The focus has heightened through near death experiences and visions which only deepened my faith.

It just reached the point where faith became “OK alright, I know I was hardheaded I’m sorry, I’ll listen and follow, not as I chose but as You chose”.

Then I felt as if I was being led, and still do.

Sufjon, is correct also, there is no-one not worthy of spiritual salvation. When we are of this physical world then the idea becomes to understand the purpose of the self. When you reach this point then you have to understand the spiritual realm to grasp what exactly you are going through. Your not being rejected, your being purified into an existence the flesh cannot exist in, only the soul, and so… the soul must go through this process.

Because you may not understand this, or “feel” great about whats happening. Doesn’t mean something great isn’t happening.

Its sort of like the verse in John 1:5. “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it”

Obviously a topic we can talk months on, and many books have been written on.

God Bless, Gary

 

[Corki]

At about 7 days old, I was brought by my parents to be Baptized. Never looked back.

 

[edowitz1]

Roman Catholic Doctrine Vs. The Doctrinal Teaching of the Word of God

Eternal life is a merited reward [1821, 2010]. - Roman Catholicism
Eternal life is the free gift of God (Romans 6:23)

No one can know if he will attain eternal life [1036, 2005] - Roman Catholicism
The believer can know that he has eternal life by the Word of God (1 John 5:13)

The Roman Catholic Church is necessary for salvation [846]. - Roman Catholicism
There is salvation in no one but the Lord Jesus Christ, “for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)

Purgatory is necessary to atone for sin and clean the soul [1030-1031]. - Roman Catholicism
Purgatory does not exist. Jesus made purification for sins on the cross (Hebrews 1:3)

Mary was preserved from all stain of original sin from the first instant of her conception (the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception) [490-492].
Mary, a descendant of Adam, was born in sin (Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:12)

Mary is the Mother of the Church [963, 975]. - Roman Catholicism
Mary was the earthly mother of Jesus ( John 2:1)

The Magisterium is the authoritative teacher of the Church. [85-87]. - Roman Catholicism
The Holy Spirit is the authoritative teacher of the church (John 14:26; John 16:13, I John 2:27)

The pope, as the Bishop of Rome, is the successor of Peter [882, 936] - Roman Catholicism
Peter had no successor, nor was he a pope.

The pope is infallible in his authoritative teaching [891]. - Roman Catholicism
God alone is infallible (Numbers 23:19)

Scripture and Tradition together are the Word of God [81, 85, 97, 182]. - Roman Catholicism
Scripture is the Word of God (John 10:35, 2 Timothy 3:15-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21). Tradition is the words of men (Mark 7:1-13).

The sacrificial work of redemption is continually carried out through the Sacrifice of the Mass. [1364,1405, 1846]. - Roman Catholicism
The sacrificial work of redemption was finished when Christ gave His life for us on the cross (Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 1:3).

God desires that consecrated bread and wine be worshiped as divine. [1378-1381] - Roman Catholicism
God forbids the worship of any object, even t hose intended to represent Him (Exodus 20:4-5, Isaiah 42:8)

Justification is lost through mortal sin [1033, 1855, 1874] - Roman Catholicism
Justification cannot be lost. Those whom God justifies will be saved from the wrath of God (Romans 5:8-9).

Justification is furthered by sacraments and good works [1212, 1392, 2010] - Roman Catholicism
Justification is the imputation of the perfect righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). In Christ the believer has been made complete (Colossians 2:10).

Salvation is attained by cooperating with grace through faith, good works, and participation in the sacraments [183, 1129, 1815, 2002]. - Roman Catholicism
Salvation is attained by grace through faith apart from works (Ephesians 2:8-9). Good works are the result, not the cause, of salvation (Ephesians 2:10).

Mary, “the All-Holy,” lived a perfectly sinless life [411, 493]. - Roman Catholicism
Mary was a sinner; God alone is sinless (Luke 18:19, Romans 3:23, Revelation 15:4).

Mary was a virgin before, during, and after the birth of Christ [496-511]. - Roman Catholicism
Mary remained a virgin until after the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:25). Later she had other children (Matthew 13:55-56, Psalm 69:8).

Each Sacrifice of the Mass appeases God’s wrath against sin [1371, 1414]. - Roman Catholicism
The once-for-all sacrifice of the cross fully appeased God’s wrath against sin. (Hebrews 10:12-18).

