Ally's Story
I was born in a Christian household, in the American South. I grew up with a strong awareness of God and always knew He was with me but I wasn’t “born-again.” I struggled growing up in my church, being the only Black person in the children’s and youth departments. I was called the N- word by my young white counterparts, I was excluded from hanging out with kids, it hurt, and as a result I rejected church youth group activities, where bitterness and anger for the White American South festered in my heart for years.
I’ve always been a good person with a good heart- quiet. I was never a wild child, but without Jesus we can be good people with success, however, there is something missing when we don’t have relationship with God. And while I wasn’t a wild child growing up, I wasn’t perfect. I, like everyone else, had my idiosyncrasies. I hated people and hated being around them, and hated my parents dragging me to political events. But God began to work on me when I was 13, as my parents transitioned from the Democratic to the Republican Party. Meeting President George W. Bush in South Carolina somehow changed me and I began to want to change and like people, I began liking to be around all the political events my parents forced me to go to for years.
When God Became Real
It was in October 2012 that God got a hold of my heart. It was in a moment of heartbreak that I found true love, God’s love. My boyfriend of a long-distance relationship ended the relationship because he couldn’t do long distance anymore, and it was painful. I was living in a Mormon household, and God met me one night in October 2012 after I prayed to Him with such pain and fervor to help me. I didn’t realize it then but looking back I was praying the “sinner’s prayer.” I asked Him to guide me to the Bible and speak to me somewhere in its pages. I opened to Romans 1 and began reading and on that night, Holy Spirit opened the eyes of my heart. As a hungry baby sucks its bottle, I for 10 months in that Mormon house, sucked on every word in the Bible- from Genesis to Revelation. I was being transformed from the inside out day by day. God was with me as a loving father is. Every day I could feel him so strongly. Even though my heart was still hurting from the relationship ending, God was with me. In waking up I’d feel His presence through the pain, and in reading the Bible fully, something I had never done before, He began healing, cleansing me from the inside out, and giving me an identity. I began to realize God’s purpose for humanity and the importance of Godly relationships. And I knew I wanted to dedicate my life to Him for the rest of my life, trusting Him to guide my steps.
I was attending McLean Bible Church in Arlington, VA during this time and I took every Bible study class I could get my hands on- from 1 Corinthians, to classes on God’s purpose for dating and marriage, to financial planning. I began sharing Jesus in the Mormon household I was in and with everyone around me. I couldn’t stop telling people about Jesus. My parents could see I was different- I walked different, talked different, spoke different, and shined differently. All I wanted was more of God and to find out more about Him and His Word. I couldn’t get enough.
And today, seven years later, I can’t get enough of Him and His Word. Christianity is not a religion but a relationship, it’s faith, trusting God when you don’t understand what is happening, it’s walking with Jesus and allowing Holy Spirit to guide, and it’s thinking of others as more highly than yourself.
Ally is the founder of Seele Magazine, an online magazine for women of faith with articles covering fashion, travel and spiritual growth. Follow her on Instagram @SeeleMagazine
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