‘We Never Talked About God in 25 Years’: A Fort Collins Family’s Journey Back to the Catholic Faith

A full-circle moment, the Smith family found their way back to the Church after decades away.

(Photo provided)

Wendy Smith can remember walking with her friends to southern Louisiana’s St. Pius Catholic Church, where she was baptized, received her first Communion and was confirmed. The girls played on the same softball team — sponsored by the parish — and wore their uniforms to Mass, where they sat together in the pew.

“We even played in the church field,” she recalled.

With her Catholic upbringing, including her mom’s constant prayers to Jesus, she said she “always knew that God was love and God was there.” But as she grew older, she drifted.

“It was always around me; God was always there. How did I move away?” she said.

Wendy, 55, a payroll administrator at Cactus Wellhead, said she remained active in the Church through college at the University of Southwestern Louisiana and was even a lector.

But after taking a break from school, moving to Colorado and meeting her now-husband, Jeremy Smith, life got busy.

“We were in our 20s and 30s and had other priorities, which doesn’t make sense to me now,” she shared.

Now, she schedules around Mass — along with her family, who recently converted together to the Catholic Church. At this year’s Easter Vigil, Jeremy and their son, Lukas Smith, received the sacraments of the Eucharist and Confirmation; Lukas was also baptized.

‘We never talked about God in 25 years’

Like Wendy, Jeremy, 54, a project manager at Computacenter, had a religious upbringing. Baptized Presbyterian, he was active in his church in his youth, attending services and summer camps.

But he, too, drifted away, and when they met, he and Wendy never talked about God or religion, Jeremy explained. The couple were married in a civil ceremony (by Jeremy’s father, a retired judge), and despite thinking about doing so, they did not baptize Lukas as a baby.

“We never talked about God in 25 years!” Wendy said. “We never talked about it at all.”

But with God working in the background, that slowly began to change, she said, noting that “God’s timing is amazing.”

Wendy was quietly feeling a pull that she didn’t reveal to Jeremy. She recalled coming across the movie I Can Only Imagine in 2018, about the lead singer of the Christian band, MercyMe, whose love for God grew despite life with an abusive father.

“I was standing in front of the TV watching, and I was so enthralled that I never even sat down,” she said.

Wendy said singing is her worship language, and she loves music.

“That’s what brought my music back,” she said. “God struck me at that moment.”

And God continued to draw her in.

In spring 2019, Wendy said, two months before her father died of cancer, she returned to Louisiana and prayed with him. She wrote in her journal: “I do believe the last week of my life and my renewed faith in God and Jesus has been because of my papa, his teaching and guiding me, preparing for his death.”

“Then I started believing, my faith started rising — my love for God and Jesus started rising, and I’m just singing, my arms up high and so happy,” Wendy said.

No Judgment, But No Participation

Although they did not directly discuss her renewed faith, Wendy said, Jeremy knew she was praying and listening to Christian music; he even bought her tickets to some MercyMe concerts (with Lukas in tow). She felt his support, she said, but did not know whether he believed.

“There was never any judgment, but there was never participation,” she recalled.

Later in 2019, though, Jeremy began to participate. Wendy said she mentioned she had found a leather-bound Bible with the U.S. Constitution in it that she wanted, and Jeremy ordered two — one for her and one for himself.

“I was shocked,” she said.

He told her he wanted to learn to love what she loved and “get to know my new faith better,” Wendy recounted. But nothing took hold for years, she said, until early 2022, when a YouTube video changed the course of their spiritual lives.

Jeremy explained he was traveling for work when he stumbled upon a show about the 10 differences between Catholics and Protestants.

“A lot of stuff stuck in my mind,” he said, so he had Wendy watch that and other videos with him when he got home.

Jeremy said he had also begun receiving a daily email with a prayer and Bible quote, which had sparked his spiritual interest. Coincidentally, Wendy had also begun thinking about joining a Bible study — and perhaps a church.

“When I look back, I know it was God bringing us together,” Wendy said.

They began praying the Rosary and attending weekly Mass in 2023, and they eventually decided, with Lukas, to join St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Fort Collins and begin the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA) that August.

Initially, 15-year-old Lukas — a rising sophomore at Poudre High School in Fort Collins — was along for the ride, attending church with the family when he wasn’t skateboarding or biking. He said he had never thought about joining a church before Wendy signed the family up for OCIA.  

“The classes were really interesting, and a lot of questions I had about the Church and the Catholic religion were answered,” he said, like “what the Eucharist was.”

Since becoming a confirmed Catholic in April, he has now been receiving the Eucharist every week.

“It feels special and like I fit in,” he said, adding that his favorite sacrament was Baptism. “It just made me feel good that I was part of the Church, and I felt cleansed and good.”

The cherry on top, Jeremy and Wendy were also sacramentally wed this spring, renewing their vows — this time in the Church.

Life Has Changed, and Not Just on Sundays

It’s not just Sundays that have changed for the Smiths since becoming Catholic. Daily life has also changed as they increase their time in prayer together, from a family Rosary to grace before meals — all with a focus on God throughout the day.

“I have tried to include prayer into everyday life, and I can ask [God] for help in a tough situation,” Lukas shared.

For Jeremy, practicing gratitude and trying to find God’s hand in his life have been transformative. Each day, he aims to “look for a little sign that he has provided me, or subtle reminders that he is always with us.”

He said he is happy the family is “making conscious choices to do good” and appreciates that they hear and can discuss the readings together.

In Wendy’s case, she finds herself more focused on the family and striving to be “a better mom, a better wife, a better human.”  She said she is reading the Bible and books about Catholicism and learning more about the Holy Spirit. 

Why now?

Years after moving away from their religious roots, Jeremy and Wendy have wondered: Why now?

Jeremy said he thinks they were exposed — but not open — to God’s word.

“Maybe we weren’t ready for the message until now. We’re understanding a lot more now than we did then,” he said.

Wendy agrees.

“Personally, it feels like I ‘dated around,’ and nothing ever felt right,” she said. “Coming back to my Catholic faith is like finding my soulmate who was there the whole time … [God] knew I needed to be in the Catholic faith, even when I had no clue I was on that road back home.”