“I Fell In Love With An Atheist”

I Fell In Love With An Atheist

By: Ava MacAuley

*names have been changed

Growing up as a Catholic, it was expected by my family to marry another Catholic. I needed to share my life with someone with the same values and traditions as me. We would go to Mass together and have a home with a picture of “The Last Supper” in the dining room. Confessing our sins would come natural to us. There was no question or discussion about it. It was an unwritten rule in my family. Plus they strongly believed that every union in love should be equally yoked. So now you get it. Now you see why I couldn’t bring the man I fell in love with over for dinner and say, “Hey Mom and Dad, This is *Mark and he is an Atheist!”

I know you’re probably wondering. “How in the hell did this happen?” Trust me it was not part of my plan, but I met *Mark for a reason and I didn’t know I would get in this deep.

I met *Mark in the grocery store shopping during Lent. I was checking my list off and then I felt my buggy crash into something. I looked up and realized it bumped into his. He apologized with a polite smile. I smiled back and then I looked down at what he was buying. I cringed at him putting a package of red meat in his buggy. We made small talk and I was surprised I agreed to take his number. I texted him one afternoon after confession to meet up and he agreed. I gave him the address and he pulled up to meet me. I saw the blank stare on his face as he stared at the huge church sitting on the block. As I got in the car he pointed, “You go to St. Mary’s?”

I replied, “Yes. Since I was a little girl. Are you Catholic too?”

“No. I’m not a believer. I’m Atheist.”

“An Athiest? So you don’t believe in anything? How come?”

“Life is just a matter of science. A man in the sky didn’t make all this happen.”

I froze up instantly. For a moment I just stared at his precious face. The first thought that came to my mind was the book of Psalms.

Psalms 14:1– Fools say to themselves, “There is no God.” They are corrupt and commit evil deeds; not one of them practices what is good.

I was attracted to a fool according to the Bible. In my eyes, I saw *Mark as a fool in the beginning, but I guess you can call me a fool because I continued to see him. I told myself that I could never marry an unbeliever, but I could spread my beliefs to him as a friend. Our friendship eventually turned into a serious relationship. My family and friends rejected him. They didn’t understand how I could be involved with someone who didn’t love God. What *Mark taught me was because of my faith is what made me not give up on him. I was in his life to show him there was a God. The Father was using me as a vessel to reach *Mark…and eventually we got him! I remember the first time *Mark agreed to pray with me. I told him to just pray and be honest like he was talking to another human being.

He simply asked God, “If you are real, prove it to me and I will never doubt again.”

A week later, he got confirmation on his prayer. He never told me how he received it. To this day, I don’t know what he prayed for or what he asked God for. He just came over to my house one day in awe with tears in his eyes saying, “Okay. Yall won me over.”

The moment he accepted Jesus into his life was the renewal of his life and also our relationship. We have a bunch of milestones and bumps to get across. My family and friends started warming up to him. The day I got in that car and he told me he was an Atheist, I could have easily said goodbye and threw his number away. But I knew I had a mission. I knew God wanted me to do something, so I prayed until I got the answers. What I have learned it you will always meet different people with different pasts, thoughts, and religions. As a Christian, it is not our job to bash or judge, but to believe and teach others. Because I didn’t give up on *Mark, he didn’t give up on himself. If God brings someone into your life who is secretly crying for help, listen to them. Be a friend, counselor, and confidante. You never know who you are helping just by not giving up on them.