When pastor Matt Dunavant and his wife Stacey came to Faith Community Church in Vermont, they made sure \u201cconnect cards\u201d were placed in the pews so attendees could request more information about being a Jesus-follower.<\/p>\n
Those cards helped change Barbara Petrie\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
Like most people in Barre, Barbara had been raised Catholic — \u201cbaptized, communioned, confirmed, the whole nine yards as far as sacraments go,\u201d she said. \u201cMuch of my upbringing as a person … was tied into behavior. If you say the right number of \u2018Hail Marys,\u2019 your sin will be forgiven. If you follow the Ten Commandments verbatim, you\u2019ll stay out of trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n
The problem was, Barbara hadn\u2019t stayed out of trouble. Her life had unraveled with a failed marriage and broken relationships. As a devout Catholic, she was at a loss for what to do.<\/p>\n
Her children had started attending the youth group at Faith Community and Barbara had noticed a difference in their lives. She decided to visit one Sunday to see what it was all about. Sitting in the pew, she noticed the \u201cconnect card.\u201d Her interest was piqued because \u201cfollowing Jesus\u201d seemed more active than just believing in Him — something that might help her fix things. So she checked the card to indicate she wanted to be a Jesus-follower and dropped it in the offering plate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was odd that I wanted to mark that box, thinking, \u2018I am already following Jesus, aren\u2019t I?\u2019 But I marked it anyway and the very next day I got a call from Pastor Matt,\u201d Barbara said.<\/p>\n
Within the week she was tearfully recounting her journey with Matt and Stacey. The conversation quickly came around to Barbara\u2019s desire to be perfect and her inability to ask aloud for help. Even as Matt encouraged her to do just that, she couldn\u2019t get the words out. \u201cIt was like an unmasking, a vulnerability, showing my soft underside — terrifying!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Soon Barbara realized that it wasn\u2019t about what she could do, but what Jesus had done for her. \u201cThen it hit me — I have been a perfectionist my whole life. Which also means that I have been a failure, because I can never be perfect in God\u2019s eyes until He perfects me,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n
Haltingly, she got the words out. \u201cI stammered that I needed help, and have frequently done so since,\u201d she said. \u201cI came to Christ a sobbing, sloppy mess, sitting on a couch in the Dunavants\u2019 living room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stacey led Barbara in a prayer for salvation: \u201cDear Jesus, thank You for loving me and creating me. Jesus, I want You to be Lord of my life. I give my all to You. Come into my life and wash me of my sins. I want to follow You. In Jesus\u2019 Name, Amen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barbara marvels at the immediate change she experienced. \u201cSuch weight lifted suddenly, I could see things with a clarity I couldn\u2019t before. All those mistakes led me to where I was,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She was soon baptized along with her two oldest children — Nick and Catherine. Her youngest daughter Alexandra was baptized last year. All three are continuing to seek after God; Catherine, in fact, just returned from a mission trip to Kenya.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am humbled that my children were so instrumentally used by Him to bring me to Him,\u201d Barbara said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m in awe of how the Lord uses them daily to introduce Him to others.\u201d<\/p>\n
Life has been immeasurably better since Barbara met Christ two years ago, but not easier.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn many ways and by human standards, life is harder as a believer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Circumstances of her life have been as difficult as ever. Financial burdens, health concerns and parenting challenges have threatened to overwhelm her in recent months, but despite those obstacles she has continued to cling to Jesus and dig into His Word.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the most important and most amazing and most unwavering relationship in my life,\u201d Barbara said. \u201cI still get scared, angry and impatient, but He has never failed to meet me on the other side of awful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faith Community began a simple Bible-reading program aimed at getting church members into God\u2019s Word daily and started a Facebook page to share what they were learning. Stacey was amazed at Barbara\u2019s spiritual vision.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wrote some of the most amazing things that God was telling her,\u201d Stacey said. \u201cThe Holy Spirit was all over it — she went from knowing nothing to really having insight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stacey also saw Barbara persevere in the midst of the challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll this stuff happened, but she stuck it out. She\u2019s there every Sunday; she\u2019s in God\u2019s Word. I\u2019ve been in awe of the Holy Spirit\u2019s work in her life and her ability to stay faithful and grow in the tough, difficult circumstances,\u201d Stacey said.<\/p>\n
Barbara continues to learn daily what it means to follow Jesus.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery challenge and crisis is like a birth — traumatic, messy and dark. With Christ I know that there is a coming out into the light, seeing and feeling things differently than before. I have come to accept that being in this body means hurting. But there is joy in Him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is the only chance at perfection we\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When pastor Matt Dunavant and his wife Stacey came to Faith Community Church in Vermont, they made sure \u201cconnect cards\u201d were placed in the pews so attendees could request more information about being a Jesus-follower. Those cards helped change Barbara Petrie\u2019s life. Like most people in Barre, Barbara had been raised Catholic — \u201cbaptized, communioned, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1409,3738,387,3399],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6157\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}