The Bishops, with the Pope, as their head, rule the universal church. [883, 894-896]. - Roman Catholicism
Christ, the head of the body is the Head of the Church. (Colossians 1:18).

The faithful receive the benefits of the cross in fullest measure through the Sacrifice of the Mass [1366, 1407]. - Roman Catholicism
Believers receive the benefits of the cross in fullest measure in Christ through faith (Ephesians 1:3-14).

God has exalted Mary in heavenly glory as Queen of Heaven and Earth [966]. She is to be praised with special devotion [971, 2675]. - Roman Catholicism
The name of the Lord is to be praised, for He alone is exalted above heaven and earth (Psalm 148:13). God commands, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3).

Mary is the co-mediator to whom we can entrust all our cares and petitions 9 968-970, 2677] - Roman Catholicism
Christ Jesus is the one mediator to whom we can entrust all our cares and petitions (1 Timothy 2:5, John 14:13-14, 1 Peter 5:7).

Mary is the co-redeemer, for she participate with Christ in the painful act of redemption [618, 964, 968, 970]. - Roman Catholicism
Christ alone is the Redeemer, for He alone suffered and died for sin (1 Peter 1:18-19).

The sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated in the Sacrifice of the Mass [1323, 1382] - Roman Catholicism
The Sacrifice of the cross is finished (John 19:30).

Indulgences dispensed by the Church for acts of piety release sinners from temporal punishment [1471-1473]. - Roman Catholicism
Jesus releases believers from their sins by His blood. (Revelation 1:5).

The Magisterium has the right to define truth found only obscurely or implicitly in revelation. [66, 88, 2035, 2051]. - Roman Catholicism
No one has the right to go beyond what is written in Scripture (1 Corinthians 4:6, Proverbs 30:5-6).

Scripture and Tradition together are the Church’s supreme role of faith [80, 82]. - Roman Catholicism
Scripture is the church’s rule of faith (Mark 7:7-13, 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

 

[Corki]

Roman Catholic Doctrine Vs. The Doctrinal Teaching of the Word of God

Eternal life is a merited reward [1821, 2010]. - Roman Catholicism
Eternal life is the free gift of God (Romans 6:23)

The above has been plagiarized from the CARM site.

… as has his other 57 posts today.

 

[catsrus]

I was raised a lutheran (didn’t take) and dabbled with the jws for a couple years. I loved the cerebral side of religion but did not have any spiritual commitment to it.
One night after partying hard with my best friend, we got caught up in an all night religious discussion. She was raised a Catholic but was non-practicing. She really knew her stuff though and refuted all my anti Catholic arguements from the Bible itself and common sense.
About 8 years later, while searching for God, those seeds my friend had planted so long before sprouted and here I am today; a Confirmed Catholic for the past 9 years.

 

[thirddec]

You are wonderfull and unique and God wants you with him as another prized son in heaven with him. Of course satan thinks and wants the opposite.

You are now entering the trials of the world and the flesh and like all of us you will loose some battles but in Christ you will win the war.

Pray and keep up the sacrements; avoid temptation where you can and keep good company use confession to build your shield and get advice.

But never allow satan to use your guilt or falls to convince you that you are not worthy; its a lie. God reaches out his hand always through Christ for you and will polish you into a perfect Gem again. This is not a licence to sin as in time you will understand how and why Christ suffers when we do.

Keep up the good fight

 

[Planty_Pall]

My story is a very personal…This is where I should have been all along. In the Catholic Church I feel the same loving feeling that I had in that bedroom so many years ago.

Several verses of scripture mean a lot to me.

Joh 6:28-29 Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’

Pro 3:5-7 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

And finally this quote by C.S. Lewis:
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

PM me and I’ll give you my facebook and e-mail info.

And oh yes, you are not worthless. And it’s not a matter of you being good. Love Him and stay as close to Him as possible. It’s really His grace that will transform you. Not your own efforts. Bless you and keep you.

Hi William Pitts. I read your whole story. Thanks. I know you left out a lot. But thanks for the highlights. Beautiful.

 

[Adonia]

I am a cradle catholic, parochial schools, the whole bit. I have always had a sense of God and His love for us. While I strayed from the faith for some 12 years, God took me back with open arms and He has had a clear presence in my life for many years now. I am trying to live a holy life - through His church and the sacraments here on earth. Jesus Christ has definitely made me a better person.

