Lent is a time to remember and reflect.  So we’ve asked a number of people to share their stories with us.  Today, we hear from Claudia Nauman, Chair of our Deacon team…

Paul and I arrived at Libertyville Covenant Church in 1991, both from denominations other than the Covenant. We knew no one nor anything about the Covenant, but we saw a loving group of people sharing life as a healthy Christian family. The following year we became members. I came to the Covenant as a Catholic, intimidated to be amidst those who loved and knew the Bible, for I knew next to nothing. Every Bible study that was offered at church I attended, and every opportunity to soak in more about our Triune God became a place for me to sit and learn. I am thankful that I found people in our church who were interested in walking the Christian walk, and I casually looked to a few of them to mentor me in the ways of the Bible. They taught me that disciplined studying and reading of the Bible is an expression of my love for God, and that He’s always there for me. They also taught me about prayer, both the simple act and the profound triune mystery attached to it.

In 1992 I began to read through the entire Bible for the very first time, and it was exciting but really hard.  I needed some sense of familiarity, one day while commuting downtown, and turned to one of the few OT passages I knew: Psalm 23 and across from it I spied Psalm 27, which spoke to my heart, and past hurts, and became my very first memory verse: The Lord is my light and salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? My being held that verse ever so closely, leaning on it to help me to break dependence on pains of the past and uncertainties of my future.

24 years later I know that verse, though I’m in a different time and a different space in life.  I’ve walked, ran, and at times hid  from my God of Psalm 27, but His promise to be my light, strength, and salvation has never changed. I, however, have. I’m His. Forever.

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