Kristen Harris

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been searching for God—but my real relationship with Jesus began when I was 19. In college, I joined a Baptist church, and later I followed my friends to a non-denominational church. I was trying to grow in faith, but deep down I still felt like something was missing.

After college, I moved to Nashville and started attending a huge megachurch. It had energy and excitement, but that was actually where I began questioning everything. I kept trying different churches, hoping one would bring me peace, but every time I left, I felt an uneasiness I couldn’t explain. It was like my soul was quietly telling me, “This isn’t it.”

The strange thing is that during all those years—while identifying as Protestant—I would slip into the Catholic church to pray. It didn’t matter what time it was; the doors were always open. And every time I walked in, I felt a peace I couldn’t find anywhere else. I admired the Catholics around me, even though I didn’t understand their practices and had been taught to be skeptical of them.

Eventually, I convinced myself maybe I wasn’t Christian at all. That’s when I drifted into New Age spirituality. I even started doing tarot—and I was good at it. I made extra money reading cards, but the more I did it, the worse I felt physically. I started having strange stomach pains and hot flashes that felt overwhelmingly heavy. Deep down, I knew something wasn’t right.

Then one night, everything changed. I had a dream where Our Blessed Mother appeared to me and told me to follow her Son. I woke up immediately, grabbed my journal, and wrote it all down. The very next day, I walked into an antique store and found sacramentals—like they had been placed there for me.

I didn’t become Catholic instantly. I slowly worked my way through different mainline Protestant traditions, trying to understand why God kept pulling me toward the Catholic Church. But the more I learned, the more everything finally made sense—the peace, the questions, the longing, the grace that kept chasing me.

Eventually, I decided to try Catholicism fully, without holding anything back.

And I’ve never looked back.

If this story provoked any questions, check out Truthly