When Did You Convert – Day 19 of Handmade
Convert
Turn around. Head a different direction.
That’s what convert really means.
We often use conversion in our religious vocabulary. It’s the point of turning from one way of life, or one set of beliefs, to a new way of life and a new set of beliefs.
For some of us it’s hard to pinpoint a particular moment that conversion occurred.
I grew up hearing about Jesus my whole life. I believed from the beginning.
In my heritage, water baptism was the defining moment. The summer between 5th grade and 6th grade was when I went under the water. I did feel fresh and washed clean.
Keep Converting
But God continues to bring me times of conversion. Periods when faith shifts, even if slightly. Or seasons where change occurs rapidly.
These conversions are no less real than my initial conversion experience.
Any time we wake up and head a different direction, we’re experiencing conversion.
God can and will use almost anything to get our attention. To change us. To refine us. To love us.
And I’m glad.
Three Questions
The questions of the day are:
(1) Do you order quickly or agonize over the menu at a restaurant you frequent?
(2) Was water baptism part of your conversion experience?
(3) Who has God used in your past or now to shape your spirituality?
* * *
What are your answers? Please share in the comments.
My answers
(1) Quickly. I tend to order my one favorite thing again and again.
(2) Yes.
(3) Fran from Manna House has rocked my spiritual world the past 6 years. She demonstrates what it means to love the unlovely.
More here
- Changing, Yet Changed
I sang the words on Sunday. But which ones do I really believe? Can we be changed and changing at the same time? - Reframing the Soul
Just like a frame around a picture, our words frame our lives. Can we change the frame by changing our words? - When Change Is Slow, Baby Step It
Whenever the gap between worry and acceptance shrinks, it’s a win. And even if baby steps are all I take, I’ll praise God for them.
Get the whole Handmade series here
My answer to your first 2 questions are just like yours.
My conversion almost 10 years ago when my son’s roommate (in the Seminary) asked him, “Has your mom ever listened to Alex Jones?” After listening to him for quite a few hours, my statement at the beginning of my marriage: ‘I am never going to be Catholic’ DEFINITELY CHANGED! I had already been through RCIA’s so I gave the Priest a call and shortly after that I was confirmed. GLORY TO GOD AND HALLELUIA!!!
1. Quickly, if I am familiar with the restaurant. If it is new, I take a long time to order.
2. Yes.
3. I think a friend I met in 2000, Robynne. She keeps asking tough questions and encouraging me to grow.
1) As Theresa said, if it’s a restaurant I am familiar with, I tend to choose the same thing every time, though sometimes I like to branch out. If it’s new to me, I try to look at the menu online before going so I can take my time looking around without holding everyone else up.
2) It was, not as part of conversion itself, but as a picture of what went on in our hearts when we believed.
3) Probably the pastor we had the first 14 years we were married. I think I may have mentioned him in a previous answer as well.
Yeah, I was a kid too, but like you, I always felt like God was with me and in me. Even when I was a fool.
I don’t dilly dally over most decisions in life, which isn’t always good. I tend to go my own way then ask God to bless my actions later. Bad order and memory…
Yes, I was baptized in church.
My dad is the one that God has used mostly to shape my spiritual walk. Still not up to his level, but always seeking.
Hi Lisa,
1. Gluten free option as I am a celiac.
2. I came into a personal relationship with the Lord when I was 21, shortly after I was baptized by immersion. But I had heard the gospel since childhood & believed in God…I just hadn’t come to that personal choice.
3. The missionaries Betty Mitchell & Lois Chandler with the Alliance, my story “Penang Pearl of the Orient” https://teawithjennifer.blog/2018/06/08/penang-pearl-of-the-orient/
Blessings,
Jennifer