Transcript:

Hi, my name is Kristin. I want to share  a story with you about a friend of mine

I met Shannon because her boyfriend Al was good friends with my husband Jack. Al was a groomsman at our wedding, and Shannon came along as his plus one.

She knew that we were Christians, she said to Al, ‘Listen, if they put me at a table with a bunch of Christians who try to talk to me about God stuff, I’ll tell them I’m a Hindu!’

Needless to say, Al told Jack, and Jack told me. and I thought: ‘ message received, no God stuff. So, I’ll focus on being a friend and see what happens.’ Fast forward to last fall, when Jack and I were able to visit them in their new home.

And out of nowhere, in the middle of dinner, Shannon announces, ‘You guys know that we still talk all the time about what the pastor said at your wedding.’ His message about I forgive you being more important to a marriage than I love you had really stuck with them and had an impact on their relationship that they were able to share with us. And the next day she started asking us loads of questions about church.

Having these conversations with Shannon was a great reminder for me that people who seem uninterested can become curious. That they are listening when you talk.

Because Jack and I focused on being a friend to her and continued showing up for her in her life, we were the ones she would turn to when she had a question.

Transcript:

My name is Cristi and I want to tell you about a conversation I had with my mom.

I grew up in a family where spiritual things were not talked about. I started a relationship with Jesus after high school but years went by before I could talk with my mom about it.

It all changed due to some tragic circumstances in our family. I asked my mom if she understood what the gospel meant. She said something about Jesus dying for our sins but really did not know what that meant.

Because we were in different states I had her download GodTools and was actually able to take her through “Knowing God Personally.” She clearly saw that she did not have a relationship with God, but she wanted one. 

She just could not believe that she did not have to be good enough for God. 

I was able to take her back to a story from her teens when she made a mistake and her father yelled at her. I asked how she wished her dad would have responded to her and she said, “I wish he would have asked if I was okay.” 

My mom had been viewing God through the lens of her earthly father who she felt was never satisfied with her. But when we looked at the Bible verses in “Knowing God Personally” it made complete sense.

So over FaceTime, my 77-year-old mom prayed the prayer in GodTools and decided to follow Jesus.

Understanding that she does not have to try hard to earn God’s love and forgiveness has been everything.

It truly is a highlight of my life to be able to use a digital tool in order to introduce my mom to Jesus.