Walking on Water

Written by Sister2Sister Contributor:  Marni Boland  –  Niagara Falls

Part 1

Entering into the extraordinary

When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I.  Don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 

“Come,” he said.  (Matt. 14:26-29)

 

 

I love Peter!  Here’s a man who was putting his foot in his mouth one minute, and speaking words of a spiritual giant the next!   I love this moment in Peter’s life in particular.

“Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.”

To me THAT wasn’t the logical response… I wouldn’t even have thought to ask it!  And I would have missed out on one of the most amazing faith building experiences.  I would have said something like, “Wow!  Jesus, that’s pretty amazing!  Come onto the boat!”  Maybe, I might have said, “How are you doing that?” and swam over to check him out.  Not Peter.  He asked Jesus to invite him into the extraordinary.

From this I’ve been pondering so many things…

Peter knew that Jesus had the power to help him do what Jesus was doing.  Step out of the boat on his own?  He’d have had a bath for sure!  Ask Jesus to invite him to defy the laws of nature and do the extraordinary?  Peter walked on water.

I think it’s time I start asking Jesus to invite me to come to Him on the water…to ask him to invite me into HIS adventure.  I think Peter wanted to be a part of that extraordinary moment…”Lord, that’s amazing!  I want to do it too!”  I think God longs for us to ask Him to invite us to join His story, His purpose…something so much bigger than ourselves.  My hunch?  Jesus was rooting for Peter.  I think it thrilled him for Peter to make that request.  I think it thrills him when we ask the same.

What do you tend to ask God?  Do you ask him to come to you? Or do you ask Him to lead you to Him?  Come to you on the boat, where it’s safe, where it’s natural?  Or come to Him where it doesn’t even begin to make sense? Do you invite him to fit into your story? Or do you ask Him to allow you to be a part of His…where it’s not comfortable, and probably a little scary?   Is it, “Lord, I pray you will keep us all safe, and sound”  or, “Lord, do whatever it takes to draw us closer to you”?  Is it, “Lord, I pray everything will go well today”  or “Lord, lead me into deep waters today so that your name can be glorified, so that someone who doesn’t know you, may hear about you”?  Let’s face it, we already know what we, on our own can do.  But what God can do?  We haven’t even begun to scratch the surface.  Ephesians 3:20-21 tells us that God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.  Our problem is we don’t think he means with us.  The interesting thing about this verse, is that it finishes off by saying, “according to His power that IS AT WORK WITHIN US”.  Yes, his power is at work in you!  He can do immeasurably more than what we can ever begin to imagine – he can move us from living the ordinary, into living the extraordinary.

 

Next Time:   Getting out of the boat!

Walking on Water

Written by Sister2Sister Contributor:   Marni Boland – Niagara Falls

Last week we had the privilege of having Josiah Jordan lead the Youth Café lesson.  He did a fantastic job!  It’s so exciting to see so many young people stepping up and leading when called upon!  In his lesson he discussed a few men of faith from scripture.  One man he talked about was Peter.  Peter, while he is often remembered as the guy who denied Jesus, is the only man in history (other than Jesus himself) who has another claim to fame.  He walked on water.

I think we know that story too well for our own good, because I’m sure most of you didn’t even bat an eye when you read that.  The guy WALKED ON WATER!!!!!

After Josiah’s lesson, I spent an afternoon simply reading this account over and over.  So many thoughts and ideas were going through my mind.  Over the next few posts, I’d like to share some thoughts on this very faith building account.  There are 5 key things I would like to focus on:

1.  Peter asked to be invited into the extraordinary
2. He got off the boat
3. Sometimes the wind and the waves can be pretty intimidating
4. He had Jesus on speed dial
5. Stepping out in faith always leads to worshiping God

 

So, in the mean time, I ask you to read the account of Peter walking on water found in Matthew 14:21 – 33.  Maybe read it a few times.  Chew on it and be inspired to get out of the boat you are in!

 

Stay tuned!

What’s Your Word?

Written by Sister2Sister contributor:  Marni Boland – Niagara Falls

Here we are again!  Another new year freshly lain out before us!  Can I urge you to do something? I know many have you have already created your ‘resolutions’. ..put down that pen and the paper and your ‘list’ of all those things you are going to ‘resolve’ to do, not do, improve on or give up this year.  Instead, can I encourage you to go in to 2014 with a different approach?  Rather than setting up that checklist that will somehow prove your success or failure by this time next year, think of one word, or a few specific words, that you aim to focus on this year.  The object?  Not perfection…just growth!

