I am A Christian.
I was born in 1961 in Germany, grew up in a steel town, earned my living as a chemist, and more than anything hated religion. The story of Noah and the ark was as ridiculous to me as was Santa Claus and the impression I had of Christians was “ Poor, weak fellows who don’t know how to take matters into their own hands;” I would not set foot into a church, not even for a friend’s wedding.
GOD HAS HUMOR; it was He Who directed my steps during my photo trip through the Four Corner States in 1993. Knowing that I was a cowgirl at heart, He made my childhood dream come true and I met this rancher family, stayed with them, rounded up cattle in the open deserts of New Mexico, met my future husband and found myself, no way around it, in church on Sunday morning; church happened right in their living room where part of the community met for service.
Within a year after my trip I gave up everything in Germany and moved to the U.S. What had happened was the rancher family, Christians at their best, had sown a seed in me, the atheist, and God took it from there. Those people seemed to have something that my life was lacking and I became curious, I started attending church at times. A year down the road, one day after facing the reality about my now former husband and the mess I got myself into I cried out to God “God if you are really up there, come and help me”. In that moment I was desperate for help, never in my life did I feel so lonely and lost. I had left a perfectly fine life, successful and respected in my job, good friends, money, more than I could spend; and here I was – broke, lonely and deceived and no way back. I will never forget that moment when a voice loud and clear but as soft as silk said “It is paid for!” That moment impacted me for the rest of my life, I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior and I started studying His Word. I lived the hermit life, made it my goal to completely remodel the old house I lived in and spending all that time by myself, JESUS BECAME MY BEST FRIEND. He helped me with everything; I learned new skills like laying rocks, stuccoing, and also got inside into the mysteries of the human heart. It was a very lonely but a very rewarding time.
Over the years I drew closer and closer to God and I’m so thankful that He called me; I couldn’t imagine a life without Him. I heard His voice, I felt His touch, He healed my body — He is more real to me than my neighbor and I love Him more than anything. WHAT AN AWESOME GOD WE SERVE!