Under Construction. Careful... paint is still wet!
Greetings! I want to share a little (or not so little) story with you. The year was 1991. I was 22 years old and working as a manager at a pizza delivery store. I believed in God & considered myself a GOOD person. As a youth I had been to many different churches. I was on my own at this time, STRUGGLING with life in the real world. Church was not part of my life. I didn't have anything against it, I just didn't think of going.
Back to the pizza shop... one of the delivery drivers had a brother who was an evangelist. He'd come in for pizza or just stop by and he would always ask when I was coming to church. I'd say "SOMEDAY." Finally, one day he said something that made me realize that day would not come if I didn't make it come.
Then one day his sister, my coworker, invited me to a REVIVAL being held at a small church about 25 minutes from our town. I said I'd go. Now, I'm going to BACKTRACK just a little... Since my grandfather (whom I loved dearly) passed away, the only time I was in a church was at my sister's wedding. I CRIED during the entire ceremony. This was bizarre to me. I knew it had nothing to do with her marriage, but more to do with the church. I know now, the Holy Spirit must have been working on me. It just seemed so spiritual in that church and like nothing I felt before. At the time, I figured it was because it reminded me of my grandfather's funeral, but I don't know.
The WEDDING took place in October. Now, months later, I was going to this small church for it's revival service. The church was actually located in a store front building. After being welcomed by the church like I was a long lost relative, I sat down with my friend & the Pastor's wife. I'm not sure how many people were there that night, but I doubt if it were more than 20. The service began and again I found myself crying. I had no idea why, I was quite EMBARRASSED as they passed the tissues down to me.
I was trying to control the tears and was doing pretty well until near the end of the service, the speaker talked about his grandfather. I couldn't believe it, his feelings & MEMORIES echoed my own. The tears flowed & would not be stopped. At the end of the service, they gave a standard altar call. I had no knowledge of what this was about and stayed where I stood. Then the evangelist asked me to COME forward, which I did.
The Pastor & this special speaker asked me if I knew the Lord Jesus. I answered, "No." When they asked if I would like to know HIM, I said "Yes." They led me into a prayer of salvation. At once the tears ceased and I was filled with an indescribable JOY. I had accepted Jesus as Lord of my life. I didn't know what that meant, I knew I wanted to KNOW HIM. They told me to read the book of JOHN, a gospel of love. I purchased a New International Version of the Bible and was amazed to find out it was like reading the newspaper. It was written in a language I could understand. It talked about how I should live and treat others. It addressed issues I was dealing with TODAY. I had no idea!
Please be patient as this page is being constructed...
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