a year ago...give or take

A year ago on November 10, 2010 my sweetheart asked me to go to a new church with him.  He was searching for a church.  I was not happy with my lifetime of membership in another church.  We were each searching to fill a hole that was in our lives.  Sure, we love each other.  Sure, our family is awesome.  Sure, we are blessed.  But sometimes, no matter how great our lives seem.....there is just something missing.  My sweetheart and I were searching but not listening.  He listened to the still, small voice.  I argued with the still, small voice.  Yet Abba was not going to let us tune Him out this time. 

John 14:18  "I will not leave you comfortless.  I will come to you."

In our searching, we were trying to decide if what we were hearing was from God.  That's the hardest part for people searching to fill that hole in their lives.  Together sweetheart and I went to Fellowship of The Woodlands in The Woodlands, TX led by Pastor Kerry Shook.  Together with his wife, Chris, they began a ministry that started in their living room and now encompasses 4 campuses and an online service.  I have never attended a church like this.  Quite honestly I had shied away from these kind of churches.  It was such a complete contrast to the church I had been raised in.  Think the complete opposite of everything that is traditional sunday service.  Loud music, casual clothes, a starbucks.....it was everything I had been taught was wrong with "modern" religion.  But the thing is....it's not religion.  It's about a relationship with Christ that I have been missing my entire life.  Literally 10 minutes after we arrived, I knew I had found what I had spent my entire life searching for.  The hole was filled.  Literally.  Christ came into my heart, into sweethearts heart, into Charlotte's heart and we started our journey to being a whole family again. 

It's a hard thing to leave the religion of your life.  Fifty years in the same religion is a long time.  It was, and at times still is, engrained in every fiber of my thought process.  Yet it was that very religion that was a barrier to knowing God and who He is and what He can do for me.  Today, a year later, I am a new person.  The light of Christ is my guide each and every day.  My morning devotions are everything I always dreamed a devotion could be.  My discussions with sweetheart and Charlotte are deeper and have more meaning than we ever thought possible.  When I pray for Alyssa, Adam, Amber, Eric, Donny, Barbara, Lee, John, Samantha, and Charlotte I know that God is listening.  I know that He hears the heartfelt pleas from a mother's heart.  I have been able to turn my fears, worries, joys, and gifts over to my Abba.  He guides me, molds me, uses me, and speaks to my heart each and every day.  I know that this second half will be the best half.  God has given me the peace and comfort that comes with His love.  It is available to everyone.  It's a gift that you don't have to earn.