1 Peter 2:9 - My Story: Adrienne Houston

Jordan: Welcome back to another episode of Viewpoints. I’m your host, Jordan Voyles, here with Dr. John Gerlach. We have a special guest, Adrienne Houston, and we’re so excited to have you here with us. How have you been?

Adrienne: Good! 

Jordan: Good, we’re so happy to have you. John, we’re currently in our series on 1 Peter…just tell us a little bit about how that’s been going, and I know that you also have a Scripture for us, as well.

John: Yeah, I think it’s been really good, because it’s been a series about storms and how to come through storms and we’ve talked about conversations in the storm. To me, Adrienne’s story today is a conversation in the storm that she was in at that time in her life. It really brings to my mind 1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. So to me it’s a great verse. We talked about it on Sunday. God is always in this process of going…ok, here’s darkness - maybe you caused the darkness, maybe someone else caused the darkness - but He’s always trying to bring us out into His light and bring us toward Him. When I heard Adrienne’s story, it was just such a great picture of that. So Adrienne, tell us the story - we call it the “Pen Story”.

Jordan: The famous Pen Story!

John: So tell us what’s the backstory of the Pen Story, let’s start there.

Adrienne: I was going through a really dark time - single mom, just really struggling in life and with my faith a little bit, as well. I didn’t really have the foundation in my life that I needed, wasn’t really involved in a church at that time, life was just really rough. This gentleman came into my office one day, just like every other day, and sat down to write a check. I went to offer him a pen, and he said, “No, I’m good, I have one here and I’ll even leave it for you.” He set it on my desk, and that kind of opened up a conversation about church. He asked where I attended church, and I think I told him I was between churches at that time, because who really wants to say this is where I’m at - life just isn’t good right now? And he just opened this conversation about how great Crestview was, and it was a very, very simple conversation - we’d love to have you, this is what we’re about, come any time. It’s such a simple conversation, and it all started with him writing a check and leaving a pen on my desk, which is probably something he does a million times. He probably didn’t think twice about it, but it changed my life. It took about two weeks for me to come try Crestview, because it was a little bit intimidating. It’s a larger church, and I grew up in a church that maybe had 100 people. But I walked in, and it just was home immediately. I don’t know how to explain it. I just felt at home, it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders just walking in the doors. It wasn’t intimidating, I didn’t feel judged. And truthfully, I feel like that’s something that people don’t talk about - they don’t try churches because they’re afraid. Am I going to wear the right thing, am I gonna say the right thing, where do I sit? And I didn’t feel any of that - it was just immediately home when I walked in the door. And from there, life just kind of changed. I found that foundation that I had been lacking and everything in life just kind of went up from there. Something so simple - just writing a check with a pen and leaving it there - truly changed my life.

John: And how long have you been here? 

Adrienne: 9 years.

Jordan: Oh wow, that’s longer than me!

Adrienne: Yeah, it’s been a long time. 

John: Ok, so follow-up questions. Tell us whatever you feel comfortable telling us about your dark time. What does that mean? Tell us what you’d gone through, where you were, about being a single mom…what’s that part of it?

Adrienne: We had a pretty rough childhood, so I didn’t have much family in my life. I got married very young, and had a little one, and that marriage was extremely toxic. It was just a bad situation that took a lot to get out of. I was able to finally get out of that, and I was working 3 jobs and being a single mom and just trying to make it work. I did try to get into churches and things like that, but I felt like because of the marriage I had been through and the divorce that I had gone through, I just wasn’t good enough to be in those places. Internally, I felt very defeated and had no self-worth. I felt like maybe God didn’t have a plan for me or a place for me. So it was pretty dark. 

John: On Sunday, we’re  talking about that - identity and who we really are - although we get other messages from what we go through that really tear us down and say no, you’re not enough or you’re not worth it. So how long were you in town at that point?

Adrienne: I had been here probably about 5 years.

John: And was it a Crestview pen or not a Crestview pen? 