 

[Kouyate42]

I guess I’m in a crossing-over-the-road position with regard to my own faith. It’s kinda a roundabout story but here goes.

My family are in themselves not that religious. My grandparents went through much the typical religious education of their day (Methodist grandmother, Anglican grandfather) and although they’re still believers, don’t attend church or do any ‘active’ religious activities. My mother and other family members don’t believe in any religion as far as I’m aware. Being brought up by my grandparents (my mother was away for univeristy and then a job in a city far from home) I ended up being brought up vaguely Christian.

Fast forward to the end of college (high-school age for US peeps!) and I was finally convinced on the part of a good Christian friend that I decided, for myself, to properly dedicate myself to the Lord God and Jesus’ blood at the age of 17.

ONce I got to college, I began attending a Baptist church, attending Christian Union and really practicing my faith. I even learnt the bass guitar and joined in two worship bands (one within the Christian Union, one in church).

But after a while I began to grow increasingly dissatisfied with my church (but NOT with God) and its teachings. Much of it seemed to be ‘trendy preaching’ or simply too flexible to suit the whims of the preacher, or indeed didn’t answer anything at all.

I ended up at the point where I had actually considered Islam, even attending mosque and learning Arabic. I was so frustrated that I just didn’t know where God was or where I was supposed to look for Him.

THen during the course of my dissertation, I was asked to research something which involved me reading the Book of Maccabes, a book that wasn’t in most Bibles but which was included in Catholic Bibles. So one day, I went to a Catholic bookshop and bought the Bible to use it for research. During the course of this research, a Catholic friend got chatting to me about my troubles with my own faith and began to tell me about what the Catholic Church taught. It seemed OK to me but I didn’t take it any further- I was having a hard enough time believing in ANY God, yet alone the God of the Bible.

Between me leaving university and now, I’ve been doing a lot of reading, research and general thinking about what led me, the person so eager at 17 to serve God and Jesus, off faith and away from the Bible. I’ve come to a partial conclusion that it isn’t the Bible or the teachings of Christianity which are the issue here but the church I followed. It just seemed that within the church system that I’d been following, the Baptist church, had been simply bending the words of the Bible to suit, mostly based not on anything remotely divine or Biblical evidence but simple human whim.

I then remembered reading the Latin Mass as part of my Latin teaching (my teacher for that class was a Catholic priest) and this really began to get my interest back up. I realized that the teachings of the Catholic Church were simple, straight-forward and actually came from the one book that mattered: the BIBLE! It’s based on one thing which can’t be faked: 2000 years of continual sucession from the earliest days of the Church right through to today. Jesus even said to Peter ‘‘On this rock I shall build my Church’’’.

 

[SnakeMauler]

I guess I’m in a crossing-over-the-road position with regard to my own faith. It’s kinda a roundabout story but here goes.

My family are in themselves not that religious. My grandparents went through much the typical religious education of their day (Methodist grandmother, Anglican grandfather) and although they’re still believers, don’t attend church or do any ‘active’ religious activities. My mother and other family members don’t believe in any religion as far as I’m aware. Being brought up by my grandparents (my mother was away for univeristy and then a job in a city far from home) I ended up being brought up vaguely Christian.

Fast forward to the end of college (high-school age for US peeps!) and I was finally convinced on the part of a good Christian friend that I decided, for myself, to properly dedicate myself to the Lord God and Jesus’ blood at the age of 17.

ONce I got to college, I began attending a Baptist church, attending Christian Union and really practicing my faith. I even learnt the bass guitar and joined in two worship bands (one within the Christian Union, one in church).

But after a while I began to grow increasingly dissatisfied with my church (but NOT with God) and its teachings. Much of it seemed to be ‘trendy preaching’ or simply too flexible to suit the whims of the preacher, or indeed didn’t answer anything at all.

I ended up at the point where I had actually considered Islam, even attending mosque and learning Arabic. I was so frustrated that I just didn’t know where God was or where I was supposed to look for Him.

THen during the course of my dissertation, I was asked to research something which involved me reading the Book of Maccabes, a book that wasn’t in most Bibles but which was included in Catholic Bibles. So one day, I went to a Catholic bookshop and bought the Bible to use it for research. During the course of this research, a Catholic friend got chatting to me about my troubles with my own faith and began to tell me about what the Catholic Church taught. It seemed OK to me but I didn’t take it any further- I was having a hard enough time believing in ANY God, yet alone the God of the Bible.

