Celebrating a 17 year journey with God

We have our final birthday of the year today. And it’s a big one. It represents 17 years of life and an ongoing journey with God.

Story time... I remember 17 years ago as a fresh 18 year old senior in high school telling my parents I was pregnant.

One of the hardest conversations I have ever had in my life.

Disappointment.
That’s what I saw in my dads face and what I felt in my heart. I had disappointed myself, God, and those around me. What would people say?

I was an A student, on the honor roll, athlete, youth group attender, stay out of trouble kind of kid. But, you see, the enemy doesn’t care about any of that. In fact, he doesn’t even really care about me. He wants to smear the name of Jesus. And he uses people to do it.

How did I even get there? Well, I believed a lie, that turned to thoughts that turned to actions. And I made some choices that eventually left me pregnant. At 17. Unmarried. Still in High school. That wasn’t my plan or God’s.

The lie I believed? “I am not good enough. No one will choose me. I am not worthy.” I guess there were several. And so when someone did pay attention to me, well, I didn’t want to miss out.

Fear.

The lie I believed gave way to fear. And I let them influence my decisions instead of running to the Truth, which would have set me free.
But I chose. I chose not to.

But God.
Despite my wrong beliefs + choices, His heart towards me never changed. His will for me was to walk rightly with Him again.

But I had to choose. I had to repent. I had to stop believing the lies and change my thoughts which would lead me to changed action.

His mercy + compassion. Wow. So grateful. And His grace (His empowerment through the Holy Spirit) to help me make those changes. Humbled that He would see me as worthy to fight for. Worthy to send His Son to redeem me + worthy to leave the Holy Spirit as my guide + helper.

There were consequences for believing the lie. Those first three years of being a mom were not easy.

But praise be to God + His prayer warriors. We made it. And here we are. Celebrating this 17 year journey. Celebrating the life of a young man who has brought peace + laughter to many hearts.