It all starts now.

My journey to faith was a long and winding road. There was never a real defining moment for me as to when I actually became a Christ follower. It wasn't a "go to bed a non-believer one day and wake up a believer the next morning" kind of thing. My road trip started way back in 2006 and didn't end until about mid 2008sih. Actually, I shouldn't say "end" because my journey of faith will never end. I'm still growing and learning. I don't ever want to stop.

Sometime in the summer of 2006, Madison and I went to visit my sister in Houston. That Sunday she invited us to go to church with her and for some reason I was willing. My sister, Ericka, attended Clear Creek Community Church in League City. So we went and dropped of Madison, who was 8 at the time, to the kid's area. Then we went to the auditorium. The seats were very comfortable, but I was a bit wary because it was church after all and who knows what would be talked about.

But for some reason I had an open mind and an open heart. I remember the verse that the sermon was based off of - "But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14 NIV That morning at church, I was thirsty. I wanted the water, but I didn't know how to drink it. I didn't know how to accept it. But a seed was planted, thanks to my sister. And sometimes all it takes is a little tiny seed to be planted and one day it will grow and flourish and turn into a huge fruit producing tree.

After attending that service in Houston, I wanted to find a church similar to it in Austin. I found Gateway. The slogan at Gateway Community Church is "no perfect people allowed, come as you are". Well, I am far from perfect and plus it offered free coffee so I was there. I went, sat in the back, tried to find fault with what was being said, but over time I found myself wanting to know more, wanting to do more, so I joined a small group. This was about the beginning of 2008.

The group I joined was very small, only three other ladies, and they were all believers. I made it clear from the beginning that I was unsure of what I believed, that I was at the point where I really, truly wanted to take a leap of faith and believe, but intellectually I couldn't. Our leader, Sandy, was very accepting of that. She tried to answer any questions I had and was just very supportive. She met me for coffee one day and explained what life is like with God and what life is like without God. She made it seem so easy. At the end of the study, I was just on the brink of being able to announce to the world, "I believe in God and I believe Jesus died for me."

Summer came and believe it or not I had resigned my job. I thought I was done with teaching and I was moving on to bigger and better things. During that summer, I went to France with students from the school where I taught. The whole trip I was so saddened and disappointed about my decision to not teach anymore. I told my colleague / old boss that if by some chance anything opened up to let me know and I would be happy to take it. The day after I got back from France, I got a call from my colleague saying that the other lady who was hired for my position took a job at another school and my position was open again! From that moment on I was convinced. I knew God made that happen. I also knew He had been in my life always. He is so patient and loving and I can't believe it took me so long to find Him. (I did take my job back...it was like I never left.)

So, starting the fall of 2008 I know I'm a believer, but what was the next step? I wanted to grow, I wanted to know more. I had a bible (thanks to my sis, the seed sower) and I started reading it, but I needed something that was more topical. I then heard about a book my pastor wrote called "Soul Revolution". He was offering it for free to anyone who made a commitment to read it and participate in "the 60/60 experiment". Basically, the experiment was to see what kind of difference it would make in your life if you "checked in" with God every 60 minutes. We each received timers with our books and every 60 minutes the timer would beep and I would say a little prayer. It. Was. Amazing. It definitely changed my life. I read the book and did the experiment with a small group of women from Gateway and these women also changed my life. I grew so much in this group and learned so much.

Wow...this is quite a long story. I'm going to have to finish it tomorrow. The best is yet to come, I think. :o)

"Taste and see that the Lord is good." Psalm 34:8 NIV