For as long as I can remember, I've believed in God. I went to Catholic school through second grade and was raised in a family that believed. But believing in God and knowing Him are two very different things, and for most of my life I didn't know Him. I lived on my own terms. I was a true prodigal.
In 2013, I was in a very unhealthy marriage that had caused me deep mental and physical pain. I had started the divorce process three times and couldn't follow through. That year I took a trip to Tahquamenon Falls in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and there I had a beautiful encounter with the Lord. I remember it vividly. I felt someone come up behind me to give me a big hug, and I thought it was my friend. When I turned around, no one was there. Then I heard the words: "You are not alone."
I left that trip changed. I trusted God enough to finally move forward with the divorce and walk away from a relationship that had hurt me so deeply.
You'd think that after an experience like that I would have given my whole life to the Lord, but I didn't. That moment shaped my faith, but I still didn't understand what it meant to walk with Jesus or to give my life to Him.
That changed in 2023, when a dear friend invited me to read through the entire Bible with her and some of her sisters in Christ. It was my first time reading all of God's Word, and I learned so much, including how deeply I had been living in sin. The conviction was so strong that I wept. I repented, and I fully gave my life to Christ.
So much has changed since then. When I look back over the chapters of my life, even the hardest ones, I can see God's hand in all of it. He was there at the falls, He was there in the pain, and He was there all the years I kept Him at arm's length. He was never far away. He was waiting for me to come home.
-Amanda