Where He's Taken Me

So, I'm bored tonight and I was rereading the description of my blog...my posts, thus far, aren't living up to it huh? So here goes...we'll start with where God's taken me thus far...ha! Can't cover that one with one post!

I won't start with the mushy, "once upon a time in a far away land" ...oops, sorry wrong story. No my story begins with the usual, I was raised in church, loved my youth group, yada yada yada. I'll use the antiquated term..."saved". I got "saved" when I was 11. My basic understanding was this...sin is bad. I sin. Sin leads to eternal separation from God, thus I needed to be saved from my sins. So I accepted Christ as my savior. Nope, I did not fully understand what having a "relationship" with Christ was. I understood that I was saved from my sin because I believed in Christ's death, burial and ressurection. But it was a start. Don't get me wrong, my Pastor, my youth Pastor and his wife, everyone at church, taught us well. The fullness of Christ just didn't process with me. Yet.

As I grew up in the church...I knew something kept me under conviction. Kept me from doing the stuff other kids were doing. Kept me from wanting to be like the world...I just didn't know it was the Holy Spirit...that understanding came later too. So I somehow, came through my teenage years living my mediocre "Christian" life. Anyone identify with that?? Or maybe the mediocre adult "Christian" life? Stay tuned...it gets better.

At some point, I cannot put my finger on it, my heart changed. Over years of being exposed to the Truth (Jesus), solid Biblical teaching, and years of making stupid mistakes (basically making life decisions without consulting God first!), God changed my heart. My eyes began to open. I made my self emotionally available (my therapy friends identify here??) to the Holy Spirit. You know what happened?? The most exhilirating, frightening, hilarious, blinding, confusing yet revealing years of my life. Leading a Christ centered life did not automatically begin with my salvation...I would love to say I was on fire for Christ as soon as I was sealed with the Holy Spirit, but I wasn't. I was too busy living life. Now I've finally figured out the Christ centeredness leads my busy life. It doesn't make it easier or keep bad stuff from happening, but it sure does give me hope, reassurance and, well, an exhilirating feeling knowing it's in His hands...my future is His...I am His and He is mine.

Think that's the end?? Ha! That's just the beginning...stay tuned!