I always thought of myself as a Christian. Growing up, I went to church sporadically. So, if someone asked, I would have said, "Yeah, I'm a Christian."
I met my husband Casey while we were in college at Texas A&M. We were in a co-ed service fraternity together and got married half-a-year after I graduated with a Chemical Engineering degree.
I became pregnant with Kallie 5 years later and we started going to church in hopes of raising a kid with good values.
We felt we were leading a good life. We had great jobs, kids and a church.
But I was overwhelmed and divided between work and my kids.
Casey would say I was "obsessive-explosive." I was so stressed but pretended I was okay. But then something would happen, like the price of health insurance going up, and it would just send me into a panic.
I would snap and start crying and talking about all these things I was worried about. Casey would just stare at me.
Casey's ex-boss was emceeing an event on work-life balance. He forwarded the invitation to us and Casey asked me if I wanted to go.
At the end the event there was a survey that asked, "Would you like to learn more about family/life balance?" And I thought, "Of course I would, that is the whole point of the stage of life I am in: trying to balance family and work."
I expected to get on an e-mail list to go to other seminars. When Kay Scheffelin (a staff member with Priority Associates called me to follow-up, I remembered meeting her at the event and said, "Sure, I'll meet you for coffee."
We met at a local coffee shop where Kay went over the principles of Christianity in a booklet called "A Guide to Your Most Important Investment."
No one had ever explained to me the things Kay did. As she was talked, it dawned on me, "I guess I am not a Christian. I believed that Jesus died on the cross; I didn't know it was for me."
Before I thought I was a Christian because of things like being in a service fraternity. But Kay clarified that accepting Christ is not so much a feeling as a decision, an act of the will.
Everything Kay was saying made sense, but told her I wanted think about it before I made a decision. So I took my dog for a walk the next day and thought about what she said.
I realized that I was the only one holding me back from having a relationship with God. So I asked God to take control of the throne of my life.
After becoming a Christian I started meeting with Kay once a week and she helped me grow spiritually. Before I was trying to portray that I had it all together. But now, my insides are not churning anymore.
This month, Casey and I are going start leading "Foundations" (a Campus Crusade Bible study) at our church. I hope it puts more focus on Christ and what He has done for us. If someone in our group isn't a Christian I would love them to truly accept Christ like I did.
Kim Conner owns a franchise called Computer Explorers which does technology education. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband Casey and children Kalli and Cody. As a family, they enjoy boating and snow skiing. Kim likes to read, teaching kids, traveling and being with friends and family.
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