I am thrilled to share the first ever guest post on Lovely Thoughts today from a lovely member of our LTS community. Lovelies, please meet Ursula, a 25-year-old sister in Christ from Spain (If you read in Spanish, do check out her professional blog & her personal blog) I am so humbled that she is willing to share her testimony here - it's a beautiful tale of first loves, both physical and spiritual. It never ceases to amaze me how God continues to touch lives across the world of all sorts of different people - in different cultures, cities, countries, and languages.

First of all I have prayed to God for telling you all the most important details about my conversion, the ones that help you more to realize how amazing His love for us is.

Three years ago I may had told you that I was Forestry Engineer, but now it’s not my degree what defines me. It’s not my mission.

I grew up in a common Spanish family where religion was more tradition than devotion. I was baptized when I was two-months-old and then attended catechism class until taking my First Communion. I never saw or heard about God at home.My grandmother was the only person who talked to me about Him, so I remember myself as a child talking to God, but  I saw Him more like a kind of problem solver.

After First Communion, I disappeared from my parish and continued growing like a rebel teenager, always speaking for reason instead of faith. I even said horrible things about Christianity.  Could anyone be more sinful than me?

At the age of sixteen I started a relationship with my best friend. He was a very kind boy from a good family, from a catholic school and he studied electrical engineering at University. He didn’t drink or smoke.

I met him at the Bagpipe Band where we play. We started sharing our interests about traditional music all over the world, playing, singing and having coffee together and suddenly I realized I was in love with him. I want you to remember that by this point, I had never heard about purity and honoring God with your relationships or even looking for a partner that God would approve of.

My life was really empty of spiritual things. I believed in nothing, but myself and how smart and wonderful I was, so I ended up keeping some people away from me because they weren’t good enough. By this point my parents started to see my pride and recommend that I change my personality.  I even transferred from my high school to another one. There I found the woman who is now my best friend - she is kind, generous and attentive.

Then, I started at University, followed my parent’s recommendations and found really good friends. But, when I was in my last year my world broke into a million pieces. My father had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

Maybe some of you know what a cancer experience is like, but in my case some “strange” things happened.

First of all, doctors never told us that it was a terminal cancer, so my father fought with all his might, giving us a huge example of how life must be lived even if you are not a religious person. My mother was near him through the entire process. We all have hopes, but one day my mom called me from the hospital and told me that she needed me there.

When I finally arrived at the hospital, she shook her head and I fell down on my knees shouting and crying desperately. But, don’t grieve about me, because there was someone holding me. His name is Jesus.

It all started with the funeral service with an amazing sermon. I realized I was peaceful at church, so I told my boyfriend I wanted to go every Sunday, even when I didn’t understand anything or know how to follow the service.

Although my boyfriend studied in a catholic church, due to the death of his brother he was really angry with God and has lots of doubts about Him. However, God's miracles happen so often in front of us, even when we don’t appreciate them.

My boyfriend took my hand and told me “I’m going to walk through this path with you.” Our relationship changed at lot from this moment, so God started to be in the middle of us.

I began to understand the love of God in all His magnificence, and if you know what I’m talking about, you will understand my feelings. The bad news was I was a huge sinner and an ignorant, the good news was that God forgave me because He loved me and Jesus saved me, and when you know nothing or just a little bit you can learn everything.

I became a volunteer at my parish helping disadvantaged children with their homework. Twice a week, I spent the afternoon trying to love and understand them. I didn’t lose any service and my relation with God grew.

Two years later, my boyfriend and I were engaged and when I told the good news to my friends some of them told me I was crazy for being married at the age of 24 when the world was still at my feet.  But the path that God was showing us was so different. My father’s experience taught me that family is your biggest treasure.

We have been married for a year and it’s been a hard experience not to have a job for a year. During this process my husband’s faith has diminished a little, but I was there solid as a rock, trusting God, so He showed me as a wife and future mother my role is really important.

I’m the guardian of faith at my home and I cannot doubt I must be close to Him.

To end my story, I would like you to look back to see the incredible favors God gave me, even when I was a sinner and far from Him.

1. Giving me an excellent partner to share my life and letting him be the only one in my life, even when I didn’t know anything about purity. God also showed me that family is the most important thing in life and what my role in it is.
2. Not let us know that my father was going to die and allowing us to have hope.
3. Showing me through my volunteer work that I want to be a teacher and work with teenagers.

And the best part is that this amazing story is not finished yet.

--------------------------------

Oh, my goodness. This story doesn't cease to give me shivers. I love the beauty and simplicity and the unmistakable hand of God that is clearly evident in Ursula's life. Thank you for sharing your beautiful story with us, dear! :) 

If anyone else is interested in contributing a guest post and sharing what God has done in your life or what He's been teaching you lately, get in touch with me! 

-Yelena