Favorite Doctrine

Is it dorky to have a favorite doctrine? I'm sure it is, but I have one anyway. I love the idea of prevenient grace! I feel in love with it from the moment I first learned about it in college. I think this is because I can so clearly see this idea in my own life. I can see things that God put in my life and little twinges in my heart YEARS before I started going to church or even thought much of being a Christian.

I was thinking about it the other day as I was reading some of the American Girl books. Going to church and reading the Bible is mentioned in a lot of those books. I was also watching Little Bill (a Nick Jr. Cartoon) Saturday morning. It featured the song This Little Light of Mine. I'm glad things like this are out there. It was things like these little tid bits that were God's prevenient grace for me.

For me, it was the Little House on the Prairie books. When we were little, my sister and I would play "Laura Ingalls Wilder." We would ride around in the "wilderness" in our covered wagon. We would camp, churn butter, build houses, go to school, and anything else we could think of. For some reason, I always insisted we include going to church in our activities. This was when I had gone to church only a couple of times in my life, yet I still knew that it was important.

I also remember being able to identify with the book Are You There God? It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume. One of the main themes of the book was religion and her struggles with not being raised either Jewish or Christian. Funny how I wasn't really interested in being a Christian, yet I still somehow felt a tug while reading that book.

At the time, these things didn't really mean anything big to me, but looking back, I can see how God used them to begin calling me to Himself. Looking back, I see these things as part of God's prevenient grace.