Spiritual Journey

Author: Katie

Each month the Ministry to Women (M2W) at our church interviews one of the women in church. There is a list of questions we have to answer and this month, I had the privilege of being the interviewee. It helps members to get to know each other better. Since this works at church, I thought it might be fun to blog about it. What might be even more fun is hearing back from other bloggers. So I'm going to post my Spiritual Journey in hopes that others will send me an email or just post answers to the same questions in the comments section of the Sister's blog. Here it is:

1. As you look back, when do you first see God at work in your life? I believe God has been working on me since day one. I believe he worked through both of my grandmother's prayers. He saved me from many bad situations before I even knew Him as my blessed Savior.

2. Was there a turning point, a decision to turn your life over to God's will? What helped this along? Did anything make this more difficult for you? There were actually two turning points in my life. The first turning point was when I asked Jesus into my heart. I was at an after school presentation about freedom and liberty. I had no idea this was a "religious" event. I think it was planned that way. They demonstrated the sound of the nails pounding in Jesus' hand and all I could do was visualize myself hammering them in. I was so broken. It was then that I started attending church, but I ran into difficulty because I didn't "fit in" with the youth group. I eventually went back to the group of friends that I "fit" with and slowly backslid into my old lifestyle once again. The second turning point was after my son was born. I re-surrendered my life to Jesus and I have been growing in His grace ever since.

3. How long have you been devotedly trying to please God with your life? I have been trying to please God with my life ever since Justin (my 13 year old) was a baby. That was when I really started living for God seriously for the first time.

4. Is there a special spiritual practice that enables you to feel you have connected with God? I feel closest to God when I am lost in worship at church. Many people communicate better with God when they are alone. It's just not that way for me. I feel his love and presence enveloping me when I stand in the midst of my brothers and sisters to worship in my heart and with my voice, our voice (the church). I think it's the "one accord" thing that does it for me. I especially love when I am singing with the praise team because I can see the glory of God in the faces of those who are also worshipping in the big room. They reflect on me and the Spirit in me dances. I look forward to Sunday mornings.

5. Is there a special place where you go to feel God's presence? I love to go to Pickwick (a beach on the Tennessee River) and lie at the edge of the peninsula. I don't have that opportunity anymore because it's so far away. That is my favorite place to go. I can use all of my senses to examine the work of His hands there.....especially if I have raisinettes with me (They enhance my sense of taste)! When I can't be at the river (which is most of the time), I seek his presence on the swing under the dogwood tree in my back yard.

6. What is one aspect of God's nature that you dearly love? I dearly love His immeasurable, indiscriminating, inconceivable, unfathomable, unconditional, pure, holy, perfect LOVE. That no matter how far or how long I stray, He is always ready and waiting with open arms for my return. It's the greatest love affair of my life!

7. What is an aspect of living this Christian life that you find especially comforting? That God is the Provider. Every time I look back over my life, I see His provision. He even provided for me before I knew Him. He has a plan for my life and it began before I existed. He has provided for the fulfillment of that plan all along. I took things in my own hands several times and knocked things off course a bit (well maybe a little more than a bit….okay, ALOT), but He has always been there for me, gently loving me back to the straight and narrow path that leads to Him. When I look back over my life I am in awe at the work of His hands. He is my blessed Jehovah Jireh (The Provider) and I am His beloved. I don’t know why I find myself worrying all the time. Will I ever learn?