My Faith Story

I was asked to share my faith story during the Worship services at my church yesterday.  I was supposed to keep it to 3-4 minutes, and I think I came pretty close...maybe 5-6 minutes!  I wanted to share it with you here as well.  I hope these written words will enable you to learn more about my journey and this love that will not let me go. 

Good morning.  My name is Anna Rubin, and my husband, Steven, and I have been attending Ardmore since late 2006 right after we got married.  I would like to take this time to tell you a little bit about my faith journey.

I grew up in First Baptist Church of Marion from the time I was 2 years old to the time I went to college, and I have my parents to thank for that.  My experiences there were filled with an overwhelming sense of love and acceptance.  I always felt wanted and loved at church.  I had caring Sunday School teachers and a Youth Minister named Donna Shook whose love for Scripture was evident.  I had a mentor, Heather Wood, and a church family who I knew loved and appreciated me.  I accepted Jesus the summer after my seventh grade year, and it was primarily because of the overwhelming sense of love and acceptance that I had experienced from my church family.

As I matured, I found God to be faithful in all circumstances.  A song by one of my favorite singers, Sara Groves, says this, “All I have need of, His hand will provide; He’s always been faithful to me.”  I have found that to be true in my life time and time again. 

Another truth that became real to me in my formative years is that, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  When I went through difficult times and people failed me, I came to know that God would not, and could not, fail me. 

My favorite Scripture as an adolescent was Jeremiah 29:11.  “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”  I clung to those words as I grew up, and they gave me such hope that God did indeed care and that He had a plan for me that was good.  Even though I rarely knew as much of “the plan” as I would have liked, it was extremely comforting to me to know that He had one.

As I went off to college, I found another warm church with an amazing college minister, Rhonda Gailes, who not only had a love for the Word, but also a gift for teaching it.  She exposed me to inner-city missions, and encouraged me to work in missions the summer after my freshman year of college.  It was a very important, life-changing experience for me, and I owe her a huge debt of gratitude for imparting so much wisdom and encouraging me to do more than I ever thought I could do.

As I became an adult, God has taught me other important truths.  One is that He is not mad at me.  No matter what I have done or where I have gone, He is always my Father, waiting with open arms to pursue me and bring me home, where He prepares a feast in my honor. 

A favorite Scripture I learned in our Companions in Christ group, led by Christa Warise, comes from Hosea Ch. 2.  “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness and speak kindly to her.  Then I will give her her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope.  And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.”  I have found that God continues to allure me and speak kindly to me, and He helps me sing as in the days of my youth.

Another truth that follows from this one is that God wants good things for me.  I know this can sound simple, but for someone who has a tendency to dwell on the past, the ability to believe and internalize this was life-changing for me.  As Sara Groves so beautifully sings, “I believe in a fountain that will never dry, though I’ve thirsted and didn’t have enough.  Thirst is no measure of His faithfulness; He withholds no good thing from us.” 

Becoming a mother has also helped me understand God more.  I truly believe that God always and only has our best interest at heart, no matter what it may seem like at the time.  I know that there is nothing my son could ever do that can change the love I have for him, and I would never wish any harm on him unless it was for his greater good.  If that is the way I, as a human, feel, then how much greater must God feel that towards me?

The last truth I want to share with you that I am currently walking through is that God loves and cares for all of His people, both here and around the world.  I don’t think God wants me to live in luxury, while His other children live in poverty.  From the words of Matthew, I don’t want to store up treasures on this earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 

And from the words of Isaiah 58, I do not want to spend money for what is not bread, and my wages for what does not satisfy.  I want to listen carefully to God, and eat what is good, and delight myself in His abundance.  I want to loosen the literal bonds of wickedness, undo the bands of the yoke, let the literally oppressed go free, and break every yoke.  

In conclusion, I want to thank my parents, Don and Jan Ramsey, my husband, Steven, and my beloved sons, Lincoln and number 2 on the way, for all of the love, peace, and joy they have given me over the years.  They have each played a significant role in molding and shaping me into the person I am today.  I am excited about what God is doing in me, in you, and in this place.  Thank you for allowing me to share my story.

I want to end my blog post today by thanking all of you for the part you have each played in my life.  I mentioned a few sweet names in this story, but there are so many more yet unmentioned.  People are the gift I am most thankful for this year. 

I also want to thank you for all of the encouragement I have received since starting this blog.  I have found writing to be very therapeutic and helpful to me as I process things, and you are such a special part of this process as well.  You make me think, analyze, revise, edit, and love every minute of it!  You motivate me to share more, and your words mean so very much to me.

I have never opened my blog up for comments, but I am leaving this post open.  I thoroughly enjoyed hearing other faith stories yesterday at church, and I am a better person because of it.  I would love nothing more than to hear your stories.  What better, more precious, more life-giving words can we share than our faith stories?  I know you may not have time to share a broad story like I did, but please, share what you can. 

I also apologize in advance if there are technical difficulties, as I've never done this before.  If you have trouble getting your story to post, please feel free to email it to me at AnnaRamseyRubin@yahoo.com, and I can always go back and post it that way.  Thank you!