#MyChurchStory

National Back to Church Sunday is this Sunday, September 21, 2014.  Last weekend I blogged about how I was invited to church.  You can read that post here:

http://theblogaboutitall.blogspot.com/2014/09/national-back-to-church-sunday.html

This week I am going to elaborate on how my life has changed as a result of receiving Jesus as my Savior and attending church.

Have you heard the new song by Chris Tomlin “Jesus Loves Me”?  From the album “Love Ran Red” I love the lyrics, very simple yet so empowering.  Very fitting to share in regards to receiving Jesus in my life.

I was lost
I was in chains
The world had a hold of me

My heart was a stone
I was covered in shame
When He came for me

I couldn't run, couldn't run from His presence
I couldn't run, couldn't run from His arms

Jesus, He loves me, He loves me, He is for me
Jesus, how can it be, He loves me, He is for me

And it was a fire
Deep in my soul
I'll never be the same

I stepped out of the dark
And into the light
When He called my name

I couldn't run, couldn't run from His presence
I couldn't run, couldn't run from His arms

He holds the stars and He holds my heart
With healing hands that bear the scars
The rugged cross where He died for me
My only hope, my everything

That was me I was lost and in chains, the world had a hold on me at a young 15 years old.  Growing up, my parents did drugs and drank alcohol quite frequently.  I don’t want to say they were alcoholics but most days my dad had a Budweiser in his hand and most definitely every weekend.  

My parents were great parents don’t get me wrong, they made sure we went to school, I always had a roof over my head and food in our cupboards, my dad always had a job and provided well for our family, my mom faithfully had dinner on the table everyday promptly at 5 PM.  My mom was a stay at home mom until we kids were all older although she frequently had a side job going on, where she would clean houses while we were at school, or where she babysat other peoples kids from the neighborhood, or made homemade Mexican food and sold it at construction sites.

I was 15 when I accepted the Lord and I had already tried alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes and was definitely headed in the wrong direction.  I graduated high school and was married a virgin, which was a rare occurrence throughout my extended family and would probably not be true if I had not accepted Jesus as my Savior.

As a young girl like so many other young people I was searching for hope for my future.  I wanted to be different, I wanted to do something with my life, I didn’t want to be another pregnant teenage statistic.  I wondered what I was going to do when I graduated, who I was going to marry, how I was going to meet my prince charming, etc.  I was concerned about my parents, getting a divorce and their drinking and drug usage.  I had a friend in Jr. High School whose mom was killed by a drunk driver, I wondered what if my parents brought that on someone else, or what if that happened to them with the lifestyle they lived.  In attending school you go through many campaigns of say no to drugs, I had at one time flushed my parent’s marijuana down the toilet, I had asked my mom to quit on a number of occasions. 

Me as a toddler being dedicated to the Lord.

Gratefully I couldn’t run, I couldn’t hide from His presence.  There is a scripture I John 4:19 that reads “we love Him, because he first loved us.”  I vividly see this in my life.  Throughout the years everywhere we moved we would meet people who planted the seed of salvation in our lives.  We frequently encountered people who invited us to church and even as a teenager before I received Jesus I babysat for a Christian family who took me to church with them and to a Christian Concert where I heard the message of Christ.  When I look back over my life I see the hand of God’s protection, guidance and love over me.  My grandmother from my mother’s side dedicated me to the Lord when I was a toddler; she had permission from my mom who really had no idea what she allowed my grandmother to do; inviting God to have his way in my life, committing me to the Lord. 

Pictured above my husband & kids with my parents and siblings.

In light of National Back to Church Sunday, never stop inviting your friends, family, and neighbors to church, they don’t always come with the first invite, and even after attending a service, they might not turn their life over to Christ.  The scripture talks about one planting the seed, one watering the seed, and God bringing the increase.   It was many years before I actually received Jesus as my Savior, but when I did He turned my entire world around.  I was saved from a life of promiscuity, drugs and alcohol.  My parents were miraculously saved and delivered from drugs and alcohol, and everything changed in our life for the better.  My parents’ marriage greatly improved, their finances increased, my parents have experienced the favor and blessing of God in their life in every area.  As a teenage girl I frequently had kidney infections, and extreme back pain, I was completely healed of those and so many other physical ailments over the years.  God holds the stars and He holds my heart with healing hands He bears the scars. 

If you feel hopeless know there is a God who loves you and has a plan for your life.  No matter how wrecked your life may seem, He can heal, restore and make things brand new for you.  He has made many of my dreams come true and has given me dreams I could have never dreamed possible on my own.

If you are a Christian I know from experience we sometimes lose sight of sharing our story, we sometimes get caught up in our scurried schedules and forget to be aware of those around us, who at one time we were also like, lost, in shame, and in need of a Savior.  Remember even the most put together people who seem to have it all still need Jesus.  Allow the Lord to lead you in inviting someone to church with you, if that’s when you are at the park with your kids or standing in line at the grocery store.  I am grateful for National Back to Church Sunday provoking the conversation over social media and throughout churches across America but let’s not just think about inviting someone to church this month only but every day. 

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