My name is Tracy Grady

and this is my story...

Ours was a loving family and I have lived most of my life in the Wexford area. Growing up, I often wanted to please God though I have to admit that my faith was largely driven by convenience, but I saw Him as condemning and distant and believed I would only be accepted and blessed by Him if I tried hard enough to live in accordance with his law.
   
In 1990 I married my wonderful husband, John, and in 1991 we were blessed with our first daughter. By 1996, we had grown to become a family of six. I thought I had a plan for my life and things were going just the way I had dreamed. Though I had never experienced a major crisis in my life, there was still an unexplainable restlessness in my heart. Something was missing, but I didn't know yet what that was. Raising four children motivated me to recommit myself to my church - I wanted my children to experience the childhood that I had. 
 
I packed my two older children up every Sunday and took them to church while my husband stayed home with the twins. This was always a battle as Kylie and Connor were both very vocal about not wanting to go.  To be honest, I didn't want to go either. It wasn't really "doing it" for me. In 1999, a friend invited my children to KidsFest. From the moment we walked into the Chapel, we recognized that there was something special here. The volunteers, leaders, kids, and music welcomed us and communicated such a "sense of belonging". I genuinely felt that we weren't simply welcome, we were wanted here. The sense of community was overwhelming!  I was amazed to see the way my kids responded to KidsFest and how excited they were to learn about God and His love for them. Kylie asked me to buy her a Bible just like the one her counselor had and Connor told me he wanted to be a KidsFest leader when he grew up.

I was surprised to find myself making an effort to be at club every morning and afternoon. There was something here and I wanted it. I struggled with the desire to leave the church I had grown up in, but I loved the way faith was meshed with a sense of community at Orchard Hill. I began to attend a small-group Bible study and was blessed by building relationships and experiencing Christian fellowship. The women seemed to have such a joy and excitement about their faith and I wanted to experience that as well. On my way to Church one Sunday, entirely unplanned, I ended up turning into Orchard Hill's parking lot instead and we've never looked back. My children and I now understand that God is not a distant and condemning God, but a loving father eagerly desiring a relationship with us through His son Jesus Christ.  I now realize that because of Jesus Christ I AM accepted and blessed and so I DESIRE to live right.

My younger children have both attended KidsQuest and KidsFest. Kylie is now building relationships in her own eighth grade small group and has just returned from Timberwolf. This Fall, Connor is looking forward to his first year of participation in Student Ministries. I too continue to grow in my faith each day – refreshed by serving in both KidsFest and Women's Ministries. God has calmed my once restless heart and has filled me with a joy that is beyond my comprehension. Now I find myself in the position of seeking out newcomers, welcoming them, and communicating to them just how much they are wanted here. It has been a wonderful reversal of roles! I pray that God would use me to touch the lives of those who enter Orchard Hill Church and that Gods presence here would be felt in their hearts. My name is Tracy Grady…and this is my story.