Ephesians 1:18
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

I was raised in a church. I went to Christian Elementary school while my dad volunteered at church and my my mom worked there. I was involved and knew the Grace of the Lord from a young age.

I ventured into the wilderness of adulthood and rather than coming out victorious after 40 days I spent years following my flesh. Faith had always been my strongest “fruit of the Spirit” and in those days it was a dim light but still present. I ignored the Lords presence and served myself. Debauchery, excess and ignorance characterized this time in my life.

My wife brought me back to church and ultimately Jesus. I had a heart that had become hardened callused and bitter. Even though my body was in church my internal voice still spate negatively, I would look for faults I perceived in the preaching, judged those around me and would slip out as fast as possible after services. Though church was where Jesus started chipping that away and Holy Spirit started to flow in through the cracks. In fact, my renewed faith turned us to prayer in a time of need and It was only through a lot of prayer and gentle “faith” nudges that we felt that God had laid out a plan for us to move across the state. After the move we church shopped and found a terrific new church. I had never understood the idea of being “born again” until one day in church Jesus laid it out through the word being shared. That was the day I died. I sat in church and cried. I cried for my children and the selfishness I had in not taking them to church. I cried for the hatred and judgment that welled up in my heart throughout the years. I felt the guilt of fostering and making a home for negativity in my heart. Most of all I felt the release of it all through Christ and was overwhelmed by a deluge of emotions. Since then I have prayed, listened and read scripture re-learning the warm embrace of God’s grace. I take comfort in his presence and with his help I have changed and become a new man. My journey in the wilderness has brought me full circle. The term “born again” I now understand and I use the prayer of St Francis to remind myself of such. My faith has grown stronger than ever and the Lord has blessed me with sight I previously never had. That is after surrendering to the Lord. I have listened and know I am called to serve Christ not only in my personal life but in professional life as well. I walk now with Jesus on my shoulder approaching situations not with the perspective of WWJD but WWJDIHWM (What would Jesus do if he were me). Then I reflect and learn. Praise be to Jesus for I have been found!