Why I became a Christian
This story started over 60 years ago. I was seven years old and I was very sick with pneumonia. My mom did not know how to take care of it. I became very dehydrated and they rushed me to the hospital. I don't know how long I was in the hospital. I do remember one thing about it. One day my doctor came to talk to me. He showed me my x-rays and he said “Do you see all that black stuff? That black stuff is in your lungs as soon as we can clean it out you can go home.” Well eventually I did get to go back home. One Sunday I was laying there about half asleep. My dad took my brothers and sisters to church so it was real quiet in the house. My mom stayed behind to keep an eye on me. I remember feeling a hand on my chest. I opened my eyes and looked around but no one was there. I had thought it was my dad coming in to check on me. Shortly after that incident I started feeling better.
Years later I realized it must have been the hand of God. That's when I started believing, when I became a Christian. I grew up in the Lutheran Church. I started going to the Foursquare Church because of a girlfriend I had. One time I went to Presbyterian Church because it was just a couple blocks from where I lived. I went to one special church called Christ's church. There are two small cities in the Willamette Valley of Oregon where I lived. Monmouth had a Methodist Church and Independence had a Presbyterian Church. Neither church was surviving very well so they went together and became Christ's church. One month Presbyterian services the next month Methodist services. It was a great church I really enjoyed myself there. I went to another Presbyterian Church for a while when I got back to California. Then when I moved to the desert I started going to a Methodist church. I went for a Candlelight Christmas Eve service one year. A few months later my schedule changed and I was getting Sunday mornings off, so I started going to that Methodist church every Sunday. That church was called Hope Methodists church. I really had a good time there. There are some very good people in that church. I went there 11 ½ years. Then I moved to Oklahoma. I Went to a big Methodist church for a while. Then to a Presbyterian church because it was closer to where I lived. Then back to the Methodist church. Then I moved to North Carolina. Right after I got here I was looking on the Internet for a church. God pointed out Memorial Methodist church. I got there early and met the pastor. Pastor Jim was the first friend I had in North Carolina. The Methodist change pastors every so often.. I didn't care much for the new pastor. So I transferred to Mount Olivet Methodist Church. I really enjoy it there.
Through the years I turned my back on God and went my own way. After I mess things up I would always decide to go back to God. As soon as I turned around to go back. God would be standing there with his arms wide open. Welcoming me back. I left God but he never left me. Through the years he took care of me better than I could possibly imagine. I never have a lot of money but there was a lot of love and to me that is more important. I always managed to survive somehow. I don't know how but God always had a way for me to go. A miracle always seem to show up when I need it. Thank you God.
There were 3 times I was so depressed I was ready to end it all, but God got me through it. He is not done with me yet. Now God has me holding babies in the NICU. I love it. Those babies are all so cute. I try to take them home once in a while but the nurses keep telling me no. I knew what I could give the babies but had no idea how much the babies would give me.
I was talking to one of my pastors one day I don't remember his name. I said “I've done just about everything in the church except preach.”
He said “Do you want to preach?”
I said “No, I'll leave the preaching to you.”
It's funny, both of the girls I almost married said I should be a preacher. I never had any interest in preaching. I do enjoy talking to the kids, during kids time, during our service, when I get a chance.
I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about this. I had twin girls once. The mother didn't take care of them and the state put them in a foster home. They died there about 16 months later. They were left alone by swimming pool and they both fell in and drowned. It was about a month before their second birthday. I keep thinking about them in heaven. I know they are waiting for me. I'm just waiting for the day when God tells me my work down here is done and I can go home. I will be with my girls and no one will ever separate us again.
God gave me a vision one day. I was sitting at the feet of Jesus and one of my girls were on each side of me. We were singing praises to God and praising his holy name. I can't wait for that day. I think about that often. Sometimes that's all that keep me going.
I had another vision recently. In this vision I'm standing in heaven with all four of girls around me. They are my twin daughters, my God daughter, and her daughter who is my granddaughter. It will be a long time before that will never happen because my granddaughter is just turning three. It sure makes me happy to think about it though. What a day of rejoicing that will be. I hope someday it will happen. One of the problems is my God daughter, like most of the kids in her generation, doesn't care much about church. I don't hold it against her it is her life and she will live her way. I keep hoping someday she will turn to Christianity. I keep hoping she'll find out how much God loves her. Like the Bible says “God is love”
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