I don’t usually put myself into the stories I tell.

But this one—of the Christian Reformed Church’s vote last month to affirm biblical sexuality—is different. It’s my story too.

Back when Collin Hansen was writing Young Restless, and Reformed, he asked me if I saw any signs of revival or renewed interest in Reformed theology in the CRC. I hadn’t. We shrugged, and Collin wrote about the movement mostly without my denomination.

I always felt bad about that. I love my church—its beautiful and thoughtful theology, emphasis on God’s sovereignty over every square inch, and desire to educate its children in the best possible way. I wanted the CRC to experience revival, too. Instead, it seemed like we were slipping farther and farther into the mainline.

I had no idea what was going on.

Let me tell you the story of a God who is at work in a hundred ways you don’t see—right under your own nose.