I did not grow up in a church, but I did visit them and say the Sinner’s Prayer. I joined briefly, but I didn’t change inside, and eventually stopped going. No one from those churches checked up on me, and after being told that only good people go to church, I felt like I didn’t belong.

In 1992, my 12-year-old son expressed his fear that we might go to Hell, which sparked something within me, but not enough to make me go back to church.

The following year, my life began to spiral out of control, and I found myself kneeling beside my bed and praying for a church home. I had no idea what I was asking for.

One day, I came across a community paper and saw an advertisement for a church called New Life Fellowship. The pastor looked laid back, and the caption read, “It’s not the church you grew up in, but where you can begin…again.” So, I decided to give it a try.

The church was in a school building, and the people were friendly and polite. The pastor spoke in a way that I could understand, and there was only one offering taken up. To my surprise, a brother even returned some of the money I had put in the offering basket.

At a Women’s Conference, I listened to a woman share her story of living with her boyfriend, drinking, and partying. I related to her transparency, and after she led the group in the Sinner’s Prayer, I repeated the words.

I demanded that God show Himself to me, and during a moment of sweeping the floor, I had a powerful experience where I heard the word ‘haughty’ and looked it up, which made me cry even harder.

Since then, I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, and He has been changing me day by day. My relationship with Him is personal, and He knew when, where, and how my transformation would happen. My experiences are just that – experiences – but Jesus is real, and He has changed my life.