A FULL HEART

In 1991, I came to The Church of the Good Shepherd. I had a newborn, and I knew I wanted to raise her in a church. I would have called myself a Christian, but I was not. I attended services, listened to sermons, and marveled at all the good stuff the church was doing. I didn’t really know what to believe about this Jesus Christ. But if He inspired all this doing, I wanted to be part of it. Palm Sunday, 1991, I joined. That April, my young daughter was baptized.

Something happened then. I started participating regularly in Sunday school. The next fall I joined a Bible study class. That summer I found myself instructed by three-year-olds at Vacation Bible School. Each succeeding year I found myself a part of a dedicated Bible study group, one which even blossomed into a wonderful covenant discipleship accountability group. I was hooked on the Word: It was coming alive in me. I began to serve on committees, even chaired a few. Worked with task forces, strategic planning, service projects, and programs to reach out, reach in, and lift up. I retreated, sang, fellowshipped, even exercised. Everywhere I turned, I found Godinspired people doing God’s work.

Something was happening. Encircled by my brothers and sisters in Christ – I was changing. I thought maybe I was like the Grinch whose “heart grew three sizes that day.” But it was more than that. My heart was not just stretching. It was being filled. The Holy Spirit was pouring into it. Christ was coming to dwell within me, and this was transforming. I was a Christian.

I wish I could say that this meant life came easily and worry-free. But some tough times came, just the same. Storms of family, friends, work, Northern Virginia pace, illness, and health. But now I had wings to weather these storms. Christian friends and a personal relationship with Christ himself held me aloft.

By my best count, I have been blessed in the last 16 years to participate in long-term study and Sunday school small groups with more than 200 different members of The Church of the Good Shepherd. All of these where Christ was held high at the center. This community, where two or three are gathered in the Name of Christ, has transformed me, given me freedom to fly.

It’s no small miracle. He is risen.

With a full heart, I whisper thanks.

— Wendy LeBolt

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist