Alpha Changed My Life

"I attended the Alpha Course at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Downingtown, PA, in the fall of 2000. A co-worker invited me. When I asked her what Alpha was about, she said she wasn't sure, it was a new program at her church, and it was going to help us with the bible. This appealed to me because I grew up in the 50's with no real experience with the bible. In the mid 80's, we moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma which is often referred to as the Bible Belt. I was somewhat envious of my new Baptist and Protestant Christian friends that really seemed to know the bible while I, knew almost nothing. Attending that Alpha course exceeded my expectations. For years, I thought I was a decent Catholic, but I had never had a real experience of God. I always felt as if something was missing from my life. For years I went to services each Sunday -- going through the routine mechanics -- and still felt as if something was missing from my life. So I stopped going to church for a long time. Then with each phase of my life - entering high school, my first job, marriage, children, better job ... I would think,this is going to make me happy -- and phase after phase, I felt as if something was missing from my life. Then in 1998 at the age of 48, while agonizing over the serious illness of my then 33 year old brother Chris, we were told he needed a heart transplant to live, a situation totally out of my control. See, I was the oldest of 10 children and my brother Rob and I were the ones our brothers and sisters came to to fix this or fix that. In today's terms, I would be referred to as a control freak. Someone needed a job - we whipped up a resume. Someone needed a car - we scrounged one up. Someone needed a few dollars to pay bills - we managed to pull that off. But a heart? No way we could fix that. On the way back from the hospital after hearing this news, something compelled me to stop in a church. I was completely alone. I prayed to Jesus to ask for forgiveness and asked Him to help me to accept God's will no matter what the outcome. I didn't ask for a cure. I didn't bargain and say God, if you cure Chris then I'll do such and such. No, I simply asked for forgiveness and help to do God's will. At that moment, I felt such a sense of inner peace. That was the start of my real faith journey in wanting to know more about Jesus so I went on an Alpha Course . When I prayed that day in 1998 and turned everything over to Jesus, He took my burden and has indeed helped me to find rest. Rest and peace in my heart. In one of the talks Nicky Gamble uses a TV antenna as an example. I could relate. Back in the 50's our first tv was black and white. The picture was fuzzy and snowy - not clear at all - but we thought it was the best thing ever. Then for Christmas someone gave us one of those rabbit ear antennas and boy, did things come in a lot clearer! We just didn't want to go back to the old way. Just like that simple little rabbit ear antenna, Alpha has kept me from going back to my old ways. As things turned out, Chris got his heart in the spring of 1999 and in 2004 celebrated his 5th anniversary. I enjoyed Alpha so much I presented the program to the pastor of my Church, Sts Simon and Jude and my husband and I are now coordinators of the program. It has been gratifying to help others come to know and develop a relationship with Jesus. It's a thumbs up course! " - Maureen D.