Sharing Our Stories….Kathy Bernal

By Kathy Bernal, South Main Member

Kathy Bernal is a South Main Sanctuary Choir member, sings in the Agape Women’s Ensemble, and is a Community Leader in the Fellowship of Young Families.

My life at age 23 was a mess. I was working long, stressful hours as a first year attorney in Houston where I had no family. My father was dying of cancer and my one-year marriage to my college sweetheart took a heartbreaking turn thus ending in a divorce. I felt broken-heartened and ashamed. One of my friends and co-workers could see my despair and graciously invited me to attend his church, South Main.

I didn’t grow up in a church. I was 23 and divorced. I was sad. Could South Main accept all of these imperfections? The answer is what kept me coming back week after week for the next fourteen years. South Main is filled with imperfect yet loving and accepting people, all here for the same purpose: to support each other and to celebrate the love of God.

If you would like to know the difference that one invitation can make and the power that it can have, let me show you. Fourteen years later, as I look out at the congregation from the choir loft, I see my wonderful husband of eight years who, although raised Catholic, now serves beside me as a Community Leader of a Sunday School class that we helped form. I see my two beautiful, teenage stepdaughters who were welcomed by this church when they were only five years old and who would rather be hanging out at church or the Youth Center than anywhere else. They, like our precious 6 year-old daughter and spirited two- year old son will know what it is like to grow up in a loving church. I see our very best friends who continually sustain us through life. I see the people that help raise our children and support us as we attempt to live our lives and grow closer to God. Finally, I see the person who made that first invitation to me. How can I possibly thank him enough for such an incredible gift? The only way I can is by telling others what Jim Barkley did for me and my family with that one invitation and hope that others share that same power and love.

We are never more like Jesus than when we SHARE…. As we learn to share our stories, we learn to share our faith…

Share Campaign 2010