I’ve known about Jesus my whole life, but it wasn’t until the past few years that I truly began to know Him and fully depend on Him.

I grew up in the church. I went to Sunday School, VBS, Awanas, and church camp, and I watched my parents host a weekly Bible study in our home. Over time, that Bible study became more than just a weekly gathering. It became a village of people who did life and faith together. At nine years old, I stood before our church congregation and declared that I had accepted Jesus into my heart.

But as I got older, my faith became something I barely thought about rather than something I lived out in my daily life. When I went to college, I found the freedom to spend Sunday mornings however I wanted, and to be honest, I spent most of them nursing a hangover. I convinced myself that I could go about life doing whatever pleased my flesh and that simply believing God was real was good enough.

After college and a difficult breakup, I began to realize something was missing. That something was Jesus. I started looking for a church, longing for the kind of church family and village I had grown up with.

After a couple of years, I finally asked my friend group if anyone wanted to start a Bible study with me. The answer was a hard no, but my friend Ashley heard what my heart was really asking for. She started praying for me and inviting us to her church, but I declined because I didn’t think my then-boyfriend, now-husband, would like it.

Then some more time passed - I got married, became pregnant, and we still hadn’t found a church. I remember crying to my husband, “How will our babies learn to love Jesus if we can’t find a good church to raise them in?” Through Ashley’s continued invitations and a coworker of Corey’s who also invited us to LEFC, we finally started attending a month after our baby was born.

God continued drawing me deeper into His church and His Word. I joined WBF and accidentally signed up for the “hard” Bible study class, an inductive study through the book of Acts. But it wasn’t an accident to God; He knew that class was exactly what I needed - it taught me how to study my bible and what it looked like to follow Jesus, rely on the Holy Spirit, and actually walk out my faith.

Later, when I started attending Roots ABF, I felt God nudging me to ask my friend Kristin if I could join her life group. I was nervous and kept praying for the courage to ask. When I finally did, I found out that the group had been praying that very same week about welcoming another couple, specifically Corey and me! It was such a kind reminder that God heard my prayers and was working behind the scenes to provide the church family I had been longing for, right when I needed it.

Today, I’m excited to take this step of obedience and publicly declare what God has been doing in my life. I don’t want to just know about Jesus. I want my life to belong to Him. He has been so patient and faithful to me, and I want His love to shine through me to others.