So many times, I come up with goals that only the perfect imaginary Marni could ever accomplish (for example in a moment of complete and utter insanity, I suggested to Bruce we give up sugar for the entire year…um, ya, I quickly realized THAT was not going to happen, and we settled for a month).  For some reason, I have lofty goals of what I MUST do to be better by the end of the next 365 days.  Better for whom?  I’m not sure. One thing God showed me over and over this past year is that in spite of my sin, and failures, I am HIS! He makes up for the ways I am lacking.

So, instead of one, I’ve come up with two words that will hopefully, prayerfully lead my days this year with the goal to be more like HIM.  My two words are:  SEE (or look, watch….basically to pay attention to what’s before me, in that moment) and RESPOND (either with action, prayer or gratitude)…not very eloquent or snappy, but here’s why I’ve chosen these words.

I’m learning that God is ALWAYS working…not just when I ask Him to and certainly not only in ways that I can see or understand.  Working, moving, orchestrating…that’s the wonderful nature of our Father! I know I’m not meant to SEE everything, but my prayer for this year is that I will enter the new year with eyes open to the opportunities that my Father alone sets before me, to walk in.  I also pray, that as I SEE the good God has called me to do, I will RESPOND joyfully and unafraid.

Ephesians 2:10 reminds us of God’s intimate and hands-on working in our lives:

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

A sister in the Lord and her husband have made the decision to govern their days, by responding to opportunities as they come, so that they may “do the good which God prepared beforehand for them to do”.  I love it!  Why?  Because for me, it means I’m not worrying about what anyone else is doing, or if it’s ‘good enough’.  It just means I’m RESPONDING to God…big or small, life changing or just a little act of kindness, I want to pay attention and not miss the good that is right there for me to do.  And if God sees fit to place an opportunity in my life, He must also be willing to give me the grace and ability to RESPOND.

In anticipation for this year, I also am coming to the realization that well placed “NO’s”, will also provide me with the mental and emotional resources to RESPOND to opportunities God calls me to.

These are the questions I’m considering:

How can I be a blessing to someone today?

What is God putting before me that needs my response?

How can I pay closer attention to the gifts God places in front of me?

What good has God prepared for me to do today?

And really?  I know there is nothing fancy about this goal.  I just want to simplify.  Do the good that is set before me.  I already feel like I’m walking more with God, because it’s becoming more of an ongoing conversation with Him throughout the day.

“Lord, I am yours, my days are yours, open my eyes, and give me courage and joy to respond.”

 

Dorothy’s Story

Written by Sister2Sister contributor:  Dorothy Boland – Niagara Falls

I was six or seven years old when a preacher from the Niagara and Manning St. Church of Christ, St.Catharines, knocked on our door to see if there were any children interested in attending Sunday School.  Our neighbour’s children were going  to go and I was allowed to walk with them .  Eventually their father decided they should be going to their “own” church, which was Salvation Army.  I still trudged on, mostly alone.

Soon my mother decided we should be going to the Baptist church because that is where dad and her were married.  They were never members.  I attended Sunday School in the afternoon with my brothers  at the Baptist church but still went to the Church of Christ in the morning.  My brothers didn’t want to go for long and then mother allowed me to continue on with the church.  Several families made sure I got to go to the picnics, gospel meetings and spend Sunday afternoons in their homes.  I had several very good Bible teachers who encouraged us to memorize many Scriptures in their classes. (KJ version)

When I was sixteen I was wrestling with the need to be baptized but I was nervous to do so.  Each sermon I heard I was sure was directed at me and I would try to hide behind the person in front of me.  Eventually a teacher encouraged me to read the book of Acts and I was convinced of what I needed to do to be saved and added to His church.  I was still fearful because I didn’t think the baptismal gown was large enough for me.  (I was a big girl)  Assured that it was, I spent one Sunday afternoon thinking, praying and reading and decided the time was ‘now’.  That evening, Jan 13/52, I was immersed by the preacher, Bruce Merritt, for the forgiveness of my sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  My parents and their friends attended my baptism. ( My parents finally came to Christ twenty-three years later.)

