“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart.” Jeremiah – 29:13

My first encounter with Jesus

When I was 27 years old, and six months pregnant with our second child, I stood in our kitchen and lovingly watched our one-year-old daughter play as I anticipated the birth of our second child. As I stood there, love for my children consumed me. In that moment, I cried out to God with all of my heart and said, “God, I know you are someone, but I don’t know who you are. What is your name?” In that moment God spoke to me and said, “Jesus.” I opened my eyes in disbelief and thought I had misunderstood Him. I quickly closed my eyes again, and with all my heart I cried out to God once more, “God, I love my children with all my heart and I want to teach them the truth but I don’t know what that is, what is your name?” Again, He answered me, “Kristin, my name is Jesus.” I opened my eyes after hearing His name for the second time and I felt incredibly perplexed. Standing there I thought to myself, “Jesus died 2000 years ago, how is a dead guy talking to me?” Furthermore, “WHY is Jesus of all people talking to ME? I am certainly NOT perfect enough for Him!”

27 years without Him

Growing up I heard the name Jesus once in my hometown of Sun Valley, Idaho. From the outside looking in, I had always believed the enemy's lies that Jesus only loved perfect people. At that time, I also believed that Christians simply used the Bible as a crutch and that they were not up to date with what I thought was the "real truth." That day, I expected anyone else but Jesus to answer me. In fact, for 27 years I was the queen of persecuting Christians. I often laughed at them for having a "relationship with a dead guy” and I always felt superior to them in wisdom and knowledge of “the truth.”

Having a skewed view of Jesus, I flippantly replied to Him that day and said, “Okay Jesus, I guess I will start by looking into you since you are the only one speaking to me right now.” That day I fully intended to research other "gods" after looking into Jesus for only a day or two. I had no idea that within those 48 hours, Jesus, through His mighty Holy Spirit, would capture my heart and change my life forever.