One Woman's Journey... A Guest Post

Not all that long ago, if you were to ask me "What do you think about God?" I would have gone on this long tirade about Christians. At my kindest moments I would think them boring, naive and bad dressers and I regularly said "I will NEVER be one of THOSE people". I equated God to his people and not the other way around and my opinions were not kind.

Then I lost a  bet with God and I reluctantly returned to church. In those early days I was aggressive, even MORE judgmental than usual, and defensive. I just knew those people would condemn me so I condemned them first. I steadfastly kept God OUT of my blog, out of my life and out of my heart. Those days the only thing that kept me coming back was KidStuf and Mary's hugs. In those early days Pastor Ken was not MY pastor and in fact, I was convinced if he said the word "Literally" ONE more time, well, even I would not spork a pastor, but...

It was before Pastor Hal refused to let me goad him. It was before Ms. Amy cast her spell on me and made me love her. It was before my beloved 4th grade tweens, before the Dorcas ladies, before the Cafe Club. Back then I mocked The Promise and thought talk radio was for freaks and kooks. Then I showed up at the doors of the church one November Sunday and found KidStuf.

To you, the leaders, players and Students of KidStuf, I say thank you. Every cold morning, every missed vacation, every night rehearsal and every other imaginable sacrifice you made to put on a production of KidStuf every week saved me. You broke down Christianity into bite sized pieces and fed it to me in a way I could digest. When Pastor Ken was still talking over my head, you spoke directly to my heart. You found me and you lead me to a real relationship with Christ. One virtue, one song and one laugh at a time. You broke through my strong defenses. With each new secular song I heard in church the wall cracked. When I saw a grown woman in pigtails bouncing around the stage the cracks deepened. When I saw a strong black man dressed as a pregnant woman the wall crashed to the ground. Once you brought down my defenses Pastor Ken got in and was never again THE pastor but MY pastor. Once that happened there was no going back. God walked it and did what God does.

Over the next few months I discovered I was the one Pastor Ken spoke of when he said "Those no one else wanted." I was Mary Nobody. I was the beaten down, the scorned, the lost. I was the one who felt I was too broken to be saved. I was convinced I was going to hell and I would take you with me given half the chance. I knew every section of the Bible that I could mock or use in my arguments but had no idea how many books in contained, how it started or how it finished. I knew every verse that was inconsistent, or could conveniently be twisted but had no idea how many times the word "Love" was used. Yes, I am the one this church changed course for. I am the face of Mary Nobody.

These days there is rarely a day God is not in my blog. Should  you find yourself in my car you will hear either a podcast for my "God Pick" playlist. I am married to the same man, live in the same house, drive the same car, have the same job but nothing is the same.

Now, I give God the credit for the dramatic changes in my life, but The Church at Argyle was His tool. THOSE  people pried open my heart so God could get in and completely transform me. I am not worthy to be called one of THOSE people but I'm honored to be among them and I am forever grateful.

With Gratitude & Love,
Beth Reed