I took a job that summer as Junior Secretary at a United Church camp up north, Camp Gay Venture, on Lake Couchiching (long before that word had other meanings attached to it) I’m sure my church family feared for my Christian walk as I was gone for two months.  When I returned they put me to work teaching Bible classes and kept me involved with the teens, etc.  until the preacher said he wanted us to give little talks in teen class and I stopped going. (I didn’t know he meant guys only)

Along came Henry in December, 1954, and I invited him to a Sunday service. (Finally I no longer had to walk as he had a car)  He started asking questions and on the way out he let the preacher, Walter Dale,  know he thought he was a false teacher.  Walter encouraged him to study the subject of baptism and come back with scriptures, not creeds or ‘I think’.  Henry soon realized Walter was on tract and he needed to apologize.  Henry was baptized in March and we married the next year. The ladies in the church were amazing in helping with our reception as neither we nor my parents had much money.

Our walk with the Lord and our work with His church has had many amazing and encouraging moments along with bumps and discouraging times but we try to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and persevere to the end to hear those great words “well done thou good and faithful servant……… enter into the joy of thy Lord”  Matt. 25:2l KJV

We have certainly been blessed by God above and beyond anything we could ever think or imagine. Thank you, Lord.

 

Manuella’s Story

Written by Sister2Sister contributor:  Manuella Ruscitti – Niagara Falls

I was reading the Bible, searching for something, not quite sure of what I was looking for.  A neighbour down the street was very involved with TV Evangelists and the 700 Club, and claimed she was healed of severe headaches and facial pain.  She could speak in tongues and wanted to lay hands on me.  I would stand at my living room window and  just be drawn to her house,  but I had a feeling something wasn’t quite right.

One day Henry phoned saying he was conducting a Bible survey on Butler St.  and I talked with him about the neighbour, etc.  Henry started speaking in tongues.  I thought it must be okay but then he explained he was speaking Dutch – a real language.  When I hung up the phone I went directly into my room and got on my knees and prayed to the Lord that he would not allow Henry to come to my door if he wasn’t someone true to the Word.  Henry came.  We studied the Word.  We tried to study with my friend but she slammed the Bible shut  and didn’t want anything to do with Henry and a Bible study. We studied with Ginny who lived on the same street and with another lady around the corner on Heritage.

I was really amazed to learn that Christ had died for me.  I soon knew  I needed Christ in my life and I was baptized and felt so much joy that day.

AND THEN THE BATTLE BEGAN:  Matthew 10: 34-36 came very much alive for me:

My husband was  against my baptism and meeting with the church.  He became very abusive.  When Henry came to study he ordered him off our property and slammed his fist through the door as Henry left.

When I came home from service one day my clothes were all in garbage bags in the driveway.  I took our two daughters and went to my parents home.  Another day after service Sharon Cristelli was driving me to my parents and he forced her to stop and pulled me out of her car and slapped me around in front of the girls.  Another time he was waiting for me in the parking lot.  The preacher, Doug Lightening,  pleaded with me not to get in the car with him but he said he was really wanting to see the girls.  He drove us along the parkway and pulled the car to within six or eight inches of  an embankment and said he’d drive over if I didn’t  promise to give up church, etc.  I finally gave in and went home with him and suffered much mental and physical abuse.  Eventually I discovered he was having an affair and I left him. (He has remarried and is now attending a church)  That same year he kicked our sixteen year old pregnant daughter out of the house and my mother committed suicide.

I came back to the church family.   I had  started living with a kind, loving guy but my conscience was really bothering me.  I knew that wasn’t God’s way.  I ended up in Hamilton Hospital to get off pain medications that were causing rebound headaches, etc.  When I came back home I knew I had to move out.  I walked away from our house we bought together with just enough money for first and last months’ rent.

I got quite sick again. I  developed environmental allergies and my family pegged me as mentally ill. ( I also found out later my thyroid was way out of whack).  Henry and Dorothy didn’t know how to help me and finally dropped me off at the Hospital Door.  My youngest daughter lived with my sister for a short time and then moved to her father’s.

I ended up going to Fort Erie with a patient from the hospital.  She eventually had to go back in.  Her brother cleaned out my bank account and I had nowhere to live.  My sister said not to bother coming back here.   I called the Baptist minister in Fort Erie and he found me a room in a private Retirement Home in Crystal Beach where I lived for almost a year.  I met Tammy  in Crystal Beach and when I got well we moved back to N.F. and shared an apartment  for several years.

I came back to my church family once again and have since moved from the apartment to my niece’s and then to my daughter’s.  My life has been a roller coaster ride – sometimes from sickness and other times from wrong decisions.

