My Story: Allen

In order to build some community among us as leaders and to tie to the current series "Found" on Sundays I want to have each of the LifeGroup Coaches share their "My Story" each week here on the blog.

I'll start us off and then other coaches will take a turn in coming weeks.

My life before meeting Christ…

I grew up in a religious home where I was in church from a young age. Though I had have good parents, they did not really help me much spiritually beyond taking me to church. I did gain a knowledge of who Christ is and even walked forward to "accept Christ" at a Vacation Bible School event, but my going forward was really more about copying my cousin's action than really experiencing a change of heart.

Throughout my teenage years I was a pretty good kid, but I did have my life focused on things other than Christ. I excelled in school in order to become an adult who could make a lot of money and have a powerful career. I started out majoring in Architecture and then changed to engineering. At the same time, though, God was moving in my life. I could have easliy drifted from the church upon entering college. I shutter to think where I would be today if God had not orchestrated (using my parents) a "chance" introduction to a church that was perfect for me. At that church I saw people who really had purpose. They loved God and they loved me. I began to want what they had. I realized that I was living by myself and for myself and that I was empty.

When I met Christ…

As I struggled between the purposeful, amazing life of my new friends and the selfish desire in my own heart, I came one night to the "end of my rope". I won't say that I had a "vision", but I do have a picture in my head of a rope that was my life. I was sliding down the rope and almost to the end. Was I supposed to tie a knot and hold on for dear life, or was I going to fall off into chaos? One night in my college dorm room, I knew that I didn't like either of those options. I saw that God has a "rope"… a path… a plan for my life. I decided that night very vividly to move one of my hands from my rope (or plan) to God's rope. I lasted about one week that way — with one hand grasping God's rope and the other hand clinging to my own. At the end of that week, I decided it was futile to remain caught between two ropes, and I moved my second hand to God's rope. I told God I would go wherever He led.

When I was ten, I had believed in my head the things Jesus had done to rescue me from my sin. But it was at age 20 that I decided to follow Jesus with my whole life.

Since I met Christ…

That first week of fully following Christ was incredible. I had never experienced that kind of true joy. I grew in many ways for the remainder of college. Memorizing scripture was one of the things that grew me the most initially and still today. In the last few years, I've really been moved by the vision our pastor has given us at Legacy Church. My early discipleship had mainly been growing a love for God's word and for Him. At Legacy in the last 8 years, I've grown not only to love God and His word but also to love what He loves… people. I don't want to just soak in more of God. I want to enjoy God and soak in His love, but then pour it out to others through service and sacrificial leadership.

The last year has been my hardest ever as Debbie and I dealt with her mother's cancer, shingles, car accident and long term care decisions. I'm amazed at God's mercy and grace through all of this. Were it not for His Spirit bearing fruit in me, I never could have put down my selfishness and to be kind, loving, gentle and patient as Deb's mom lived for a year in our home.

I'm still a work in progress and I've got a long way to go to be all Christ wants me be to.

God is so good to us. We don't deserve anything… not another breath. I hope that I am always diligent to tell my story and give the gift of Christ's love to others.

Allen