I grew up in a family of 3 girls, Mother & Daddy. We all went to church on Sunday AM & PM, went to Wed prayer meeting, and to camp meetings, revival, etc. I knew what it meant to "Love the Lord with all my heart," to say The Apostles' Creed every Sunday; and how God so loved us that He sent His only begotten Son.
As a teenager I was faithful to read my Bible, say my prayers, and stay away from crowds that participated in drinking, etc. (there were no drugs back then in the olden days). In fact I was a 'good girl' or a goody, good girl as my sisters would say of me. I did not know what it meant to be a Christian. To give my life and heart to Jesus Christ; to ask forgiveness and repent of my sins; this was not taught to me or I was so naive that it went over my head. I thought that you just had to be good, say your prayers, read your Bible and love almost everybody.
After much prayer asking God if this was the right thing for me, I married after I finished high school rather than going on to college. On our honeymoon to the mountains I was sooo excited, telling my sweetheart about how beautiful God made the mountains, but he tried to tell me about how they evolved in the natural way. That was my first clue that maybe he didn't hold the same thoughts about God that I had. Again I was so in love that it didn't matter because I trusted God to work things out in his life.
We had a fine family...3 boys in the first 3 years and a girl came along after 3 years. While my friends returned from college with their degrees and so much knowledge, I thought that I, too, had learned a lot in my 4 years of raising children.
On a Sunday night right after Christmas I was reading a special book of short Christian poems that had been given to me as a gift from my sister, I felt a definite call to give my heart and life to Jesus Christ. Then I fell on my knees asking Him into my life, asking forgiveness of my sins, promising Jesus I would live for Him daily. I was 29 years old.
The peace and joy I felt is hard to express. A hunger for the Bible replaced TV. I would clean-up after supper and sit in the dining room where it was quiet to just read and meditate on His word. I talked about how much I loved Jesus to any and everybody whether they wanted to hear about it or not. I may have turned some people the other way.
We lost our son when he was 33 years old, leaving behind 2 children by 2 different mothers. These grandchildren are both a joy. One is 18 and the other is 9. The 9-yr old boy was not even 1 when his daddy died so he doesn't remember him. However, he has been brought up by our other son and his wife who are both Christians. The boy's mother was on drugs and the court took him away from her.
Many years have passed; my husband was an alcoholic and developed lung cancer about 7 years ago. He died without my ever knowing if he had accepted Christ as he would make fun of my faith when he was drinking. My pastor at the time would come and visit with him and he said that he had accepted Christ before he died. This is and always has been my prayer.
Having been a Christian for about 34 years has been a wonderful, joyful, exciting journey and I am looking forward to when I can be with Him forever and ever..just singing and praising Him for all eternity.
I grew up in a family of 3 girls, Mother & Daddy. We all went to church on Sunday AM & PM, went to Wed prayer meeting, and to camp meetings, revival, etc. I knew what it meant to "Love the Lord with all my heart," to say The Apostles' Creed every Sunday; and how God so loved us that He sent His only begotten Son.