I am thankful to God for His continued love and patience, for my church family and the love they have for each other and the love and patience they have shown me.

I ask for your continued prayers as I learn to cope with my many health problems,  being declared legally blind and my  eventual move into a Nursing Home.

 

Jenn’s Story

Written by Sister2Sister contributor:  Jennifer Beatty – Niagara Falls

 I grew up in the United Church, starting from the Nursery until two and a half years ago when I was baptized into Christ.  My father was a lay-minister in the United Church and Church attendance was never an option.  You went.  I attended Sunday school and even taught it when I was a teenager.  All the materials that we used were just story driven.  Noah, Jonah, the Christmas Story etc.  My father and the Church gave me a beginner’s background about God (which I am thankful for) but it never seemed to be very personal.  The Bible was a tool.  It was one of many sources to check with when you needed answers.  I moved through my Christian life feeling “more religious” than most around me but still feeling disconnected from a real relationship with God.

Marni and I both had boys in public school and one day Tyler invited Donovan to come to Frog Club.  He went and loved it.  My son Ben also attended the youth group at the church once a month and really enjoyed it too.  Because we were seeing each other off and on as well as on Basketball courts (for the boys), she asked me if I wanted to get together for a bible study with her.  At that time I was already with a group so I declined, mostly due to time limitations.  When I left the group that I was with, Marni asked again and I took her up on the offer.  We met twice a month at her place.  We talked a lot about what I believed to be true about my “religion” and what I had grown up to believe.  I realized that most of my knowledge was only on the surface.  No deep understanding of scripture.  Marni and I
discussed the truth of the Bible and worked our way through to salvation.  Wow!  I was so misinformed.  Needless to say, when Marni guided me through the Bible and its truth about salvation, Baptism etc. I was horrified.  How could I not know this information?  How come we never discussed this stuff during Church?  Why are we not hearing God’s word during services more?  Why are we baptising infants??  What is with the sprinkling?  Where do I stand?  I cried on Marni’s couch that night!  I now knew what I had to do.  It wasn’t rocket science as they say.

The next day I called my church’s Minister to see what he had to say about this “new”
information that I had just been enlightened with.  I knew that Marni was not the one saying what needed to be done next, it was God’s word and in truth, God himself.  I wanted my current Minister to either confirm or deny this information.  Needless to say, he confirmed it.  He also went on to say that the United Church doctrine is different.  I didn’t understand why he would, knowing that what he was preaching, teaching and advising was not accurate, continue Ministering to the congregation.  He said basically, that it is his job to say what he says.  I never returned to that church and started to come out to the Niagara Falls Church of Christ.  Not long after, I was baptised. 

I have had to struggle with “Truth” and sorting out all the information that I have learned growing up in the United Church.  I thought that a lot of what I knew was Truth when in fact it was just man-made rules and doctrine, just “Religion”.  I am a true “baby” Christian now, trying to learn every day.  I am reading my way through the Bible-in-a-Year and finding out how very much I didn’t know even though I had spent my entire life so far going to church. 

I have learned from my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ (thanks by the way) that the Bible is the only place that I need to go for the information that I seek.  That it is with my new Church family that I can grow, learn, seek advice and feel loved for the rest of my journey until I go home.

 

Sheila’s Story

Written by Sister2Sister contributor:  SheilaThompson – Niagara Falls

I was lucky enough to grow up in a Christian household with a wonderful example of a good Christian woman, my mom. If I had grown up any other way I am not sure how my life would have turned out. Because the plan hard truth is I AM STUBBORN! I like to do things my way, right now, without regard to any consequences. Since 9 times out of 10 my way is not the Lord’s way I have gotten into a little trouble over the course of my life. I am also a big fan of individuality, being different, standing out from the crowd. It took a little grown up

wisdom to realize that my gothic appearance and make up and all of “who I was” was really not so unique and just part of a sub culture that I belonged to. And I felt at home there. I never hid the fact that I have mental illness and it turns out that a lot of these “freaks” did as well. They also liked the same music I did, heavy and full of emotional turmoil. Just like us. I was probably the most hardcore of all the misfits in my group, or at least I liked to think I was. Now am I saying that dressing funny or listening to heavy music is wrong? Of course not! I still like to dress a little rock and roll but perhaps in more of a grown up way. And you better believe I have Black Sabbath tickets for this summer. But I am making a point of sharing that the one thing these people and I didn’t have in common was God. I have always believed in God. Never was there a moment in my life where I doubted His existence or knew what I needed to do to be saved. I just simply wasn’t ready. I wanted to party and have fun and do drugs and have sex and not worry about any of those pesky consequences until I was older. I sometimes joke that God has a permanent guardian angel watching over me because how else would I have survived all this madness and come out of it without an addiction, a child or maybe syphilis.