Between me leaving university and now, I’ve been doing a lot of reading, research and general thinking about what led me, the person so eager at 17 to serve God and Jesus, off faith and away from the Bible. I’ve come to a partial conclusion that it isn’t the Bible or the teachings of Christianity which are the issue here but the church I followed. It just seemed that within the church system that I’d been following, the Baptist church, had been simply bending the words of the Bible to suit, mostly based not on anything remotely divine or Biblical evidence but simple human whim.

I then remembered reading the Latin Mass as part of my Latin teaching (my teacher for that class was a Catholic priest) and this really began to get my interest back up. I realized that the teachings of the Catholic Church were simple, straight-forward and actually came from the one book that mattered: the BIBLE! It’s based on one thing which can’t be faked: 2000 years of continual sucession from the earliest days of the Church right through to today. Jesus even said to Peter ‘‘On this rock I shall build my Church’’’.

Pretty straight forward realist you are right there. Wish more people were less ignorant and more like you. And hey, you learned Arabic out of it. That’s pretty impressive.

 

[Maria_Margaret]

My story:
When I was a baby, my parents were non-practicing, my dad Mormon, my mom Catholic. When I was around 7-8 (can’t remember exact age) I was asked which church I wanted to be baptized in, but only AFTER the Mormon missionaries had talked to me about their faith. I had no idea what the Catholic Church was about, and the Mormon’s talk was really cool, so I became Mormon. (Mostly because my dad wanted me to.)

After my dad baptized me, though, he didn’t really do much at all. He figured his part had been done. Soon after that, my mom started going back to Church, and out of respect for her religion, I would go to Mass sometimes.

After a while, I felt this sense of peace and acceptance at the Mass in 6th grade. I felt like I belonged. It was new and refreshing compared to the teasing and ostracizing I had gotten by the girls at the Mormon church. I wanted to be Catholic!

I brought that up to my father, and, well…to say the least, he was NOT happy. It took a year of fighting with him (many fights ending in tears) before he let my join the Children’s Catechumen class. I was very into and passionate about Catholicism. A year later I was baptized, Confirmed, and received First Holy Communion on Easter Vigil. I can joyfully say that it was the most beautiful, glorious, happiest day in my entire life, and I will never forget the joy I felt after being baptized. I had this smile on my face that couldn’t be wiped off! :harp:Needless to say, I felt nothing but very, very wet after being baptized in the Mormon faith, no outstanding joy or peace.

And here I stand, a year later, still very passionate about my Catholic Faith, having a growing, fierce want to be a Saint in Heaven :getholy:, and discerning (very, very slowly) a vocation as a Religious Sister:nun2: or Consecrated Virgin! :curtsey:
~Maria

 

[ConsciousCoward]

I went to a Lutheran day care until I was four. For three years, my family didn’t attend any kind of church, mostly due to general laziness. When I turned seven, we started going to a Methodist church that my neighbors had gone to before they moved. We were very off and on, and I was somewhat anti-social, so I didn’t really like it there.

In the sixth grade, I made a friend by the name of Luke. He had a twin sister that I kind of had a crush on, and they were both kind of nerdy, just like me. I started going to see them. On a summer trip during the seventh grade, I got my first glimpse of God. I don’t know if it was the speaker or just the spiritual high that comes from those trips, but I felt something.

I got confirmed in the Methodist church in eighth grade. At that point I was sort of an apathetic deist, but I did everything so that my family would be happy. For the first half of high school, I went to church mostly to see my friends. I went on trips, discovered my talent for building, and started doing as much mission work as I could. Not because it furthered the kingdom, but because building made me happy.

It was on one of these mission trips that I found myself the summer before Junior year. I had been through a tough first breakup not long earlier, and I was depressed. I pulle my youth pastor, Ron, aside and started pouring out my pained thoughts. He was the only staff member in the church I liked. He prayed over me after we talked a while, and that night as I sat in bed in the dark in Memphis, so far from my Texas home, the speaker’s words struck a chord in my heart, and I accepted Christ. The next evening I professed it, truly meaning it for the first time.

Now, as I graduate high school, I plan to go to college, go on a one or two year long mission trip to put my gift of building to good work, and when I return home, I’m going to seminary. I want to be able to change lives like Ron and the preacher on that trip changed mine.