I was lucky to grow up in a Christian home, the eldest of 5 kids, with two parents who truly loved the Lord, desired to live for Him, and grow in their relationship with Him.  My mom never seemed to question the truth of the Bible.  She knew that she knew, and that was enough. She could be found, every morning, before 6am, sitting in her chair, reading God’s Word, and drinking coffee. 

Before he met my mom, my dad had spent some years searching for Truth, and he brought that journey, and the acquired knowledge and understanding, with him.  He had a committed faith, but no question seemed to bother him, and so it was often to dad we turned with our questions about life, our doubts about Faith, and the desire to know HOW do we know that we know? (More on that later.)

To both of my parents, I am so very grateful.  Because my mom’s unwavering faith marched us steadily through many of life’s storms, and my dad’s willingness to engage gave us the opportunity to dig deeper and face a doubting world.  To both of my parents, I am sincerely grateful for the foundation that they gave me.

My parents decided to homeschool my siblings and I through elementary school, and with those extra hours of each day, in addition to my abc’s and 123’s, my mom poured her love for Jesus into everything she did.  We learned hymns and scripture, we prayed for loved ones and recorded how God answered those prayers in our prayer journal. We attended Awana every Wednesday night, and to this day I still remember scriptures and songs that were hidden in my heart due to my mom’s great efforts. 

For as long as I can remember I have owned a small brown bible, and inside is a date, when I was three years old, which my mom tells me is when I asked Jesus into my heart.  But as hard as I would look at that hand-written date, I couldn’t actually remember the asking part.  And even as a child, that really bothered me.  However, I was convinced that Jesus was the only way to be made right with God, and I knew I wanted that.  So, one day, aged 9, while lying in bed at my Grandparent’s house, I started praying.  “Dear Lord, I’m so sorry if I’ve asked you this before, but I just can’t remember, and I really need to know.  Will you please forgive my sins, and come into my heart?  I want to belong to you.”  And THAT moment, I never forgot.  I knew then that I had become a part of God’s family through Jesus Christ.  Much like my mom, I knew that I knew, and I didn’t question too much.  There was no need, as I truly felt the presence of God in my life.  I was baptized.  And life went on.

But life doesn’t always go as planned.  I made mistakes.  But I’ve often thought that the weight of my story shouldn’t dwell on the mistakes; they don’t deserve the attention here, especially when they’ve already been repented of and forgiven.  Rather, I’d like to keep the focus of my story on the saving, redemptive grace of Jesus. HIM.  He has been SO good to me.  And one day, as I found myself being pulled back into His presence, by His grace, and surrounded by His love, I just knew that I needed my life to look differently.  That being someone who (just) believes in Jesus wasn’t how I wanted to live this life…  I wanted to be a follower of Jesus.  And that meant something… more.

Now, I absolutely believe Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”  My Salvation came by grace through faith as a gift from God.  I’m not saying I suddenly realized I needed to earn anything… What I AM saying is that I was a seriously lazy gift recipient, and I needed to start living this life with a lot more gratitude towards the one who had died on the cross in exchange for my eternity.  And slowly I learned, gratitude looks a lot like obedience.  And so, I began to follow Jesus. I still don’t always get it right, but I know that the place I find rest, peace, and joy, is when I’m abiding in Him.

When my days are through, (hopefully many years in the future), I hope those who knew me won’t need this assurance, that they’ll know from the way I lived my life, to whom I belonged.  But my dear loved ones, I will leave you with this… I know, that I know, that I know, that I belong to Jesus. I belong to Jesus, by amazing grace, through God’s gift of faith.  I have accepted that Jesus is God, believed that God raised Jesus from the Dead, that my sins have been conquered through Christ’s overcoming death on the cross. I have, with help from the Holy Spirit, repented, accepted, believed, and followed.  I pray that YOU have that same assurance. It is my sincerest prayer.