A lot of things fell into place for my decision to finally become a Christian. First, my life wasn’t as fun as it once was. Everyone around me was growing up, going to college and moving on with their lives. This was not fun for me.  We didn’t see each other every day anymore and as a result we started to grow apart.  But the biggest thing was a series of events involving my at the time boyfriend. He played in a band that was going to be in a major 3 day music festival in Florida. Naturally, I tagged along. I have always at the very least been safety conscience. Don’t climb up water towers; turn the music down, do you really think you should be driving right now, all those kinds of things. So naturally I am trapped in a car for 4 hours with a driver who is smoking weed. What else did I really expect? So to calm my nerves, I joined in. Then we get there for 3 days of sin and wickedness. Let me first say that neither my boyfriend nor myself participated in these acts, but in the hotel next to us were his band mates and there was 3 days of breaking of objects, hard drugs, and yes, even hookers. There was also lots of promoting at the show for bands whose names I dare not repeat here for they are far to offensive and forever stuck in my mind. And this is just the names of the bands. Needless to say, I did not have a very good time. The only person I knew was busy since he was the only responsible one and I could not stand to be around any of his band mates, their girlfriends or the hoard of friends along for the ride. I was alone.

When we returned home he took me to see the movie that was out “Passion of the Christ”. This movie was the final straw. You all know the story. We have all read it a thousand times, but seeing it, seeing what God had done for me finally made it real for me. The next day I went to church. I met for a few weeks there with the youth minister and on St. Patrick’s Day of 2004 I was added to the kingdom. I still screw up a lot, though thankfully not quite as bad. There will always be rebellious and stubborn streak in me and a need to set myself apart. It’s who I am. But the point is that I don’t give up. I always try or when I am down and out I at least want to try. I have a new path in life. I am still always taking detours, but thankfully that is what grace is for. In the end it is not where we have been it is where we will end up, and just maybe where we have been can teach us a lesson or two or even better, help someone else think that maybe they can be saved to.

Heidi’s Story

Written by Sister2Sister contributor:  Heidi Boland

I just knew I didn’t want to go through another day.  I had this unsettling feeling.  I knew I had a choice, I knew what I had to do, wanted to do…I just needed to do it.  I grew up in the church of Christ.  I was taught the scriptures and what I needed to do to become a part of the body of Christ.  I wanted to do what was right.  I wanted to be right with God.  I was 16.

I can’t tell my story without speaking of how great my parents are.    They raised me well.  My mom grew up in the church of Christ.  My dad studied the scriptures, found the truth and was baptized many years after they were married.  For this I am very thankful as they were united in raising me according to God’s Word.  My parents sacrificed I’m sure to send me to a Christian High School, where I thrived and am grateful for the time I had there.  They always
strive to put God first in their lives.  Attending church and reading the bible was and is top priority.  When I had questions, I was directed to the bible for answers.  My parents are two of the most giving people I know.  I saw and still see their light shine for Christ as they serve God and others around them.

I am thankful to God for the people He has placed along the path in my journey of life.  They
have helped me grow in my faith and in my knowledge of scripture.  They have challenged me to strive to be better and they have helped shape me in to the person I am today.

I am not the same person I was when I made the most important decision of my life when I was younger.  I have grown spiritually, I have learned more about what God wants for me and of me, and I have realized that I will never stop learning as long as I am reading God’s Word!

I have realized over the years that God’s plan works!  When I see people fall apart around me
because they don’t have God, it hurts because they don’t know what they are missing.  They don’t know how good it really can be.
I have a husband who puts God first in his life and the daily decisions he makes.  Because of that, my children and I experience one of the beauties of God’s plan and the blessings that come from it!

Many years ago I made the decision to follow God and in Acts 2 it told me how to do that.  I was baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of my sins and received the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Because of that decision I made … when my life on earth is done, I look forward to living eternity with God!  I know that without God my story would be very different.  

Valerie’s Story

Written by Sister2Sister Contributor:  Valerie Cooper – Niagara Falls

What/or who led me to Christ?

