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.
