I was 18 and a friend asked me about God.

 

“Why  are you asking me?” I think my friend was surprised at my response.

 

I had gone to church nearly every Sunday my entire life. I knew some things about God, but I didn’t actually know Him.  Good grief, that was for the priests, saints, “religious” people. My friend wanted to go out with a gal who had turned him down because he wasn’t a “Christian.” I couldn’t help him out.

 

God had tried to connect with me in 6th grade. I was sitting in church after school one day, staring at the new “art” hanging  from the ceiling. All of a sudden, I became aware of His presence…there was more to God than what I had ever known or experienced.  I didn’t know what to do about it, so I moved on, until high school.

 

Ah, senior year – the pinnacle of high school. I was head majorette, a student body officer, on homecoming court, hall of fame, you name it. I even pulled  a 3.93 GPA. I had close girl friends, close guy friends, and a boyfriend.  I didn’t smoke, do drugs, party or have sex. What  a ride! I had worked hard for it. For me. For my glory.

 

Back in the day, my day, the Seattle Seahawks were a brand new NFL team. Some of the players came to my school, played basketball with our team, and invited anyone interested to come and hear them talk that night.  I loaded a car with friends and went. Jim Zorn, Steve Largent, Sherman Smith and others  told us that we could KNOW Jesus, personally, intimately, like a best  friend. He had  changed their lives, and they were dang excited about it. Their words intrigued me, and Steve Largent gave me my first bible.

 

But I had senior year to finish. I filed it all away, and, once again, moved on.

 

God doesn’t give up on people, even if they turn their backs on Him.

 

I got a few scholarships, graduated, and went into summer preparing for college. That’s  when my friend asked me about God. It bothered me that I didn’t have answers for him.  So, for the first time in my life, I began to read the bible.

 

Before I even finished Genesis, I realized that I had never done a thing in my life for God.  All 18 years had been for me. My will. My plan. It was all about me. I knew that I was worthy of hell and told God so. I placed myself at His mercy, let Him know that I would accept whatever He wanted to do about it, and went to sleep.

 

The next morning, everything was different. My clock-radio went off, and I thought the angels were singing (to my embarrassment, in retrospect, quite possibly it was actually the Bee Gees). My heart, my spirit, my soul, my mind…everything within me was at peace. I was forgiven! I had laid it all before the Lord God Almighty, and His response was…forgiveness.  I have never been the same! I had an insatiable hunger for His word, and finished reading the bible that summer. I fell in love with Jesus, the living word, through His word.

 

I began to learn what was real, what was true, and where I fit into His story.

 

And my friend?  Well, he really was looking for God that summer, and he found Him. Just not through me! Now he pastors a church he and his wife started. He’s also an amazing musician.

 

I broke up with my boyfriend that summer,  yet we remained close friends, best friends. About  five years later, I wanted to be his wife, even though we were still just friends.  That was very confusing for me, and another story for another day. In the end, we became husband and wife. He is also a pastor,  and still my best friend.

 

My first 18 years seem like an entirely different lifetime. I spent  most of 2006 in counseling, dealing with that part of me, digging, exposing, identifying, and healing. I now know that in my darkest moments, Jesus was there, so near, I just didn’t know it. Before I even knew Him, He was there for me, waiting for me. How cool is that?