40-something, New Believer

[Decalogue]

Hey all,

I'm not just new to Christian Forums, I'm new to Christianity too. The first part of my adult life was about my career and trying to enjoy life as much as I could. I had no real direction except I wanted to do something important in high-tech. My career progressed well; I steadily gained more responsibility over 15 years to the point I was managing a large operation for a well-known company. Out of nowhere, my luck ran out. My body collapsed, my mind began failing me. That began a dark period which continues to this day, lasting 6 years so far. I've made some recovery, but my life has completely changed- and can do a fraction of what I once could.

Whereas I once played tennis at a club 2-3x a week, weightlifted, surfed on weekends - today I am fortunate if I can do a 20 minute walk. Whereas I once could work non-stop for weeks, my cognitive abilities permit me a few hours/day, so I consult where I can. The experience has been humbling, to say the very least.

All my life I focused on "what I wanted to be"; now much of that seems out of reach. I went to a Catholic High School years back (though I never converted) and I recall one of the teachers asking, think about "Who you want to be, not just What you want to be". I tucked that question away for 20 years, and now that much of my professional goals seem out of reach, it has forced me to answer that question- and realize how significant it was all along.

I turned to God at the beginning of May through a set of chance incidents (which may not have been chance after all). And had a conversion experience where I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It has been a tremendous month for me in terms of gaining hope about the future. I dove into the Bible, was fortunate to join a Church Group in my area of caring people, and am excited to learn more about Jesus. Look forward to learning and being part of this great community!

 

[Duke of Stratford]

Welcome!!!

 

[Sketcher]

Welcome. Converting at any stage in life is always a good thing.

 

[SeventyOne]

Hey all,

I'm not just new to Christian Forums, I'm new to Christianity too. The first part of my adult life was about my career and trying to enjoy life as much as I could. I had no real direction except I wanted to do something important in high-tech. My career progressed well; I steadily gained more responsibility over 15 years to the point I was managing a large operation for a well-known company. Out of nowhere, my luck ran out. My body collapsed, my mind began failing me. That began a dark period which continues to this day, lasting 6 years so far. I've made some recovery, but my life has completely changed- and can do a fraction of what I once could.

Whereas I once played tennis at a club 2-3x a week, weightlifted, surfed on weekends - today I am fortunate if I can do a 20 minute walk. Whereas I once could work non-stop for weeks, my cognitive abilities permit me a few hours/day, so I consult where I can. The experience has been humbling, to say the very least.

All my life I focused on "what I wanted to be"; now much of that seems out of reach. I went to a Catholic High School years back (though I never converted) and I recall one of the teachers asking, think about "Who you want to be, not just What you want to be". I tucked that question away for 20 years, and now that much of my professional goals seem out of reach, it has forced me to answer that question- and realize how significant it was all along.

I turned to God at the beginning of May through a set of chance incidents (which may not have been chance after all). And had a conversion experience where I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It has been a tremendous month for me in terms of gaining hope about the future. I dove into the Bible, was fortunate to join a Church Group in my area of caring people, and am excited to learn more about Jesus. Look forward to learning and being part of this great community!

Welcome. Just a word of caution. A number of the forum areas have people who pose as Christians and will do anything they can to beat you down and try to make you doubt your faith. My advice is to utilize the ignore button as often as necessary. I certainly don't mean everyone, but just be aware there are active instigators that you will run across eventually.

 

[JohnB445]

I converted at 20 years old

 

[St_Worm2]

Hello @Decalogue, WELCOME TO CF Far more importantly however, WELCOME TO THE FAMILY OF GOD

I'm sorry to hear about all of the other things that have happened to you however. Actually, our soon to be 22 yr old son had a pretty similar experience to yours since he contracted Lyme Disease a little more than 5 years ago (when his very promising and already very accomplished life was turned on its head).

