I was born and raised in Columbus, OH as a Jehovah's Witness. At the age of 18 I left our religion to face a world from which I had been greatly sheltered. For 14 years after leaving the nest I wondered if there even was a God and if there was ... I didn't think I wanted to know Him. I found myself ostracized from everyone I ever knew or loved, including my parents; except for a handful of neutral relatives. I quickly had a bitter taste for "religion" and the glaring hypocrisy I saw in so-called "Christians".
There was no denying I had a hole in me; it didn't feel like just a hole though, it felt like a huge gaping flesh wound and I tried to no avail to fill it with drugs, alcohol, sex, money and the like. Little did I know, it was a God shaped hole that could only be filled by God.
About five years ago, God revealed Himself to me in a very personal way, showing me He was the void in my life. Ever since then I've been on the ride of my life shaking my head in amazement thinking, it could only be God.
My husband and I have been radically changed; God saved our very broken marriage. Sure, I could list all of the "bad" things we used to do and all of the "good" things we do now, but that's not what I'm talking about. We're still sinners and always will be until Christ returns. I'm referring to the deep, palpable healing God has performed with delicate precision changing us from destitute, inward focused ingrates to outward focused bondservants.
No, my life isn't all sugar plums and bon-bons; it's challenging. Challenging in ways I've never experienced with days on my knees pleading for Jesus. With those challenges has come a closeness to God I never knew existed and deep peace, joy and identity that could never be achieved without the personal hand of the Almighty God. I wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world; it is priceless. Thank you God!
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