I was raised in a very loving home. We did not attend church, however we talked often about God and His Son, Jesus.  We had several Bibles throughout the house, yet they were not opened very much.

It was the summer of my eigth grade year, I was asked by a friend to attend a church camp with her. I was kind of nervous because I didn’t know much about the Bible. My friend assured me that it didn’t matter, so I went along. I spent the week learning a lot about Jesus and His love for me. On the last night of camp as we sat by the campfire, I was overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit and gave my life to Christ.  

I returned home and it wasn’t long before my life returned back to the way it was before that church camp week. The one thing that didn’t change was that the Holy Spirit never left me. This wasn’t completely evident to me until years later. For the next fifteen years, I lived life as I had before. I graduated from high school, then college. I got married, and then I had my first child. It was at this moment in time of becoming a mom that I slowed down and for once began to realize that I wanted to raise my kids in a home that Jesus was the center of. I wondered though if Jesus would want anything to do with me for I had made a lot of choices in my past that were not honoring to Him.  

My husband and I found a church home and got plugged in.  We attended every Sunday, joined small groups, and made many friends. It wasn’t long before I realized that Jesus did still want me and that He had never left me. Jesus had been pursuing me all these years. I re-dedicated my life to Jesus at the age of 28.  I will forever be grateful for that week at church camp and that night sitting by the campfire.