My name is Lexie, and I have attended Radiant now for about six years with my husband, Andrew, and children, Wyatt and Hannah. I grew up in a Christian home and accepted Jesus when I was a young teenager. After that, I tried to grow in my faith, but got sucked into the world, the wrong groups of friends, and got a little lost. It wasn't until around the time I got married that I really started to realize I needed to make changes and that I truly needed Jesus at the center. “Ironically”, this all happened around the same time I started attending Radiant.

“I had a radical encounter with the Lord that completely changed the trajectory of my life.”

After marriage and having our first child, God really started to work in my heart. Then began the "pressing period," if you will, where I started to learn what a faith-filled life looked like and I started to seek closeness with God. In October of 2018, my grandpa passed away. He was one of those God-fearing men who when you were around, you just felt the presence of Jesus. He had a profound impact not only on my faith, but on the faith of our entire family on my Dad’s side. He was one of those Billy Graham type Grandpas. While traveling for his memorial service to Alabama, I had a radical encounter with the Lord that completely changed the trajectory of my life. Interestingly, I went back and forth several times on whether or not I should fly down by myself, but I felt a very strong pull to go, as if I didn’t have a choice. God knew where I needed to be.

Until this encounter, I had always had this shred of doubt with my faith. I think very factually and scientifically, so I've always struggled because I couldn't "feel" or "see." After that experience, every shred of doubt was gone. God was so kind to show me what I needed to fully surrender to Him. He knew I needed to feel that tangible presence of Him and He did that through a stranger on an airplane - He can truly use us all, at any moment. Shortly after I returned home, I signed up to get baptized and was baptized on December 30, 2018, at Radiant Church in Richland. After I was baptized, my spiritual growth really began to accelerate. The whole next year was all about growing with the Lord and my closeness with Him. Then, of course, 2020 happened, and I think we all felt the “funk” of that season. I was also pregnant with our daughter after trying for many months. So, it was a season we were so grateful for, but I also felt myself grow a bit distant again from God.

In the year following, my mom started to experience digestive issues and testing began to get a diagnosis. In May of 2021, my mom and dad called us from the Mayo Clinic with news that she had a rare form of pancreatic cancer. Within hours, I was on a plane and on my way to be with them. I stayed there for a week, and I can’t even put into words how God worked through me while I was there. The prayers I prayed and the words I spoke over them were not my own. We experienced multiple encounters through other believers while we were there too - too many to count to be honest. God completely surrounded us with the comfort and peace that only He can give in a situation like that. I hit my knees in that hospital room and I pleaded to God, not only for Him to heal my mom, but for Him to use me for His kingdom. It was my full surrender to Him, laying everything at His feet.

Months later, I decided to attend an open house at Alternatives of Kalamazoo (a pro-life non-profit organization). Getting involved with Alternatives had been on my heart for a few years. I was ready to leave my corporate career of almost a decade and jump to where God wanted me to be. I wasn’t sure if that looked like volunteering or maybe another job. Long story short, after my keys (that shouldn’t have been able to be) were locked in my car that night of the open house, I was able to stay there late and even chat with their director one on one. A week later, they offered me the position as their Events and Volunteer Coordinator, something I was not expecting! We joke at Alternatives to this day that God will sometimes quite literally lock your keys in your car to keep you somewhere long enough to complete His mission. While everything else in my life was happening, marriage, children, losing my grandpa, an unfulfilled career, my mom’s diagnosis, anxiety, and fear, He was working and He was preparing me. The meaning of my full name, Alexandria, is “helper or defender of mankind”. I didn’t learn this until after I was pregnant myself, looking up baby names and meanings and it’s so neat to see scripture from Jeremiah and Psalms come to life even through the choice of my name. God had a plan and a purpose for my life - He knew me before I was born.

So here I am now, in the midst of starting to see fruit from a seed that God put into my heart years ago. He has taken everything in my life, the good and the bad, my skills and experience, my boldness and my bravery, and He’s now using that for His glory. God even decided that we might experience a surprise pregnancy ourselves, and we are due with baby number three in September! The client stories I’ve heard and seeing the generosity of our community will forever change my life. It has opened my eyes to see how God desires the body of Christ to operate and to support each other, rooted in the truth and the love of Jesus. Today, our marriage is flourishing, I am truly fulfilled each day with what I am doing to serve God, I’m surrounded by an incredible group of Godly women, and my mom is still here, fighting her fight, filled with the joy of the Lord that still astounds me.

I think God wanted me to share my story because He wants to remind us that He is working. In the season of waiting, He’s working. In your pain and in your fear, He is working. When you feel like you’re in the middle of the wilderness alone, He is right there with you. And when you draw near enough to Him to hear His whisper, you’ll be able to discern His plans for you. He may even leverage terrible circumstances like losing a grandfather or having a parent diagnosed with cancer to bring you to your knees, so you can become close to Him. One thing that helped me in that season of waiting and seeking Him, was hearing the testimonies of others. I hope mine may help even one.

Do you feel your story can serve as a hope and inspiration to others? Share your story at mystory@radiant.church.