When I was a teenager attending a youth group pool party, one of my friends brought a tape player and played Amy Grant's album, Father's Eyes. Wow! My brain exploded! Although we were in a contemporary choir at church, this music was, well…normal. It sounded like the music on the radio and not church music. The lyrics spoke to my soul and I immediately desired to hear more. Of course, I was an instant Amy Grant fan. As soon as I could, I went to the local Christian bookstore and bought one of her albums.
I was raised Catholic and faith was a very important part of my family life. We attended church every Sunday. My mother was very open to discussing religion and she had many opinions about the church's teachings and traditions. Dad would just say that "faith is simple”. He was a man of few words, but when he did speak, his words always held great meaning.
On Sunday mornings, mom and dad would take me to church early for choir rehearsal and then drive to the beach and have coffee and chat. Dad said that those were the moments that he felt God the most. When he developed Meniere’s Disease, a disease of the inner ear that causes severe vertigo and nausea, he couldn't stand to be in a big room with many voices and other sounds. He would get dizzy and sick to his stomach. After that, his "church" became the beach where he often went to talk to God.
With an open-minded mom and a dad with simple faith, I began to seek out God in new ways. During this time, I began to understand Him more through books, music and reading the Bible.
I met my future husband when I was finishing my senior year in high school. He was a convert to Catholicism and he and I always had a lot of interesting things to talk about. One day, as I was studying Jesus' last week on earth, it was my husband who helped me understand the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Once, for all.
A few weeks later, as I was driving home from work, I finally got it. I remember exactly where I was. At a stop light at 190th Street and Crenshaw Boulevard in Torrance, California, listening to an Amy Grant song, I realized that God truly loved me! I am saved by grace, by the work of the cross through Jesus Christ. There is nothing I can do to earn this gift. It is a free gift from God when I confess my sins, turn from them and turn to Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV
“For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame,
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:2 NIV
My husband and I were married a few years later and served faithfully in our church for ten years. It was at that time that we realized that we could no longer call ourselves Catholic and God led us to another church.
Since the age of 12, I have participated in many choirs and worship teams. I play several instruments and even participated in recording an album. Because of my love for Jesus, I am able to love others and seek to understand them. I am at heart a shy person, but God gives me the supernatural ability to serve others.
What does your faith journey look like? I’m sure it’s very unique, just like mine. God truly meets us where we’re at and guides us into all truth. God is good all the time. All the time, God is good!
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.” ~Jesus, teaching the disciples in the Upper Room, as quoted by John 16:13 NLT
Paula Aiton is a member of the Koinonia Church worship team and a freelance writer, musician and artist. Her blog, ‘God’s Glory Girl’, can be found at godsglorygirl.com
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