My Journey to Developing a Personal Relationship with God

My Journey to Developing a Personal Relationship with God

The Spark of Curiosity

When I was a junior in high school, I noticed that two of my friends were very faithful.  They seemed to have something I didn’t have, and this seemed to make their lives better.  I decided it was something I wanted to explore, this relationship with God.

Looking back now, I realize I didn’t truly have a relationship with God at that time.  I went to church a few times with family members or friends.  I took a First Communion class.  I participated in social church activities, such as lock ins and playing flute in a church music group, a church I didn’t actually go to.  I had attended a New Age festival.  This was the total of my experience when I started my journey.

Exploring Different Faiths

One of the first things I did was attend several services at a Jewish temple.  What struck me when I attended was how important family was to the people who attended.  I read some books about Judaism, and I learned a small amount of Hebrew.

My Jewish friend left to go to college, and I remained, going to college in my hometown.  I was exposed to a variety of people with a variety of perspectives.  I had several conversations about religion, spirituality, and mythology with them.  I delved into a study of religion and mythology by reading books and articles about them.  I learned about meditation and did several visual meditations.  I joined a pagan group.

Life Transitions and Spirituality on Hold

Then several things happened in my life.  I dropped out of college because I wasn’t sure what I was trying to accomplish.  I moved to pursue a job opportunity that didn’t pan out.  This experience let me see that I loved a boyfriend who I had left behind.  I moved back home, and I got back together with my boyfriend.  We got married.  We had a daughter.  We moved in with my husband’s family, who helped support us and our new baby.

The quest to find a relationship with God was on the back burner at this time.  I didn’t even think about it because I was focused on learning how to navigate these new experiences and roles in my life.  However, I did take classes to become a Reiki Master during this time.  This became part of my spirituality, but I did not particularly connect it with creating a relationship with God.

Our family moved back to our home area after about six months of living with my husband’s family.  I had heard about a job helping mentally handicapped and disabled adults.  I thought this would be a good opportunity, and the pay was pretty good.  I enjoyed the classroom part of the training in that job, so I decided to return to school.  I found that I enjoyed it much more than the first time around.

Returning to College and Renewing My Quest

When I went back to college, I again ended up working toward my goal of developing a relationship with God.  I took a Sociology of Religion class and a Philosophy of Religion class.  I took notes for my classes as I compared and contrasted various religions, spiritualities, and mythologies.  I would often journal about my experiences.  Again, I talked to a lot of different people about religion, faith, and spirituality.

Over time, I focused on the similarities between the things I was learning about.  I wondered if the various things would fit into a main framework.  I came up with a concept that worked for me: God is love.  I decided that for me, that was the only thing that mattered.  That is, I didn’t need to worry about rituals or the trappings of religion.  I also didn’t feel a need to read further, although I often would choose to do so.

The one piece that was still missing, though, was a personal relationship with God.  I didn’t even realize that that’s what I was seeking until after it had happened.  If you were to ask me at that time, I would have said that I had a solid spirituality, belief system, and faith.

Unexpected Steps That Led Me to God

My personal relationship with God developed unexpectedly, through practices I had originally started for other reasons.

I read a book called The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.  I adapted her concept of morning pages to fit my needs.  Each morning, I do two pages of stream of consciousness writing.  The idea is to keep your pen moving.  I have gotten a lot out of the practice.  It serves as a brain dump, to release thoughts that are swirling around in my brain.  Sometimes I talk about gratitude.  Sometimes I write affirmations.  Sometimes I write about good things from the day before or things I plan to do for the upcoming day.  Sometimes I set and track goals.  And sometimes I talk to God.

When I first started this practice, I didn’t realize I was talking to God.  It would just kind of happen, and in the beginning, I thought everything I wrote was simply my own musings.  Even before I realized what was happening, I was receiving guidance.  Now that I understand the difference between my own thoughts and divine guidance, I can easily distinguish them.  And now that I know that communicating with God is both possible and easy, I can do so with intention.

The Final Piece: Theta Healing

The final piece that allowed me to have a personal relationship with God is I took several Theta Healing classes and became a Theta Healing practitioner.  My intention when I took my first class was to learn how to reprogram my own subconscious limiting beliefs.  What I received from the classes was infinitely more valuable.  I learned how to connect with God consistently and whenever I wanted.  My intuition became much stronger.  And I became so much happier overall.

Where I Am Now: A Deeply Personal Relationship with God

I have finally achieved my goal.  I have a personal relationship with God.  I know what that feels like, and I know when I am receiving guidance.  I am able to share guidance to help other people as well.  It has been a long journey, and it has been a rewarding one.  I feel so fulfilled and supported in my life.  I am excited to move forward and see what God and I co-create.