I’ve always had this sense that God was committed to getting my attention.
Our family were Sunday Catholics. I took the sacraments. Visited church when my family went to church. Took CCD classes. But when they stopped attending, so did I, naturally, for, quite simply, I couldn’t drive. And yet, God was always one step ahead of me – pulling me towards him in unique ways.
From the Good News Club that a friend’s mother ran from her house after school when I was in second grade. (I still recall the enormous felt board which she used to show bible stories.)
Or, my sisters prayer diary, (for she had become a Christian via Young Life in her teens). Admittedly, I would read her private prayer journal every chance I could get – giggling all the way through it.
It was that diary which proved to continue to fuel my interest in God. Although I must admit, at first, I found her written prayers to Jesus “freaky”. But, interestingly enough, I kept coming back for more.
My return to the Catholic church my Sophomore year in High School was quite telling, for it was all I knew, and God indeed used it to pull me even closer to Himself. I was the only family member who attended by this point, and while I eventually landed in another denomination, I can never downplay or make light of God’s brilliance – using what was already familiar to bring me to Himself in an intimate relationship.
I liken God’s hand in my life to a spool of thread, unraveling into a timeline of sorts through the years. Thankfully, the spool still has thread left, for God is not finished in initiating and creating spiritual markers in my life.
I call it – and have even begun writing in more detail about it (yes, possible book-form), “Spiritual Mapping.”
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