I was an 18 year old, mom with of toddler who wanted more for from life.

More than anything, I wanted to become someone my daughter could look up to. I didn’t have all the answers, but I knew where I wanted to start.

I wanted to get right with God.

I remember telling someone close to me that, expecting encouragement. Instead, they laughed and asked, “So becoming a Bible thumper is going to make you a better person?”

I had never heard that phrase before but I remember exactly how it made me feel.

For a moment, I questioned whether I was even taking the right first step.

Not long after that, I remember hearing a message in church that sounded something like, “God is tired of giving you chances. This is the last chance you’re going to get to live your life right.”

Whether those were the exact words or simply how my young heart interpreted them, they became the lens through which I viewed God.

So I tried.

I tried to be perfect.

I tried to earn God’s approval.

And every time I failed, I convinced myself I’d blown my last chance.

Instead of running to God, I ran from Him.

I stopped praying.

I stopped opening my Bible.

I told myself I’d come back once I got my life together because surely He didn’t want someone who kept messing up.

Years passed carrying beliefs that God never intended for me to carry.

Looking back now, I can see how much those experiences shaped me.

Some shaped me for the better.

Others taught me to fear God instead of knowing Him.

Maybe that’s why I’ve always been so intentional with my own children.

From the time they were little, I’ve told them the same thing over and over.

“No matter what you’ve done, you can always come to me.”

“There is nothing you could do that would make you stop being my child.”

“You are never too far gone to come home.”

Will we have hard conversations? Absolutely.

Will there be consequences? Sometimes.

But my love for them has never depended on whether they got everything right.

And one day it hit me.

I wasn’t just teaching my children how I wanted to love them.

I was finally beginning to understand how God had been loving me all along.

A few weeks ago, I was driving home from Tennessee when I noticed a series of billboards along the interstate.

One after another they said things like, “Heaven or Hell. You Choose.”

I found myself thinking about the person who’s never really known Jesus.

Or maybe the person who grew up in church but quietly walked away because of shame, hurt, or fear.

I couldn’t help but wonder if a message rooted in fear would actually bring someone home.

I know it wouldn’t have brought me.

At 18 years old, fear didn’t make me run toward God.

It made me hide.

It made me believe I’d already missed my chance.

What finally changed me wasn’t fear.

It was discovering that God’s grace was bigger than my failures.

That His mercy wasn’t something I had to earn.

That He wasn’t standing at the door with crossed arms waiting to remind me how many times I’d messed up.

He was waiting with open arms, ready to welcome me home.

Maybe you’ve spent years believing you’ve gone too far.

Maybe you’ve convinced yourself that if you were ever going to get your life right with God, you would’ve done it by now.

Maybe shame has kept you at a distance.

Maybe fear has whispered that you’ve exhausted God’s grace.

If that’s you, I hope you’ll hear what I wish someone had told my 18 year old heart.

You have not missed your moment.

You have not exhausted God’s mercy.

You are not too far gone.

Come with your questions.

Come with your doubts.

Come with your failures.

Come carrying the pieces of your story you wish looked different.

Just come.

Because His love has never depended on your perfection.

His grace is still enough.

And you can always come home.