Catherine Novak had no intention of getting baptized when she came to Green Bay Community Church for the first time in October.
But the message that morning by Pastor Troy Murphty focused on belief vs. trusting and taking the next step of faith.
Catherine was raised in a non-denominational church and made a personal decision for Jesus when she was young. She wanted to get baptized but always seemed to put it off.
When Catherine came with one of her college classmates to GBCC on October 8 she was compelled by Troy’s message, especially when he pointed out that the early believers got baptized soon after their conversions. But Catherine hesitated one last time, thinking that perhaps she should wait for another day when her parents would be in attendance.
“I realized those were more excuses, more reasons I would put it off again,” Catherine said.
So she took the plunge.
"I remember I was shaking, I was trembling,” Catherine recalled. "I was very kind of in the moment, being up there and not realizing everybody was out there. I remember blocking out the music and trying not to cry, which is unusual for me. I don’t normally cry. It all happened so fast. I remember being overwhelmed but at peace knowing I was making the right decision.”
Catherine called her parents soon after the baptism. “My mom started crying, and that made me cry,” she said. “They acknowledged that they appreciated I wanted to wait (for them to be there). But they both said they were grateful that I followed the Spirit’s leading."
On the day after the baptism Catherine watched the livestream re-broadcast on the GBCC website. “I remember being excited at watching it, just kind of feeling all those emotions,” she said. That same day Catherine felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to push pause on a relationship with her boyfriend.
“I had to call him and say I need to put God first, and that was really hard,” Catherine said. “But since then because of that I felt that trusting God in that decision, I really feel God has blessed me and he has given me so much desire for him now. I’m wanting to spend more time in the word and prayer and growing and pouring into other people at school. That’s something I didn’t expect would come from that decision to get baptized. It stemmed from taking that step and saying, 'God I trust you. I want you leading in my life.’”
Catherine said she is still on good terms with her former boyfriend. "There were trust issues we had to work through,” she said. “It’s been cool also how he’s grown through this. If we don’t end up together, God is in control. That has been such a blessing.”
Catherine is in the final year of nursing school at Bellin and will graduate in the spring. She would like to eventually become a flight nurse.
Since getting baptized Catherine has been attending GBCC and got plugged into a community group. "Everybody was so welcoming,” she said. “This is a (good) place for me at this stage of my life.”
Catherine has experienced changes in her life since the baptism. “I’ve been amazed at how taking that one step in my faith has led to God growing my love for Him and how He keeps working in my life,” she said. "I'm so grateful for His faithfulness.”
Catherine was was born in Green Bay and moved to Iron River in the Upper Peninsula when she was 5. She grew up going to church but made a significant spiritual discovery in grade school.
"I always thought I’m in a Christian family, I’m a Christian,” Catherine said. “When I was 8 or 9 my pastor told us just because you go to church, just because your parents go to church doesn’t make you a Christian. I realized it had to be my own faith.
"I remember my mom tucking me into bed that night. Mom walked me through the gospel and what it meant.”
Catherine, who is the youngest in a family that includes two brothers, grew up in a small church and was involved on the worship team, at Vacation Bible School and in the youth group.
"I was involved and grew up in a sheltered environment,” Catherine said. “Everyone was from the same background. A lot of us were home schooled. When I came to college I had to decide for myself if I was still going to go to church. I was having to know what I believed and why I believed it because my friends no longer believed exactly the same thing as me. My first year of college I had to decide for myself what I wanted for my life. It wasn’t assumed I would go to church. I had to do that on my own.”
Catherine believes in the saying ‘If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.’
She explains it this way: "We are always supposed to be growing as people. That makes us strong, seeking out opportunities that are scary and intimidating that can be really beneficial. Then just trust God to use it and say, 'OK, you’ve got this.’"
Catherine tries to remember that when she finds herself in the company of people she doesn’t know well.
"I’m definitely an introvert,” she said. "I find it hard to initiate going up to somebody new. If there’s ever something that makes me go, ‘Oh, I don’t want to do that,' I will consciously say, ‘Maybe that’s something I want to pursue,’ and trust God. Recognizing that initial fight or flight response, then recognizing it for what it is, how that’s fear based, evaluating the situation a little more rationally, if I think I should go toward it.”
Is it any wonder that sky diving is on Catherine’s bucket list? Her career goal of being a flight nurse also plays into her desire to step into unpredictable circumstances.
“I never wanted to be a nurse until I heard about flight nurses,” she said. "It’s the autonomy. You don’t have a physician or provider with you … it’s you and the paramedic. I like the autonomy. I like the adrenaline. I love flying. I also like that I’ll be with people in a very vulnerable situation. I see that as my ministry — that is going to be a very scary time for them."
Ultimately, Catherine believes everything comes back to trusting God. One of her favorite Bible verses is Luke 5:16: But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
"If Jesus is God, and he himself had to get alone and pray, that was very convicting to me when I read that,” Catherine said. “It made me examine where my prayer life is at."
As for the future, Catherine said she is ready to go anywhere. “I find it exciting to go somewhere new,” she said. "I’m open to staying here if that’s where God leads.”