Adrienne: It was a Crestview pen.

John: Ok so it was a Crestview pen. Jordan, how many do you have?

Jordan: I have about 8,000. 

John: Yeah, your collection is about 8,000. 

Adrienne: It was a Crestview pen, and now there will always be one on my desk. Believe it or not, people do still write checks! So as people come in and they need a pen, I always give them a Crestview pen. And I try to encourage them to take one, and there’s always one in my purse. Because you never know…it’s a gateway to a conversation that you might now know how to have about God or about attending church or any of that. 

Jordan: Something that’s pretty cool, and that I think is just a testament to your family, is seeing your son grow in the youth band. We’ve just been really asking God what He would have for the youth band, and seeing him play the drums and watching him and his talent grow over time has been absolutely phenomenal. And even beyond that, his spiritual walk has been amazing to see. It’s a testament to you and your family being here at Crestview. But I do have a question for John - do you feel like people are looking for that “serendipity moment”? What would you say to people listening today who think, “I don’t have a moment like that.” Should they wait for a moment like that or should they get out and try churches? 

John: Yeah I think Adrienne kind of went there a little bit and I think that’s a great question. I know the other side of her story from the person who brought the pen, and they basically just said I’m going to do this wherever I go. It wasn’t like they were making a special effort or saying, “ok, today I have to psych myself up to give a pen.” It was just, “I give pens. If somebody asks a question I’m going to answer it; if they want to know what’s on the pen, I’m going to tell them. I’m going to take every opportunity I get. It’s just part of who I am.” That was the biggest part of it to me that was pretty impressive. It wasn’t necessarily that this week was “pen week” and everybody gives away 5 pens. 

Jordan: Everyone gets a pen! You get a pen! And you get a pen!

John: Yeah I’ve got 8,000 to give away! It was more that they just do this, it’s just a part of who they are. Here’s him walking in, and Adrienne there, and here’s a pen, and the guy just used this really small thing that was very insignificant in some ways to make something pretty significant happen, or at least start something.

Adrienne: He completely changed my life. So he may have done that 20 times that week, and 9 years later he finds out that that one interaction completely changed my life.

John: And that’s a great point. Because I think sometimes we do stuff that God wants us to do and we may not have any idea. We may walk away going, “I don’t know if that did any good at all.”

Jordan: That’s a good point.

John: And then here all these years later, wow! He had no idea that that happened at all. 

Adrienne: You know and as Jordan said, my kids are so plugged in, as well. And I’m thankful for that, too. Because had I not had that conversation with him and joined Crestview, then my kids wouldn’t have been here, and they're thriving. So it’s just been the biggest blessing.

John: That’s really great. And that was my question that I was about to ask, but you’ve kind of already answered it. What’s some of the “coming into the light” part? Like the verse in 1 Peter 2:9 talks about darkness to light - God’s light. You’ve got impact on your family, impact marriage-wise, you’ve got impact on lots of different things. God’s constantly taking us out of the darkness (which will come - through storms, through difficulties, through hard times), and He keeps trying to bring light in. And He does that often through people that are willing to step up and try to make a difference in little ways and big ways. 

Jordan: Well Adrienne, we thank you so much for being here and sharing your story with us. John, anything you would like to say as we end this episode? 

John: I just think there are some great lessons here about just being willing to say this is what I’m gonna be and what I’m gonna be about. I’m gonna constantly give a pen, or ask people if I can pray for them. Anything like that, God will use it. It doesn’t have to be big. It can be really small, and God will use it. In God’s hands, something insignificant becomes a big deal. I wanted to finish by seeing if you had any final questions or thoughts.

Adrienne: My biggest thing is just to encourage people to have those conversations. One thing that I will say I wish I would have done differently, is when I became a member and things really started changing, letting him know what he did for me. Because that could encourage him to continue doing what he was doing, if he felt like it was insignificant. 

Jordan: Adrienne, thank you so much. Pastor John, thank you. To the listener, we hope to see you next time and God bless.