Growing up in the 1960’s, I like many children growing up in the Midwest, attended church with my family each Sunday morning. Like many people, I was content with following in the religious footsteps left for me. Sunday school, confirmation classes, and children’s choir were all a part of my childhood up until the end of junior high school. After that, I only sporadically attended church services. As most teenagers often do, I had other things to keep me busy including a job.
During my early teens, I attended a “church” camp for troubled kids. I wasn’t considered troubled, but my best friend was, so I went with her. This camp’s philosophy was to let teens be free to smoke, swear and co-mingle while they learned about God. Even as a teen I questioned how open this system was, but there was something different about what they were saying. While I didn’t buy into everything that was being taught, it made me realize that what I had learned as a child just didn’t feel complete.
After my camp experience, I sporadically church hopped, visiting various faiths in search of what I wasn’t really sure. What I discovered was that the word “Christian” is generally a coverall for many different beliefs. It was very confusing and unfortunately, none seemed to feel quite right to me, so it wasn’t long until I quit attending church altogether. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in God, but that I was confused by all the different ideas surrounding Him.
One-day years later I flipped on the television and found myself watching a televangelist. He was trying to justify the many toys he owned, paid for using people’s contributions. My husband came into the room; he couldn’t believe what he was hearing and quickly turned the channel. Suddenly, we were watching an older gentleman holding a Bible, he was asking how long it would be before men would teach what Jesus Christ taught? I was stunned by these simple words and immediately drawn in. What had Jesus Christ taught, did I even know? I wanted to hear more.
By the end of this program, I ordered some free information that had been offered. After reading some of the magazines and books that came in the mail, I realized something. What had been lacking in all the other religions. While they often referred to the Bible and some limited scriptures, they didn’t really read it in full context. So much of what was taught wasn’t even in the Bible. For the first time, I saw what had been missing, what I had been searching for. The Bible says that the truth will set you free, that truth was as easy to find as opening up my Bible and really reading what it had to say.
This was my awakening into true Christianity, but it meant I would have to make some changes to my life. Being a Christian wasn’t just saying words to that effect, but meant real physical change. I was required to repent of my sins; I had to be forgiving. I had to try to change my very human nature and try to live as Jesus Christ lived. This would be no easy task, but with every attempt, my way of thinking changed.
If I was to live as Christ lived, I also had to attend services on Saturday not Sunday. I would have to change my diet and keep the Old Testament laws. Most churches taught not to, but in the Bible, Christ said that He did not come to change the law. Conversion it seemed was more than just going to church and merely believing, it was a complete conversion of thought and actions. My original search for religion had led to conversion; it had taken me from being a confused girl searching for her God, to becoming a woman who follows God.