What was life like before you met Jesus?
I have “known” Jesus my entire life. My life growing up checked all of the boxes I felt I needed to as a young Christian: worship Sunday on a semi-regular basis, once in elementary school attend Wednesday night Catechism and then teach the lessons in high school and college, sign up for the young Christian conferences, volunteer at the church fundraisers, be a kind human, etc. The more I strove to prove I was worth my salvation, though, I naturally felt more and more lost.
How did you meet Jesus?
My husband and I moved from the comfort of our hometowns and family to Asheville, North Carolina, just after our marriage. At the time I was always so proud of the initiative that Kody and I took, venturing to an area we knew nothing about. Looking back, though, I see God’s timing falling into place instead.
While working at a job that divinely fell into his lap (thank you Jesus!), Kody met a young couple living in our apartment complex. A few months later, they invited us to Easter service at a viewing location of the megachurch Elevation. We instantly felt God working through us. We began to not go to church out of duty, but instead attend and volunteer because we longed to grow in our faith. After a year of worship and fellowship in North Carolina, Kody and I heard God calling us back to Iowa; we truly mourned the loss of a community in which we were awakened to what developing our relationship with Jesus felt like.
Moving back to Iowa involved all of the natural logistical challenges, but one that continued to feel like a deepening void was the loss of our church community. Once again, though, God’s timing is divine. After countless individuals in our lives pointed us to Veritas, we decided to give another church a try and thank God we did. I have finally grasped that my salvation is not achieved through a worldly view of checking boxes; the only saving grace in life is through loving Jesus.
After being saved by Jesus, what is your life like now?
It is pretty humbling to realize that my entire life before truly meeting Jesus was based on self-centered ideals. I now understand that I was created as a human on Earth by God for a specific purpose: to spread the word of the Lord. I was not designed to be on Earth to check off boxes to make myself a good Christian. I am here to serve Jesus with humble adoration.