My Walk With Christ

By Kimberlie Scheller

Written in 2023

In this post, I share my personal faith journey, including early belief, years of distance, and a renewed commitment to follow Christ. It reflects my ongoing desire to walk faithfully with God and raise my children to know Him.

A Faith-Filled Childhood

I grew up watching my parents read the Bible and pray. My dad’s parents would often be reading at the table when I stopped by, and we would kneel together in the living room to pray. We attended fellowship meetings every Sunday and Wednesday, gospel meetings, church conventions, and other gatherings regularly throughout the year. Faith was woven into everyday life.

My First Personal Encounter With God

When I was between eight and nine years old, I remember sitting quietly in my bedroom with the sun streaming through the window. I had begun reading my Bible on my own and decided to pray on my own for the first time. I told God that I wanted Him to live in my heart, and I promised to do my best to follow Him and obey what He taught me. As I prayed, I remember a sense of brightness around me and a deep warmth. A summer breeze blew through my open window, and I felt clearly that God was real, present, and pleased with my choice. I felt His love in a way I had never experienced before.

Growing in Faith as a Young Teen

When I was eleven or twelve, I stood up in a gospel meeting to share that I wanted to follow Jesus. From that point on, I regularly shared a verse and a thought during Sunday morning gatherings and Wednesday Bible studies. I tried sincerely to live an honest Christian life, repenting often and seeking God’s help in making choices. That season of my life holds many good memories.

Choosing the World Over God

Around the age of fourteen or fifteen, my parents were experiencing significant marriage struggles. I also transitioned from homeschooling to attending a Christian school and became very focused on fitting in with what I thought were the “cool” kids. By the time I was sixteen, I knowingly chose to step away from serving the Lord. I told God that I was sorry, but that I wanted to experience the world. I began smoking and drinking, cut my hair, wore pants and jewelry, and focused on myself and getting ahead in life.

I knew that I had turned away from God, and I believed that if I had died during that time, I would have been lost. Yet I was also aware that God was only a prayer away if I was willing to repent, and that knowledge brought some comfort even in my rebellion.

Marriage, Motherhood, and a Renewed Desire for God

When I met Chris, it mattered to me that he believed in God, though not that he actively followed Him. I chose not to continue dating a very kind and successful man because he was an atheist. Chris and I lived together, got married, had two boys, and had been married about three years when I began to feel a renewed desire to learn more about God. I sensed that having Him fully in our lives would change everything for the better, and I wanted our children to grow up knowing Him.

Over the next several years, we moved frequently for construction work, and I became consumed with family life, career, and getting ahead. When our son Wyatt was about nine, we moved to Cathlamet, Washington, and began attending a Christian community church. At that point, I felt a deep need for a personal relationship with Jesus and was finally willing to change whatever I needed to in order to pursue that. I felt peace, gratitude for life, and clarity about what had been missing.

Praying for Change in Our Family

I began praying for my husband, asking God to work in his heart and give him a desire to know Him and understand His Word. Chris started attending church, joined a men’s group, formed friendships with church leadership, began reading Scripture, and even praying. At the same time, we were still surrounded by friends who drank, swore, and partied often. Over time, both of us became more convicted about our choices. Drinking caused tension in our marriage, and although change was slow, through prayer and conviction we drank less and stepped away from many unhealthy influences. Those changes had a meaningful impact on our family.

Returning to Fellowship

Around 2009 or 2010, we began attending gospel meetings again in our small town and joined Bible studies with people I had grown up worshiping with. It felt like stepping back into childhood memories of sincerely trying to live a Jesus-led life. During that time, I made a commitment to go wherever God wanted us to go and to raise our children accordingly. I loved the emphasis on being led by the Holy Spirit, obeying Scripture, prayer, and encouraging one another to die to self and sin.

Being part of that fellowship felt like coming home, even while I recognized that some traditions were rooted in Scripture and others were man-made.

Wrestling With Difficult Realities

We were part of this fellowship for about thirteen years. In recent years, however, Chris and I began to struggle with differences between our convictions and those of the broader group. During the COVID season, we felt concerned about restrictions placed on gathering and participating in communion, particularly when questioning leadership was discouraged. It revealed to us an imbalance of authority that did not feel Spirit-led.

Not long after, serious allegations of abuse involving leadership came to light, along with additional reports of abuse and cover-ups. These revelations were devastating and forced us to question whether the system we were part of was truly healthy or was being used to manipulate and control people. While there were many spiritually helpful aspects, there were also things that hindered growth and caused harm.

Choosing to Trust Christ Alone

Through this process, I came to realize how important it is not to depend on any person, group, or system. Our salvation and walk must be rooted in Christ alone. While we continue to find encouragement in small gatherings and Bible study, we are also aware of how deeply tradition can blind people to necessary change.

Today, I feel a continued need to read Scripture, pray, and teach my children to serve the Lord. I desire to be guided by the Holy Spirit and to walk faithfully with God, trusting Him above all else. This is still my prayer, and this continues to be my walk with Christ.

Whole Truth Living