The Pursuit

by Megan Hogan

My story started with no foundation. 
I wasn’t raised in church. 
I was raised by alcoholics, and the last of six kids. 
At sixteen years old, my mother put me on a plane from Tennessee to Texas to meet my real dad. This was supposed to just be a visit, but once I realized that I had to get out of the cycle my family was spinning in, I decided to make the move to Texas permanently.
This should have been when I first saw God’s grace and protection.

I was married, had four beautiful children, and divorced by 2014..
My life wasn’t centered around God, but I attended church because I wanted to do good. 

In May 2015, I married my husband, Chad. 
Our marriage started in tough circumstances that only got harder.

My husband had been a police officer for almost thirty years. In March 2016, my life was flipped upside down.
Chad called and said, “The Feds will be coming to our house.” Our road swarmed with police cars while investigators searched our house.
I knew this couldn’t be good, but somehow I was okay.
Normally I would have been a basket case.

I told Chad, Everything is going to be okay. We are going to be okay.

My husband was convicted for a financial crime. 
He was sentenced and sent to a prison in Talladega, Alabama in March 2017.
He could have been sent to Beaumont, but instead they placed him ten hours away. 

I questioned how I was going to make it.
He was our sole provider.
He was the foundation of our family.
And now I was on my own, my husband in another state, with no immediate family.

Something in me still knew it was going to be okay. 

I just did what I had to do.
I got a job cleaning houses, and stepped up to manage our small business we had in town. Every month I had just enough money to pay our bills, take care of our family, and go visit Chad. I made the drive to Alabama every other weekend. I left on Friday, visited him every day of the weekend, and made the drive back home on Sunday. I did this for seven months.

I knew in order to make this work I had to pursue him,
no matter where he was. 

During those seven months, I was faced with storm after storm. I dealt with wild allegations and bank accounts frozen. A friend approached me about getting my insurance license, and I completed it in July 2017. Then, Hurricane Harvey came in August 2017 and flooded our business and main source of income. 

All this time my husband was states away, and I had no support system.
I had people around me, but I felt unworthy of friendship.
I felt judged based on my circumstances. 
I was in a storm, drowning, and isolated. 

I knew God was in control, but I had no idea what He was doing.
What now, God?
Where do I go from here?
Where is our life going from here?

I knew that I had to keep going, so that’s what I did. 
I started working part-time at an insurance agency which allowed me financially to continue to make trips to see Chad. 
I could see God shifting things, but I still didn’t see how we were going to make it out of this storm. 

Chad was moved to Houston in November 2017 and released in January 2018. 

We started trying to put our pieces back together.
It was more like we were building a house with broken bricks.
We attended Community Church, but were just going through the motions. 

We began to mend relationships that had been broken, but we were afraid. 
Afraid of the judgment that would come from people.
Afraid that we were unworthy of friendships. 

We just kept putting one foot in front of the other and the path appeared. 

Chad got a job making more money than he ever had before.
I started working full time at the insurance agency. 
Our marriage grew stronger.
Still something was missing.

In 2020, I was invited to Turning Point Church.
After a few visits, I knew I was home.
I can’t even pinpoint what it is.
I felt welcomed and worthy. 
I never felt judged.
I felt seen. 

I immediately knew I wanted to do more than go through the motions.
I got involved, and I started connecting with others and serving. 
I couldn’t wait to get to my church on Sundays, and I wanted more.

I was baptized in 2021.
I declared my full faith in Jesus. 
I knew that there was no way that WE overcame our storms.
I knew that there was no way that WE were piecing our lives back together. 

My life is what it is today because of Jesus, and only Jesus. 

I’m starting from scratch.
I can’t quote the Bible, but I want to know His Word.
I didn’t grow up in Sunday School, but I love to worship.
My faith is not just learned, it is experienced. 

I didn’t go searching for God, He pursued me.
He has been talking to me and guiding me.
He has been right beside me all along.
He never gave up on me.

Instead, he took my shattered pieces of glass and made the 
most beautiful stained glass window I have ever seen.

Our family had to break for God to put the pieces back together like He wanted.
If Chad had not gone to prison, I don’t believe that we would be married today.
If he had not been placed hours away, our marriage would not be so strong.
If we had not walked through that storm, our family would not be what it is.

I am already seeing the fruit from finding a foundation of faith for my family.
Most Sundays my children and grandchildren take up an entire row at church.
My children have even taken the next step and are serving in different capacities as well. 
My marriage is stronger than it has ever been, and we are in small groups.
My perspective has shifted from surviving to making a difference. 

I pursued my husband.
God pursued me. 
He is pursuing you too.

No matter what you are facing.
No matter what the circumstances look like.
No matter how broken or hopeless it seems.

He wants to put your broken pieces back together beautifully.