Anchored in the One who holds us steady.

No, I’m not trying to be a Christian influencer. I am, however, deeply influenced by Christ. And I suppose sharing the Gospel technically counts as Christian influencing, so here we are.

At its foundation, my faith is simple:

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

— Ephesians 2:8–9

And:

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

— Romans 10:9

My relationship with God, though? That’s a little messier.

My prayer life isn’t always pretty or eloquent. Sometimes it’s simply, Help. Sometimes it’s, Lord, please come get Your people. And sometimes, when everything around me feels uncertain, all I have is, It is well with my soul.

Becoming a mom changed the way I understand God as a good Father. I understand more deeply now what it means to love your children completely while also looking at some of their decisions and thinking, You know what? You might need to be grounded.

We don’t have to become perfect before we go to God. He wants us to come to Him as we are.

Maybe that’s why the people in Scripture I relate to most are the unqualified ones. The ones who essentially looked at God and said, Who, me?

The one who chose the whale rather than doing what God asked. The one who got angry enough to throw stone tablets. The woman who silently prayed for a baby. The prophet who became so overwhelmed that he wanted to die—and God gave him a nap and a snack.

Imperfect people. Emotional people. People who questioned, ran, failed, tried again, and were still used by God.

Those are my people.

Because ultimately, I want my answer to be the same:

“Here I am. Send me.”

Faith can be messy. Grace can be difficult to comprehend. It can be hard to understand how God could know every mistake, every bad decision, every fear and every failure—and still love us so deeply.

But He does.

You are God’s child. You are loved. And you do not have to clean yourself up before coming home.