Who Led You the the Lord?

Date Wednesday, April 28, 2021 Title: Who Led You to the Lord? Autumn Kerr Focus verse: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” -Proverbs 22:6 Growing up, my parents divorced when I was quite young. My two brothers and I lived with our mom and we moved a lot. There was not a lot of stability around us and we witnessed a lot of hard things. Yet, looking back, I can clearly see how the Lord was working. Every place we moved, there was always someone who would take us to church and tell us about Jesus. One of my earliest memories was a woman in our neighborhood who would pick up all the neighborhood kids who wanted to come and bring us to church. I don’t remember her name but I do remember hopping into her van filled with kids from the neighborhood and going to a small Baptist church a few miles away. I remember learning about asking Jesus into your heart in the downstairs kids room of that church. I think I was about 7 years old when I asked Jesus into my heart. During the time we lived in that neighborhood, I made a friend named Carrie at elementary school and her family would often take my brothers and I to their Methodist church with them. I spent a lot of time with their family and at their church. After we left that neighborhood, my brothers moved in with my dad and I stayed with my mom. We moved again and I had to change schools. At my new school, I made a best friend in our new neighborhood. Her name was April and her family would always invite me to church with them. I spent a lot of weekends at their house seeing firsthand what a healthy marriage and family life looked like. “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” - Hebrews 13:7 In 8th grade, I moved to another town and moved in with my dad and brothers. We lived in one place for many years – this was the first time in a really long time that was the case. I lived there until I graduated high school. During my high school years, I would attend church with friends occasionally but I wasn’t as involved as I could have been. It wasn’t until 2002 when I moved to Nashville, TN and got plugged into an amazing church and small group there that I really came back to my faith walk. I was 27 at the time. I was a part of that church for 13 years until I moved to Florida 6 years. During that time in Nashville, God got a hold of me and brought so much healing in my life. He even changed the trajectory of my career. I worked for 11 years in advertising and then switched to the faith based nonprofit sector in 2009. I’m so grateful for those seeds of faith that were planted early on in my life by the neighbor lady who took all the kids to church and by my friends parents who made me feel like I was part of their family and showed me what it looked like to be a Christian. As I look back at my life, I can clearly see how the Lord looked out for me, and how He always put at least one person or family in my life that was a believer. I have since reached out to my friends April and Carrie and asked them to share a note with their parents about how much of a difference they made in my life all those years ago. I wanted to thank them for planting those seeds. I truly believe I wouldn’t be the person I am today without all of those who planted and watered those seeds of faith all those years ago. It wasn’t just one person – it was several. And it’s a good reminder to me now as an adult to never underestimate the impact you can make on a person, even if they’re only in your life for a short season. You never know what those planted seeds of faith will grow into. Prayer: Thank you Jesus that you are always at work. Thank you that you use broken, flawed people to shine your light and love to this world that so desperately needs it. I’m so grateful for all the people you used to show that love to me. I pray for those today that don’t yet know your love – that you would surround them with people to come alongside them, lift up their arms when they are weary and point them to you. Help us to love people the way that you love us. Help us to be seed planters. I’m so grateful that you used all the hard and bad things in my life and somehow worked it together for good, like only you can! “He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains.” – Psalm 107:14 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” - Romans 8:28