I grew up in a family with seven children all together. My mother said I just was born loving horses. She said when I was a kid that’s what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to look at pictures of horses. I wanted to read books about horses. Until I was 15 and then we moved onto a little 7-acre farm. And I finally got a horse for the first time. We went to church pretty regularly. That was really important for the family. We had this feeling that the Bible was just for trained professionals and you shouldn’t be dabbling in reading the bible.  

I found a group in college that was participating in church on a regular basis and reading the Bible, and I felt really welcome in the group. A few months into that, the group leader took me aside and said that she had a prophetic message for me from God - God wanted me to marry her son. It just did not ring authentic for me, and if it was, I thought, I’m just going to risk it, I’m leaving this, this just isn’t right for me. 
 
And so I decided to reopen that question and kind of try to find God. I wouldn’t say I tried everything on but I definitely was examining things. And so I set aside all my books and dedicated six months to just praying. Praying to this God that I don’t know. I was like, God, I don’t really know who you are. I’ve heard lots of different things about you, but I would really like to get to know you. 

And then seriously to the day, I met Randy. 

When I learned out Randy was a Christian, I sort of rolled my eyes and I was like, really God? He was always asking me Would you go to church? Would you go to church? and I was like No, thank you. When he proposed, he made it conditional on me marrying him in the church and then going to church with him regularly because that was very important to him. And so I thought well, if you love someone you’re willing to suffer for them and so I agreed I would go to church. And I would be shut down and I didn’t really want to hear. I didn’t trust what I was hearing or even the people around me, but I would just go. 

About two years into it, Randy and I took a trip to Maui. I went for a walk on the beach one Sunday morning and I heard this beautiful singing. I followed the sound and went up this hill and there was a church on the beach. I sat down and I am looking at the pastor. The entire time he’s teaching from scripture and he’s talking about Jesus. And I think that was the first time I ever felt convinced that Jesus was actually a real person and that he is also really God. It was just this surety that this is what I’ve been looking for.  

I met some friends that had horses and I’d be spending time with my friends with horses and my husband was always like you’re always so happy when you get back from your horses and one day he says to me why don’t you get a horse? So within about ten minutes I got on the Internet and I found a horse. And it was in training that horse I met a member of Door Creek Church. 

Christmas is an incredibly special time to think about our Lord and Savior coming down to earth and being born. I think about that a lot when I’m outside with the horses and the donkeys. Well now I have a certainty about who I believe in and I am growing in the things about what do I believe about him. Now I have a place to go where to find the truth about God and what he wants for us. 

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This story, and all of our stories, are from people who call Door Creek Church their home. As you contemplate this story, may your faith be encouraged and your hope renewed. If you’d like to learn more about sharing your story, start here.