Why God brought me back home
By Sandi Bergman
I grew up in a Christian home, in a small town where everyone was family, and I went to a church where the Pastor and my Dad were best friends and life was comfortable. But things started to change after high school.
I slowly found myself surrounded by people who lived to party to excess. I on the other hand had at an early age begun a mission of being healthy and fit. I refused to eat beef after I discovered that my favorite cow was missing and our freezer was full of beef.
I grew a huge garden (including soybeans for my meatless burgers) and ran and rode my bike every chance I got. I became a real outcast, especially around my siblings.
At 23 years old I moved to Iowa City, where I found a close group of friends who thought and acted like I did. We cooked our vegetarian meals together, bought food from the co-op, grew a garden, rode our bikes everywhere (even though I lived 10 miles from town in a log cabin heated with wood). It was like going back to my childhood.
We were all "good people" who followed the "rules" and treated people with dignity and respect. If you had asked any of us we would have said "yes I'm a Christian" but we didn't think or talk about it.
Returning home
All things good must come to an end so we all had to grow up and leave Iowa City. I came back to Des Moines to work for the family business. I was working in an office, which I hate, surrounded by the party animals I moved away from and feeling very lonely. Then I met my husband Allen. A man of great faith and the best husband I could ever have!
We started going to church with my Mom and Grandma, and to the church Allen grew up in. It was good to be back at church, but something was still missing. Until we found Lutheran Church of Hope. It was at Hope that I learned that God loves me. Me! That he guides me, cares for me, watches over me! Who knew?
I started to understand that when I could provide something the church needed it was God’s plan. He came through every time there was a need and most of the time it was way above and beyond what I could even imagine.
A different way to live
One day at work, I walked in on my 3 siblings standing around the counter in the kitchen and discussing their meds. As in, diabetes and high blood pressure meds. As I entered the room my brother said, "well obviously this is heredity.” Then he saw me.
I'm the oldest (4 years older than my next brother) and I ran a 1/2 marathon at 63 years of age, I can throw hay with the best of them and until recently I taught three to five fitness classes a week.
They all just walked away.
So why me? Was I "special" in God's eyes?
Did I listen to what God told me and the others didn't? How did I end up so different?
I know now that the path he had marked out for me included being as healthy and fit as I can be because I have 11 horses, 2 dogs and 6 cats to care for along with two trucking companies I help run.
As Pastor Rick Warren said, "If you're sick or dead, you can't do God's work.”
God loves us
Almost all of our animals are rescues and God wants me to stay healthy so they will be cared for.
I honestly don't know the answer. I can't tell you I really listened to God until recently and even now when I know he's telling me something I argue with him once in awhile over who's right, me or him.
What I do know is he always wants what's best for us and whether we do what he asks by accident or on purpose he still loves us. When we argue with him, he still loves us.
And guess what? If we don't do what he asks of us ... he still loves us.