Laura’s I Found Story

I was born and raised in the mid-west, a very quiet Catholic girl. I always tried to sing in the quietest voice possible, trying to find the balance between what my classmates/church neighbors/family heard and what God could hear. Trying my best to not be seen or noticed, but always finding myself saying,"God, can you hear my very small voice? I love you and I am hoping you hear me. I think you are beautiful and I hope you can see me and I hope you think I am beautiful, too."

Through my parents divorce, I found myself in Louisiana. My family no longer attended church, and God was not discussed. The older I was, the smaller I felt myself becoming. I had two children and a failed marriage, and had remarried when I found The Vineyard. God had supplied me with what my children and I would need in the months, the years, to come. We were living in grey and just surviving. The only bit of life was the promise of God's love for us. The second time I attended, an old friend told me he pictured Jesus behind me in worship, whispering in my ear, "No man will ever love you like I do." Little did this friend know what was happening in my life.

By the end of the year we found ourselves less a husband/father. But we were not lacking in love. God had provided us with a church family. God saw us, little us. God gave us a safe place to grieve; to vent; to cry; to love and to be loved. God restored color to our lives. Years later, we are still grieving, still venting, still crying; but we are loved, and we are loving. We are here for others as they grieve, as they vent, as they cry. We are a church family, with room for more. And our days are no longer grey, but lived in His beautiful color!