Hopefully, also like you, he will finally come to know the Lord (if you have the time, I'd greatly appreciate your prayers for his salvation .. his name is Jonathan).

I'm glad that you found us and decided to join in the discussions here with us, and I look forward to seeing you out on the other boards as well

Something that was a great blessing to me 34 years ago, when I became a believer, was a teaching series by Dr. John MacArthur called Spiritual Boot Camp. In it, Dr. MacArthur takes a close look at four of our most important Christian spiritual disciplines, How to Study Scripture, How to Pray, How to Function in the Body (Fellowship), and How to Witness, and he helps you understand the best ways to approach them, and gives you practical ways to apply them to your life and to your walk with God. I, in fact, still use a number of the things that I learned from Spiritual Boot Camp in my walk before Him today.

You can listen to them, read them or do both together online for free, here, if you'd like to. Just scroll down bit when you get there and you'll see the the four different parts of the series to click on/listen to.

God bless you!

--David

1 Thessalonians 5
23 May the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body
be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.​

 

[Tone]

HalleluYah, may Abba Yah Breathe deeply into this Body and raise us up and show you your spiritual gifts that you may work the good works He has prepared for you to build up the Body of Messiah, in Yahshua ha Mashiach's Name. Amen.

 

[Michie]

Welcome!

 

[Aussie Pete]

Hey all,

I'm not just new to Christian Forums, I'm new to Christianity too. The first part of my adult life was about my career and trying to enjoy life as much as I could. I had no real direction except I wanted to do something important in high-tech. My career progressed well; I steadily gained more responsibility over 15 years to the point I was managing a large operation for a well-known company. Out of nowhere, my luck ran out. My body collapsed, my mind began failing me. That began a dark period which continues to this day, lasting 6 years so far. I've made some recovery, but my life has completely changed- and can do a fraction of what I once could.

Whereas I once played tennis at a club 2-3x a week, weightlifted, surfed on weekends - today I am fortunate if I can do a 20 minute walk. Whereas I once could work non-stop for weeks, my cognitive abilities permit me a few hours/day, so I consult where I can. The experience has been humbling, to say the very least.

All my life I focused on "what I wanted to be"; now much of that seems out of reach. I went to a Catholic High School years back (though I never converted) and I recall one of the teachers asking, think about "Who you want to be, not just What you want to be". I tucked that question away for 20 years, and now that much of my professional goals seem out of reach, it has forced me to answer that question- and realize how significant it was all along.

I turned to God at the beginning of May through a set of chance incidents (which may not have been chance after all). And had a conversion experience where I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It has been a tremendous month for me in terms of gaining hope about the future. I dove into the Bible, was fortunate to join a Church Group in my area of caring people, and am excited to learn more about Jesus. Look forward to learning and being part of this great community!

Welcome. Lord Jesus came to set captives free. There is no such thing as coincidence. God had His eye on you all along, as you will find out.

 

[eleos1954]

Hey all,

I'm not just new to Christian Forums, I'm new to Christianity too. The first part of my adult life was about my career and trying to enjoy life as much as I could. I had no real direction except I wanted to do something important in high-tech. My career progressed well; I steadily gained more responsibility over 15 years to the point I was managing a large operation for a well-known company. Out of nowhere, my luck ran out. My body collapsed, my mind began failing me. That began a dark period which continues to this day, lasting 6 years so far. I've made some recovery, but my life has completely changed- and can do a fraction of what I once could.

Whereas I once played tennis at a club 2-3x a week, weightlifted, surfed on weekends - today I am fortunate if I can do a 20 minute walk. Whereas I once could work non-stop for weeks, my cognitive abilities permit me a few hours/day, so I consult where I can. The experience has been humbling, to say the very least.

All my life I focused on "what I wanted to be"; now much of that seems out of reach. I went to a Catholic High School years back (though I never converted) and I recall one of the teachers asking, think about "Who you want to be, not just What you want to be". I tucked that question away for 20 years, and now that much of my professional goals seem out of reach, it has forced me to answer that question- and realize how significant it was all along.

