He really is a wild man.

And for once, I'm not talking about my youngest son. I'm talking about Jesus. I went to this Christian conference on Saturday morning, I've never been to one before and I was a little apprehensive. I was mostly hoping that strangers wouldn't try to hug me, and that we wouldn't have to break out in little groups and do anything wierd. All of my fears were unfounded. Instead, I listened to this cool, sassy Southern woman talk to a 6,700 women about God and faith and her life and His life and just all kinds of things--but the coolest part? She was really only talking to me. The rest of the women might as well not have been in the room. That's the cool thing I've found about God. He talks to me, says exactly what I need to hear, when I need to hear it. It's kinda funny though, because my friend sitting next to me said she was talking only to her, and her life is completely different than mine. Ha.

So the event kind of kicked-started me back to where I need to go. I've always felt God tapping on my shoulder, even when I was a little kid. We didn't go to church in my family, but I knew about God and had a reverence for Him that I couldn't explain. I know He wants a deeper relationship with me, and He's pretty clever when it comes to arranging it. First, He talked me into quitting a job I loved to stay home with my boys and be a freelance writer. Then, suddenly, I find myself surrounded by friends who are all pretty strong Christians--old friends, new friends, blog friends, blue friends (ok, as a writer, I like to rhyme. that just had to be done). I can see the pieces of the puzzle coming together in my life, and it makes me so excited.

Perhaps the thing that was the clincher for me was something that may not seem very strange to anyone reading this. I feel that my friend with cancer is woven into my life for a reason, and that was confirmed for me last night. During the conference, the speaker talked about asking God to show you something specific before you open your bible, and then turning to a page and how the answer is often right there in scripture. So I was babbling to my husband about all of this, and telling him how everything seems to be totally connected through God...and I said "I'm going to test this thing out." (I know God isn't a magic trick, but I kind of knew it was going to work)

So I prayed that God would show how He was working in my life, to kind of confirm that it's all connected. Then I opened my bible. Well, at first I was disappointed, because my hand slipped and was on page 3. It wasn't even scripture, it was just a blank page that said This Book Presented To Carey Grosdidier On August 26, 2002. Congratulations.

I'd forgotten all about it. August 26 is the day I officially became a Christian, my "birth day in Christ". It was also the date we held the cancer rally this year. And I've never felt closer to God than I did on that day.

Coincidence? You might think so. But I know better. He is a wild man.