In 2023, I found myself feeling like something was missing. Life was great – I had a partner whom I adored. We were discussing marriage, kids, buying a home together. But there was still a hole in my life that I couldn’t fill on my own with mountain trips, granny hobbies and diy projects.
So as one does, I asked a friend if she would take me to church with her. Graciously she said yes and together we attended my first church service in probably 20 years. We agreed that we would “church hop” every Sunday until I found one that felt right.
The next Sunday was Mothers day, and we attended a different church on the west end of the city, not far from my house. It wasn’t as large as the first one, but it was just as full and even louder during worship. Aside from the exuberance of the congregation, something felt different from the first church. And I decided at some point I would visit again.
My partner and I were leaving the following week for Ontario to introduce him to my family for the first time. While there I decided I wanted to visit the church I grew up in. I hadn’t visited since I was around 14 or 15 years old. Inside it looked different, the congregation had shrunk and I didn’t see many I knew from childhood, but that same feeling i experience the prior Sunday was present. During the sermon, the pastor stopped to extend his arm out towards the side of the room where I sat – eyes closed, he pointed in my direction and said, “There is someone on this side of the room who has been suffering with shoulder pain for several months with no relief. I feel like we are called to pray for healing over this person – I don’t know who it is – But the Lord wants to heal them”. The congregation entered into to corporate prayer for a moment and then he proceeded with his sermon. What the pastor did not know, was that for the better part of six months or longer, I had seen every kind of practitioner from chiropractors, to acupuncture, to massage, dry needling, and shock wave therapy and had not been able to find relief from the pain that plagued my shoulder. The specialists could not explain why it would not heal. After that Sunday, by the end of our trip, sometime over the following 3-5 days – the pain was completely gone and has never come back. I could not deny that this was a miracle.
Upon returning to Alberta, the first few weeks back I watched the services online hosted by the church from my home town. One morning, after watching the Ontario service – which was 2 hours ahead of me in Alberta – I decided to go back to the church near my house. Going solo, I snuck in front doors without making eye contact with anyone, arriving a few minutes late to go unnoticed, and slipped into my seat. I looked up to the front of the sanctuary, and there on the screen in big, bold, red letters was, “Welcome Home”. And something in me broke. Not in a fall apart kind of way. But rather, in the “this is what I needed”, falling into place, revelatory kind of way.
I recommitted my life to Jesus that morning.
And while my testimony is not the overnight radical change we most often hear about in Christianity, my life has radically changed for the better.
As I have learned what it truly means to follow Jesus, I have grown, been stretched, lost things dear to my heart for my faith, travelled on mission in His name, had things restored and renewed, and done things I never thought I could or would do.
As I step forward in obedience and even more boldly in faith, I felt called to share my testimony more openly. To share The Good News and be a disciple. I want to help others feel and find the overwhelming love, and grace and presence of the Holy Spirit that I feel every day. Good is God. Jesus is King. And the Holy Spirit is active and working in our lives all the time.
I don’t know where this blog will take me, but Jesus is the author of my life, and I trust He has good plans for me (Jer 29:11). He will provide all I need and lead the way.
I am glad you are here.
I love you, But Jesus loves you so much more.
Falon
Life's Kingdom Secrets 