I turned to God at the beginning of May through a set of chance incidents (which may not have been chance after all). And had a conversion experience where I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It has been a tremendous month for me in terms of gaining hope about the future. I dove into the Bible, was fortunate to join a Church Group in my area of caring people, and am excited to learn more about Jesus. Look forward to learning and being part of this great community!

Welcome to the forum and AMEN you have found Jesus! Learn about Him and continue in Him .... may you be blessed.

 

[Decalogue]

Hello @Decalogue, WELCOME TO CF Far more importantly however, WELCOME TO THE FAMILY OF GOD

I'm sorry to hear about all of the other things that have happened to you however. Actually, our soon to be 22 yr old son had a pretty similar experience to yours since he contracted Lyme Disease a little more than 5 years ago (when his very promising and already very accomplished life was turned on its head).

Hopefully, also like you, he will finally come to know the Lord (if you have the time, I'd greatly appreciate your prayers for his salvation .. his name is Jonathan).

Thank you for the warm welcome David. And yes I will keep your son in my prayers. So unfortunate at that age. I'll pray for his recovery and that he finds his way to the Lord.

And thank you for the recommendation to Spiritual Boot Camp- I will check it out !

 

[Decalogue]

Thanks all for welcoming me to CF!

 

[JesseBassett]

welcome to cf!!

 

[George95]

Welcome to CF, I hope you enjoy discussing here!

 

[Deade]

Hello Decalogue,
welcome to CF.

I hope you'll enjoy your stay here.

 

[Olly Vie]

Hello Decalogue,

I know that your journey has been a challenging one and am grateful to God for how far that He has brought you. You are welcome to the platform. One verse that has been my anchor verse Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Sometimes it can be hard to figure why God will allow us to go through life changing challenging situation in our life. The question sometimes I ask is how can anything good come out of a terrible situation? God works in ways we cannot understand but from experience and history He makes all things work for good for his children if we will stick with God and trust him no matter what we go through. What we want to be may be totally different from who God has called or created us to be. Job lost it all in life. All that he has worked for and for years he didn’t feel the presence of God in his life. Joseph was betrayed by his own blood brothers. They even wished him dead. But the end of these stories was great restoration. I can understand how it feels when your life comes to a stand still and feel like you are now in a box or being limited by circumstance beyond your control. The battle is not yours; God called Gideon a man of valor when he still felt weak and least. Gideon thought he needed 32,000 men to win the battle, but God made him reduce the number to 300 men.

I can identify what you are going through. Be assure that God got your life and he will make this work for your good. All the experience you have had in the cooperate world will count when the time is right. You are at the right place. keep faith and hope alive. Dive more into the word of God and God will reveal himself to you. Sending hugs your way. Am here when you need someone to chat when you are online.

 

[Decalogue]

Olly Vie: Wow, that was wonderful !! I was familiar with some of those stories but the way you connected them together into picture was very helpful- it gives me hope. I've read your post a few times, and I'll read it a few more later on. And yes I have dived into God's word- spending a few hours everyday, along with a Church group. I feel passionate about knowing as much as I can about God's word. To me it feels fun (and important). I say fun, because that's the way it seems and also more motivating than thinking of it as arduous and painstaking! Seriously though, I do love reading the Word- it feels like an adventure to me. One with serious consequence but an adventure nonetheless.

 

[JesseBassett]

Welcome Decalogue to CF! I pray you learn a lot and enjoy your stay with us!

 

[Olly Vie]

Am glad you have a church family group. The bible says Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. As you spend time with God in his word soon you will be glowing, and you will get to know him better. We share a similar experience but with. Check this out when you get the chance Michele Cushatt. I must say I like your faith and believe that you will go far with this new relationship with God. Have a blessed week ahead

 

[George95]

Hello and welcome to CF!