Shepherded to God

Before I received eternal life, I feared the unknown.

I remember fearing losing the ones I love.

Then God showed up in a moment of fear.

Now that I have eternal life, I no longer fear the unknown.

I've always known God, but had lost my way from him through years of negative church experiences. One evening when my husband Andres, Australian Shepherd Honey and I were camping, our site was struck by lightning. Honey ran off into Eleven Mile State Park, into the pouring rain. In a moment of fear Andres asked, "What do we do?" Though I was afraid myself, I replied, "We keep looking until we find her." What I didn't realize yet was that I would also be finding my way back to God that night. We searched through the storm for hours, slipping in the mud and crying out Honey's name. Finally, after having scaled a large hill and made my way back down into the valley, I fell to my bare knees in front of a rushing stream and I prayed. "God, please guide me to my dog and help her not to be afraid to come to me when I call." Not 2 minutes later, Honey came bounding across the stream and into my arms. As I held her I thanked God for bringing her back to me safely. God had used that moment of fear to call to me, and I came back to Him. I'll always remember the night my Australian Shepherd "shepherded" me back to God.

God has offered me eternal life, and I chose to say "yes" be getting baptized later that year.