My piano teacher, who just also happened to be my kindergarten teacher at age 5 was a beautiful person inside and out.  She and her husband were members of the church and definitely had a spiritual influence in my family’s life. 

I took piano lessons from age 5 until end of high school.  After every lesson, my  piano teacher  gave me a flyer called Gospel Minutes, from the local church of Christ which I passed on to my mom after my piano lessons were over.

I usually didn’t read the flyers, but my mom would.  And boy did she have questions.  Many times I listened into the debates and discussions that the flyers sparked.   My mom’s brother (my uncle and his family were already members of the church and had a influence on us as well.   The biggest issue was no instrumental music in congregational singing.  For both of my sisters had played the piano for the church services. . . .and I was next in line.

(Fortunately, or unfortunately,  the only church song I really mastered and enjoyed playing was “What A Friend We Have In Jesus”.   The problem was if people were singing along as I played the song, I had a tendency to become distracted and make mistakes.  So as a consequence, I was rarely called upon to play the piano in church!!!  (Whew. . .less pressure on me!!)

Shortly thereafter, my beloved piano/kindergarten teacher passed away.  I was left with the feeling who will teach me piano now?

All was not lost with my piano lessons.  I eventually progressed with another teacher to the point of winning awards for best instrumentalist.

The Methodist church our family attended was within walking distance from our home.  When I was about 11, I was sprinkled along with all the other kids of that age.   I remember thinking to myself, now I have to really be especially good.  Debates about the “Mode of baptism” were surfaced. . .and that’s when I really began to listen in.  In the Methodist church, three “modes of baptism” are offered:  sprinkling, pouring and dunking.  For the longest, I wanted to be dunked (partly because that was how my Baptists friends were baptized – and it looked way cooler than just being sprinkled.)

And then it happened.  The Methodist church we attended endorsed a woman to be our preacher.  A lot of families in that church drew the line there, along with my family.  People just stopped going to church or went somewhere else.

It was right around that time that my older sister had gotten married and moved to Ohio (she had already become a Christian by then)  and I went to visit her.  She took me to church with her and I loved it!!  I loved the acappella singing. . .( I even remember the songs we sang “Sing and Be Happy Today” and I remember the preacher’s sermon  . . .”Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God”. . .Wow. . .it was so powerful!!

That was my first time visiting the church of Christ.

A week later, my mom joined me and my sister in Ohio and she got baptized too!!

So, we both got baptized in Ohio, came back to our hometown in  Illinois and started attending  the church of Christ there.  Thus began our new life in Christ. I was a teenager.

Carla’s Story

Written by Sister2Sister contributor:  Carla Thrower – Niagara Falls

Acts 17:26-27
“From one man he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.  God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ”

It all started when Henry Boland came knocking at our door.  He first met my mom and talked to her for a while on the front stoop and invited us kids to VBS! We ended up going for the week and liking it. After VBS was over we continued to go to bible school and I found the classes very interesting and they left me wanting to hear more. I didn’t know anything about God or the Bible, so everything I was taught, I soaked up like a sponge! I remember many nights lying in bed thinking that if God came back I wouldn’t be saved and it really bothered me.

During this time my dad had come out to church here and there and was having personal bible studies with Henry at home. One thing led to another and my dad made the decision to be baptized in August of 1973!  Meanwhile my conscience was really bothering me and I remember telling my dad that I wanted to get right with God and become a Christian.  I So I studied and made the decision to commit my life to God!  At the age of eleven I was baptized into Christ! I remember feeling so happy that my sins had been washed away. I went to bed that night feeling at peace with God, knowing that as I closed my eyes I didn’t have to worry anymore because I had made myself right with him and that I was HIS now! That was in November of 1973. My mom soon followed in December of that same year.

As I started my new life I knew I was going to be living differently and  I don’t know why but I was not afraid of everyone knowing that I now stood for something different! I remember going to school and being labeled the ‘halo’ because I wouldn’t listen to their dirty jokes or swear in conversations or smoke etc. I was eager to put into practice what I had learned!

Well…life has taken me on quite the journey since then, and though I’ve made many mistakes along the way, I’ve never lost faith or trust in God or my desire to do his will! I have never once regretted the decision I made that day! I was young but I knew what I was doing and I was ready to live for God and proud to let everyone know it! I have never been more sure of anything in my life than God, his Word and being a Christian! I’m so grateful for God using Henry to come to our house that day because it changed my life forever!