Wendy

My name is Wendy Poldberg. I have been a member of Grace Lutheran from the very beginning, 1995.

When I was approached to share a time when I felt God’s presence in a powerful way, I accepted with some trepidation. I am honored to be asked, but my faith journey hasn’t been a typical one. I have doubted my faith. I’ve been mad at God.

Losing my mother when I was 4 years old and inconsistent parenting meant I didn't often attend church. But my father’s mother, my grandmother, was a women of faith. When she could get me and my siblings to church, she was dressing the four of us in our Sunday best and loading us up in the car - which also meant we were getting grandma’s home cooking afterwards. Unfortunately, the infrequency of those church outings didn’t form the habit I needed to attend if she wasn’t the one taking me.

But something did take hold. I learned to pray. Regardless of my sporadic church attendance and not having religious education, I learned to pray and keep an internal dialogue with God. Peacefulness came from those conversations. I felt a real presence in our shared space. And in lonely times, that presence gave me hope and peace. 

I became a more consistent attendee of church when I married and had children. It was important to my husband Craig and I to take our children to church, and I hoped for them to have religious educational opportunities that I had missed. I stand in awe of those who can quote scripture without referencing their bible or when little children know bible stories and biblical characters from hearing them at home and in church.

My father wasn’t in the car with us on those Sunday trips to church with our grandmother. His distrust in God prevented that. But through the patience and persistence of many people God put in my way, I learned His love and eternal forgiveness. And I learned to trust in Him.