recentchristian

One year ago today, I became a Christian and I still classify myself as a newbie.  As I look back on the year, I am filled with wonder and am so thankful.

I didn’t grow up in a Christian home – we went to church rarely.  I always believed in God and I did consider myself a Christian – I thought the simple act of believing made me a Christian.  I thought people were absolutely crazy when they said they were born again – huh? – you really think you can be born again??  You were born once – you’re thinking you were born again, I’m thinking you’re way off center.

During the summer of 2013, I dated a Christian (DB) – great man but it ultimately ended.  During the time we were seeing each other (selfishly, I’m thankful he disobeyed 2Corinthians 6:14-15 (even though he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that that he shouldn’t have been dating me).  He commented a few times that God was the greatest and talked about God’s sovereignty.  After that, in early 2014, I interviewed for an admin position with Lorna Dueck and met with her to talk about the Bible once after the interview (I didn’t get the job).  Lorna told me that God was gently calling for me.  I believed her but I didn’t take action.

I took a position with another company and worked with JB, who is the wife of a Pastor and I asked her about audio Bibles.  She saw I was curious and she invited me to a Knowing God book study she was hosting – she didn’t pressure me at all.  Exactly what I needed – no pressure – just awareness and a bit of encouragement.  I did go to the book study and for the first number of weeks, I read with my head and not my heart.  As I read Knowing God, the scholar in me kicked in and I read the scripture passages that Knowing God referred to.  JB invited me to go to church but I wasn’t ready to make the commitment.  There were more gospel callings throughout that time of my life than the rest of my life put together (maybe I just wasn’t listening).

I used to love sleeping in on weekends and having lazy mornings.  On the weekend after Christmas in 2013, I woke up early on Sunday morning (unheard of for me back then) and I was irresistibly compelled to go to church (I didn’t go through a decision process at all – I just got up and went).  It was somewhat scary to walk through those doors into a room full of people I didn’t know but people were incredibly friendly and welcoming – they accepted me into the family right away.

In January 2014, I was praying for God to strengthen my faith and trust in him (how was I supposed to know that this was a really powerful prayer – no one told me!!!) and just weeks after that prayer, I lost my job and gave thanks for an answered prayer.  I dove into Wayne Grudem’s book, Systematic Theology (it was recommended to me by JB to answer my questions – I was asking a lot of theological questions) and also asked God to help lead me to the perfect job.  Within two weeks, I had a new job with a great boss and it paid more than my previous job.  During my time unemployed, I didn’t have time to feel sorry for myself – just happiness and there was no worry – sure, realistically, I was preparing for not being employed for a while (the last time I was unemployed it took a number of months to get another job) but my main focus was reading my Bible and also Systematic Theology.

I had no doubt at all that Trin (this is my loving name for Trinity) was with me during that time and was strengthening my faith tenfold.  My world had been turned upside down, in a good way, since becoming a Christian.

I was starting to get the whole born again thing and also was wondering what more there was to come.

The road hasn’t been easy, God also took my mother from me on June 20.  The timing was nothing less than perfect.  I had time on the phone with her before her death and she understood just days before her death that it is all about the cross and that good works (doing good things) does not get us into heaven.  I thank God wholeheartedly for adopting me into his family and giving me so much thirst so I would be prepared for those conversations with my mom.

There were a lot of small changes I wasn’t expecting – a number of TV shows that I used to like and watch weekly I just wasn’t interested in anymore (shows like The Following and The Blacklist).  JB told me that God was working on my heart – I found it curiously interesting – I wasn’t told that becoming a Christian would affect shows I enjoyed.  We went to see Noah on April 14, 2014 and there were scenes I couldn’t bear to watch (pre-Christian, I would have been able to) – I take joy in the things I used to hate at work (i.e. filing).  I know there’s more … I should have been keeping notes!  Again – how was I to know becoming a Christian would affect all parts of my life??  I’m thankful no one told me at the outset – not sure if I would have kept moving forward.

There’s that born again thing again!  Favorite TV shows set aside – yep, I was becoming a new person – born again.

It hasn’t been all good – the call to sin is there – and I have given in a few times – Satan has a voice, he’s good at disguising it – the sweet, seductive lure of Satan – to sin by having sex, by gossiping – by doing anything that will displease God.  I do my best to turn my back on sin – I am human though and will mess up (and be forgiven).

I had no idea that there were websites devoted to Christians – especially an online bookstore (www.christianbook.com) that I’ve gotten to know well.  I was really enjoying Grudem’s Systematic Theology and thought I should take a little step back so read Christian Beliefs – 20 Basics Every Christian Should Know just to fill in the blanks.

I had a question while reading Grudem’s book so sent him an email and was directed to the www.desiringgod.org website.  What a find!  I go to that website frequently to have questions answered (need to say here that the first place I turn is always my Bible.

I have a strong hunger for God’s Word and have four or five Bibles now (a few life application Bibles, a Bible with four translations side by side, also a note-takers Bible – with large margins) along with many other Christian books.  Love my little, growing Christian bookshelf.

Being a Christian is so different from how I thought I was a Christian prior to December 29, 2013.  Guess that makes me a born-again!