Hi, friend. I’m so glad you’re here. If you’re curious how I went from questioning everything to walking with Jesus, I’d love to share my story with you.

I didn’t grow up with religion. My dad was raised Catholic, my mom wasn’t raised with religion, and so they decided not to implement any religion for my brother and I – and that’s not a bad thing, but it helps give context to my story.

Most of my friends and classmates growing up were Catholic or Mormon. While all of my friends were going to CCD after school, I just went home and did homework and watched cartoons. I didn’t really get religion. I thought, “Why would I need someone to tell me how to be good? I already try to be kind.” I had a great childhood – I had loving parents and close friends. I was a good student and a nice girl, overall.

When I was 15 years old, my dad died, and that rocked my world. If there was even a sliver of faith in God for me, it was gone at that moment. Why would a God who is supposed to be loving and good make a teenage girl go through life without her dad? Why would He take my dad? As far as I was concerned, God had lost all credibility for me.

And my loss didn’t stop there. The following year my stepbrother passed away, then my grandma, then my best friend, then a friend from high school…. It felt like my heart just couldn’t catch a break. Again, I just felt a lot of, “Why me?”

Over the last few years, the resentment I held toward God began to quiet. I still didn’t believe in Him – not really – but I no longer saw my pain as personal punishment. My thinking slowly shifted to: “There has to be something bigger out there.”

In April of last year, I bought a Bible. I had reached the end of myself, and I didn’t need another self-help book. I needed the ultimate self-help book. It wasn’t my first Bible – I had owned a few over the years. But every time, I’d start in Genesis, get overwhelmed or bored, and give up.

I was still quiet about my newfound faith. I would tell people, “I bought a Bible”, as if I had just purchased a nuclear weapon. Would I be judged or made fun of? Is it too late for me to learn now? I didn’t know how to express this new thing I wanted to explore.

And then I met someone special who would quietly shift everything. One of the very first questions he asked me was, “Do you believe in God?” I wasn’t expecting it – and I didn’t have a neat answer. But that simple question opened a door I hadn’t realized was still closed. From there, our conversations often turned to faith, the Bible, and what it means to actually know Jesus – not just know about Him. I felt safe asking the questions I had buried for years. Nothing was too silly, too basic, or too broken.

His presence in that season gave me the courage to stop pretending I had to figure it out alone. Through late-night talks and quiet moments. I slowly began to believe that maybe God wasn’t distant after all. I don’t think he even realizes the role he played in helping me find my way home to Jesus – but I do. And I always will.

Last August, I got baptized. Not because I had it all figured out, or because I felt worthy – quite the opposite. I got baptized because I knew I couldn’t keep living the same way. I needed Jesus, and I was finally ready to surrender.

As I am sitting here today, born-again, I like to reflect on how far I’ve come. From the girl who had a broken heart most of her life and felt like she was forgotten by God, to the woman I am now. I still can’t quote a bunch of scripture, or name all the books in the Bible in order. But what I can do is put my faith in our Almighty God – and know now, deep in my bones, that I was never forgotten. I was just lost. And He found me.

If you ever feel like the one that wandered – me too. And I’m here to tell you: He leaves the 99 for the 1. Every time.