One Heck of a Ride

51 weeks ago today, I sat in an Easter service, while on our annual family spring break trip to Myrtle Beach.  I remember that day very well.  As I sat in church that morning, I felt an unease come over me.  As I watched the events that took place I began questioning, “Do these people even know what they are doing?  Are they just repeating what they have been told throughout their whole lives?”  The sermon that day was on basketball……all 15 minutes of it.  This was Easter Sunday…..and all I remember was something about sports.

It’s crazy how you can look back on events in your life and know the exact moment God began working on a specific issue.  When it comes to me, he began working, from all I can tell, months before.  But that day…..he began working on my family.  I can now look back…..and that uneasiness, that anxiety…………I believe God was telling me, “Man up.  It’s time for you to lead your family to Me.”

Up until that time, I have to admit, we didn’t go to church.  God was not a priority.  Yes I believed, but you never would have known.  But on that day God started my family down the path we are on today, 1 week less than a year later.

I mentioned in my last post that my oldest son raised his hand last Saturday night and prayed with Pastor Jeff.  This week we talked to him, off and on, and I believed he understood everything we talked about.  Today, we went to a class called “We Believe” designed for kids who are interested in beginning their relationship with Jesus Christ.  The kids were sent away to make a picture frame, the parents stayed back as Pastor Vinnie prepared us for what was going to happen.  We learned how to share our story, very quickly, about what Christ has done for us.  Then the children were brought back in and Pastor Vinnie shared the Gospel with the children.

When he was finished, it was our turn.  I shared my quick story as to how I came to Christ.  Then I sat and watched my wife, through tears, share her story…..that only began a few short months ago.  After we were finished, we walked him through some questions, with him knowing exactly what it all meant.  Now it came to the most important part….”Are you ready to join God’s family today?”  He said yes…..and what happened next…..

I turned to my wife….”Do you want to do this?”  I could have done it, but I knew how important a moment this could be for her.  She looked at my son and she began a short prayer.  He repeated after her……I watched as tears streamed down her face.  Because this wasn’t just about him, but about her journey as well.  So today, even though it really happened last week, my son has found eternal life with Jesus Christ.

We took a picture to go in that frame that he made.  So now he has a date and a story to share with others.

I never lead my wife in a prayer for her salvation.  But with God by my side, I got her to where she needed to be for Pastor Jeff to take over.  And then Pastor Jeff got her to where she needed to be, for Jesus Himself, to take over.

Isn’t it awesome how God takes us from our lowest places….our moments of anxiety, and delivers us to where He wants us to be?  I would have told you that you were absolutely crazy, if a year ago, after that Easter service, that I almost couldn’t even sit through, that today…….my wife would pray with my son to receive Christ.

Receiving Christ as your Savior isn’t about never sinning again……about being perfect all the time.  If it was about being perfect, we wouldn’t really need a Savior would we?  Christ came to take that sin from us….so God can see us as perfect…even though we aren’t.

Today’s sermon was about Love.  Pastor Jeff said, “Love is more of an action than an emotion.  Without love, I say nothing, I gain nothing, I am nothing.  Love is expressed by supernatural responses.”

The love that Jesus has poured over this family in the last year is beyond words.  No we aren’t perfect.  Yes, we still have our day-to-day issues.  Yes, my oldest still kicks his brother and yes, my youngest still spends his days trying to annoy his oldest.

But you know what……at the end of the day, love, is what it is all about.  And we all love each other more than words can say.

It’s been almost a year.  I’m sitting at home alone.  The family is on their way to our annual family spring break in Myrtle Beach.  I will join them in a few days.  My wife is saved.  My son is saved.  We have a new church.  We have a new house.  We have the boys in a school that has done nothing but encourage their potential.  We have been blessed financially, which has allowed us to tithe the way we always should have been.  I am in school for theology…..and within the last month I believe I am being nudged more and more towards the mission field.  None of these things would have happened if I would have ignored God.  None of these things would have happened if my family before me would have ignored God.

I urge you, open your hearts, open your minds, ask for guidance.  These things that you hear and feel are not mere coincidence, but God placing you on your path.  Follow Him.  I can’t even imagine what the next year holds for my family, but if it is anything like the last…..its time to buckle up……because its going to be one heck of a ride.