God had blessed me with strong Christian parents so participating regularly in church activities, prayer and Bible study were just a part of life. The choice of following Christ was still mine, however, and I made that choice at the age of 7 that Jesus is the Son of God, that He came to earth to teach us about who God really is, that He died as payment for my wrongdoings, and that He rose from the dead and is now in His rightful place in Heaven. And that I cannot earn my way to Heaven but by accepting His payment, I will go to Heaven someday.
I know my early salvation kept me from a lot of potential problems growing up, but there have still been a number of difficult trials. Of those, depression has been the longest running. It had started probably when I was much younger (I was always somewhat melancholy), but really started manifesting itself in college during my sophomore year. I progressed to the point of an attempt to take my life and later a hospitalization for depression. Although I had cried, prayed, and begged God to take this way during this time, it progressed, and for a long time I was quite angry with God. I came to the place where I had to decide if I was going to just give up on God (since He seemingly had not answered my prayers) or continue to try to hang on to Him despite my hurt and confusion. I decided that without God, life has no real purpose; yes, one can accomplish great things in life without God, but in the end, there is nothing. I chose to hang on despite everything around me and He brought me through it. I finally had to ask Him to either give me an understanding of why it happened or give me a peace about it; He opted for the peace, although I know someday either here or in heaven I’ll understand.
Since that time God has gotten me in and through all of my medical training and into a good job position for helping the elderly of our population. In addition, He has blessed me with a tremendous wife, two wonderful (most of the time) children, and great in-laws (all of which are Christians). For me to explain all He has done in my life regarding bringing me through my medical training, meeting and marrying my wife, my occupational obstacles, financial difficulties, and many other trials would take too much time. But God is greater than I realize, more powerful than I can comprehend, wiser than I can fathom, more gracious than I could imagine, more merciful than I could merit, and more deserving of everything I could ever do for Him.
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Neither of my parents attended church during my lifetime, ever. Thankfully, my grandparents, aunts and uncles were there to pick up the slack. As a child, my Grandmother asked me if I believed Jesus was the Son of God and died for my sins. I told her that I did believe. She asked if I would accept Christ as my Savior, and I said yes. She said a prayer with me that night that, but I never came forward publicly, was never baptized, and I never changed. Shortly thereafter, I began to rebel against everything, including God. I dived into the traps that ensnare a lot of young people. As I went through college, I got deeper and deeper into that hole, consumed with my own self-indulgence. Many times I should have been dead or in jail, but the Lord was watching over me even as I had my back on him. Many of those times were wake up calls I just ignored.
As a husband and parent, I dropped a lot of my vices, but my selfish attitude was still the controlling factor in my life. I thought, “I can show my family what they need to know about God myself.” WRONG! Then tragedy struck. Tragedy that jumps out of nowhere and enlightens you that not only is everything not well, but everything is very wrong. Tragedy that brings a man to his knees, then back to the Lord in prayer, as there is nowhere else to turn, no one else who can help. I prayed through tears, “Lord, Father, Wh…” But before I could finish that little three-letter question, He answered. I believe the Lord speaks to us all in various ways, including our own inner-conscious, and that is how it had to be with me because I wasn’t reading the Bible. “What did you expect? You’ve turned your back to Me for many years. Your own children, whom you say you love more than anything, only know me in passing. What does that say?”
This time, I heard. I immediately prayed for forgiveness, and knew that was the only way out of the darkness. I continued to pray, began to read the Bible, and let my family know that I had failed them by not giving them a relationship with the Father. They knew something was lacking in our lives also, and were open to Christ. We sought out a church, and continued to grow in Christ through prayer, Bible study, and fellowship. After attending a short time, we all prayed to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, and were baptized. We are young Christians, but we are still growing in His love everyday. Most parents want their children to have a better life than they had. I could die today and know that is a done deal.
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I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia back in the 1950s. My parents were Southern Baptist church members who put a high priority on God and family. While attending our church revival when I was nine years old, I accepted Christ as my Savior. Even though I knew all about Jesus, I felt a true conviction in my spirit that I was a sinner and needed forgiveness in a formal way. My bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) I took my pastor’s hand and said, “I want to be a Christian”. I felt loved in a new and wonderful way that made me want to read my bible and learn verses and tell my friends about what I was experiencing.
After marrying my high school sweetheart in 1968, we started our family and joined our local church. We enjoyed the Sunday school bible study meetings and made lots of good friends at church. While our two children grew up, we taught Sunday School, attended lots of bible study classes, helped with GAs and RAs on Wednesdays and then volunteered with high school youth outings. I also attended women’s prayer groups, and loved doing mission work in our community. Everything was pretty great in my life. Then one day in August 1996, my beloved husband was killed instantly in a terrible automobile accident. God had taken him to his heavenly home at the age of 47. I grieved long and hard, and asked God many times “Why?” I was angry at Him and basically at everyone else. I did what I had to do to survive, but all the joy and contentment in my life was gone.
It took several years, with many friends and family praying, to understand that God could still use me use, and that He would provide for all my needs if I put all my trust in Him. God was good to send me my second husband a few years ago and, I moved to South Carolina. Now I very much enjoy living in Spartanburg with him, near his children and our grandchildren and seeking God’s will for my life. I thank God for his many blessings everyday.
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