First Name: Chris
Last Name: Davis
Your Story: My Conversion Story
Ever since I was very young, probably about 8 or 9 years old, I considered myself a Christian. I was baptized as an infant in the United Methodist Church. My mother took us to church every week. We were part of the religious education classes at the Presbyterian church in our town. Eventually, when I was in eleventh grade, I was confirmed a Presbyterian. I never gave a thought to Catholicism, except that I though it was interesting the way that they had the Priests and Bishops and Cardinals and the Pope.
Once I finished my confirmation class, I was pretty active in my church until I graduated from high school. Something changed then. I wasn't really involved in the church anymore. We didn't go to church every Sunday and my faith became a passing thing. I would go through these periods every now and then when I would become very spiritual and pray daily. Then the mood would pass and I would go back to my old ways.
Right before going to college in 1995, I got very spiritual. I gave up a lot of things that I liked and devoted myself more to God. I still wasn't going to church and reading the Bible, but I thought that I was getting closer. Once I got to college, Sunday became a day to sleep in until 12:00 noon. I got wrapped up in the party scene my first year away and made some very bad decisions. I wasn't living the life of a Christian, let alone a Catholic. I was indulging in all sorts of earthly vices, alcohol, carousing, and yes, even sins of the flesh. This continued throughout my whole first year away. Over the summer, my friends and I kind of drifted apart some.
When we return for our second year, we were still all friends, but did not do a lot of the things together that we used to. So, I naturally started to look for a new set of friends. That is when I met my wife, Jen. I didn't know at the time that she would become my wife, but I can still remember the first time that I saw her. I was a Resident Assistant in my dorm. Me and another RA were going to a welcome freshman dance with some of the guys from our floors. I had met a girl earlier that day that I was somewhat interested in. I asked her if she was going to be at the dance. She said yes. So, I decided that I needed to be there too. Once I got there I started to talk to her and found out that she had a boyfriend. But, then I met some of the girls that she had come to the dance with. One of them just so happens to be my wife.
I very taken by her when I first met her and I wanted to get to know her better. The next day Jen called me and asked if I wanted to meet her and friends for dinner. Of course I said yes. Well, to make a long story short, we ended up dating for the next four years, were engaged for one year, and have been married since 2001. After we got married, Jen insisted that I go to church. She did not care if I went to Catholic mass or to a Protestant service, but I had to go to church. I was very resistant at first. Here was my wife telling me that I had to go to church. I was actually kind of resentful at first. But then I got used to it. However, when she would go away for a weekend to see her parents, I would not go to church. I always had some excuse as to why I could not go.
Over the next year I continued to go to Catholic Mass with Jen. It was more convenience than anything else - why go to church twice if you can just go once. Then I really started to listen to what was going on at mass. And it started to intrigue me. So, I would ask her questions every now and then about the faith and what it meant. Then our lives changed forever. Emma was born. Sweet darling little Emma. Then it hit me. I signed papers saying that we promised to raise Emma Catholic. That really started to irritate me. Why could Emma not be exposed to the Protestant side of her family? Why can't she share my faith with me? Why does it have to be Catholic. I became resentful again.
So, the time finally came and got Emma baptized. Now it was two against one. Two Catholics and one Protestant. So I finally made a decision that I was going to convert. However, I made the decision so that I could set a good example for Emma. I decided that it was important for Emma to see both her parents practice the same faith. But I never called the parish to inquire about RCIA. I continually put it off. Thank God for small miracles! If had joined the Church at that time, I would have been joining for all the wrong reasons. I was not making an informed and free decision. I was doing the right thing, but for the wrong reasons. So, another year passed. Which left me outside the Body of Christ for another year.
Around the middle of 2003, I started to suffer from hypochondriasis. This is a psychological disorder in which the affected person continually worries about his health for no good reason. Of course you don't worry about small things, you only worry about big things - heart attacks, strokes, brain aneurysms, pulmonary embolisms, aortic dissections, etc. So, this made me think about death a great deal. It was sometime during this time that I realized that I was not right with God. There was something missing in my relationship with Him. And I finally came to realize that thing was the Church.
All this time it had been staring me right in the face and I never saw it. Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees. So, in the beginning of 2004, I finally made a decision that it was time. Actually it was more like the Lord made the decision for me. He had been waiting and waiting for me. Finally, I just gave up trying to resist His will. It was as if I said to Him, "alright, Lord. You win. I will do it Your way." And my life has not been the same since. I continued to struggle with my hypochondriasis throughout 2004 and still do struggle some times. It is much better now. I have much more control over my thoughts, but a lot of that has to do with the grace I receive from God.
So that brings us to the present day that I am writing this, August 2, 2004. I sit here at my computer and realize that I only have one month left before RCIA starts. And I am very excited. I cannot wait to begin my formal journey towards the body of Christ. Easter vigil seems so far away, but I know in reality that these next nine months will fly by. For the first time in a very long time, I see light in my life, actually my afterlife. I know now that I am on the right track and that God, after much calling, is finally bringing me home. I can't help but marvel at the complexity, yet simplicity of God's plan for me. His plan all along was to bring me home to the Church. That is the simple part. The complex part is the series of events that actually brought me here.
I thank God so much for allowing me to get to this point. And I thank my wife for always pushing me towards faith. And I thank Emma for being the angel that God sent to us to finally lead me home for good. God Bless!