Honestly, never in her wildest dreams did Erin ever think she would be writing about Jesus. "Really, are you kidding me?" she laughs. But when Jesus gets a hold of your heart, it is hard to let Him go. Without Him, your heart is missing something. You may or may not know what that something is, but when you have Him, you just know.
Erin grew up going to church, but was far from what she considers a "church girl." She didn't give much thought to God 6 days and 23 hours per week. She was a "one hour a week church-goer." Nothing more, nothing less. She was fortunate in that she knew who God was, accepted it, and understood it (at least she thought she did). She never doubted for a minute who the Creator was, she just denied Him...ALL THE TIME. She had no idea that He was the person she had been searching and longing for.
"I had no concept of the enormity of the Cross. I knew of God, but I didn't know Jesus," she says.
She made bad choices. They scaled in degrees of how bad they were, but, nevertheless, they were bad. Eventually, she ran from her hometown, and from all that she knew, to a new state, and a new life. She didn't know anyone, have a job lined up, and didn't know the best part of town to live in. However, it ended up to be a place where God eventually led her to her husband and subsequent building of her family. It was also during this process of searching that she found Jesus. And her life was changed forever.
Her goal in all of this is to glorify God, not herself. If she could completely remove herself from this, she would, but she can't. You see, we all have a story. One that is unique to us. "Don't get me wrong, Jesus does not need an opening act by any means," she says, "But what He likes to do best is to use ordinary people to do extraordinary things. He uses the least of us, and often some of the most messed up, to magnify Him."
Even before she knew Him, He knew her.
She says, "He was quietly pursuing me, and watching for me down the road. At His God-appointed moment, He sent someone to speak a word of knowledge to me. It was a word that only God could have known because the person who said it to me was someone I had never met before. That got my attention and softened my heart. I gave my whole life—not just a piece of it—to Him that night even though I didn’t have it completely figured out. He didn’t need a big, prideful faith. He wanted my humble heart to be healed and filled with His Spirit. I believed, and He freely gave. I’ve never looked back."
He loves us even when we don't love ourselves, or Him. Never give up hope because He will never give up on you.
