So begins my story of faith…a journey of salvation and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.

It would be interesting if I’d had a terrible childhood…joined a gang… became a mafia hitman…and then, one day, had a complete conversion and, miraculously, became a Christian. It would be interesting…but it wouldn’t be true.

I grew up in a middle class home with parents who lived by Judeo-Christian morals which they taught to me, but we never went to church. My dad attended church until his mother died when he was in his teens…after that he stopped. My mother, to my knowledge, never attended or belonged to a church. I attended church a few times in my early teens, but was put off by the hypocrisy of some of the members…to be fair, only one or two members. The pastor was a good man, and in retrospect the main reasons for not attending were my own insecurities. I had felt guilty about not attending church throughout my childhood, and I guess I felt it was too late to start.

By the time I was in my mid-thirties, I was married with two children. My wife and I were both doing well in our marriage and our careers, and we were materially comfortable. However, it seemed as if something were missing. No matter how well things were going, it just didn’t seem to be enough.

I finally spoke with my wife about this, and we decided maybe it was time to start attending church, especially since our sons were now in their teens (my wife had grown up in church and always found it to be a place of comfort and well-being when she was young…however, she had drifted away through the years) . We tried a couple of churches of different denominations, and then one Sunday, we attended a Presbyterian church. The pastor was a sincere, low-key, very committed Christian, and it seemed that in every sermon his words spoke directly to my heart and all of the doubts, insecurities and shortcomings with which I had dealt for most of my life. Within a few months, my whole family was baptized (my wife was baptized again) and we became members of that church. By accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I had finally filled that “hole in my heart”. That was over thirty years ago.

I’d like to tell you that I am the perfect Christian, that every day is fantastic, and that I am now a sinless human being. I’d like to…but I can’t. Some Christians have a finger snap conversion, they immediately become saint-like in their thoughts and actions, and they have an epiphany which changes their life immediately. I believe that is the exception rather than the rule…at least in my case it is.

For me, as with many others, Christian faith is a journey, not just an event. Through study (the bible), prayer and association with other Christians, we grow in our faith and learn little by little what it means to walk with Christ and to care more about others and not so much about ourselves. We walk forward…we stumble…we get up and walk forward some more. Sometimes Christ is our best friend and we feel extremely close. Sometimes we feel as if He is no longer there beside us…this usually results when we stop doing the things we are supposed to be doing and become more concerned with this life instead of the next. Fortunately, these empty times happen when we move away from Him…He never moves away from us…and He is always ready to welcome us back.

After all these years, my journey continues. I haven’t reached my destination, but at least I know where I’m headed. I don’t worry as much about things beyond my control as I did in the past. Whatever the future brings, I know that, ultimately, Christ will be there to walk through it with me, and at the end, I will be with Him for eternity. Even so, I still have times when I stumble and have to start forward again.

If you have a “hole in your heart”, please stop trying to fill it with more toys, more trips, or the other things this world has to offer. God has placed that hole in your hear for a reason…so it can be filled with His  Holy Spirit. Jesus loves you…regardless of how you live now or what you’ve done in the past…and he’s waiting for you to repent, ask His forgiveness and welcome Him as your Lord and Savior. Don’t put it off…let your journey begin today. It’s never too late.

(PS – Please feel free to contact me…I’d be honored to help you start your journey.)