Welcome to the Family

Living redeemed. I have probably thought about this topic for so many hours and days due to my own story, in addition to writing for Redeemed Collective. There have been so many days, when I would get home and lie in bed and wonder, “God, could you ever redeem me? Is my story ever going to be worth telling?” There have been so many days that God was quiet. Well, I don’t know so much that God was quiet as I did not pick up my Bible to fill my heart and mind with His words. But He felt quiet, and oh, isn’t that overwhelming? When you’ve counted the cracks in the ceiling, when you can feel your knees tiring after kneeling, either in tears or silence, and asking for some answer, ANY answer… only for more silence. The certain fact of the matter is that Jesus is with you. He is with you in the valley of the shadow of death, in the valley of depression, in the dark places of anxiety and shame, in the crushing weight of grappling with your sexual identity or with your identity in general. Outside of everyone’s opinions, He is with you. If your story feels like it carries the heaviest weight today, first of all, please hear the voice of someone who has been there and is there: I love you. Jesus loves you. He is so much gentler and kinder and much more fierce and strong than you probably know Him to be right now. He wants to give you a yoke that is easy, and a burden that is light. I don’t know what your struggle is - maybe it’s pornography, or alcohol, or lust, or any number of things. Maybe it’s depression so heavy that it sits on your chest and compresses your breathing patterns. I know that however “big” or “little” your problem or addiction is (there’s no scale in reality, who knew), there will never be a moment while you have breath in your lungs that Jesus the Messiah, the redeemer of the world, is not for you. There’s never a moment that He wouldn’t take every single molecule of your story, heal it, and use it for the Kingdom. You are loved. You are enough, in your mess. He came for you right where you are. You don’t have to get good enough or cleaned up to meet Jesus. I promise, He does a much better job of cleaning out those things we don’t let people see than religiosity. If you would like to get to know Him and welcome Him into your life, just take a second and get quiet and say this prayer: Jesus, I want you to redeem this story I’ve been living. Everything feels dark and dirty, and I believe that you came to set me free. I pray that you would come and transform my heart, my thought patterns and my whole life. Be my salvation and my Lord. I give you control and thank you for loving me where I’m at, right now. I love you, Amen. If you prayed that prayer, welcome to the family. I am so proud of you for allowing Christ to be the ruler of your heart. There is a whole heavenly party being thrown in your honor. Our team would love to celebrate with you and connect you to some resources to encourage you in your relationship with Christ. Please comment, email or reach out via Instagram to let us know if you have decided to commit to Him. I love you, more than words, more than puppies, more than pie. Welcome home. N