When it comes to salvation, I've heard some people say that their lives were changed in an instant. Their eyes were opened when they prayed the sinners prayer and accepted Christ, & they instantly knew that they were forever changed. My conversion did not happen that way. In fact it wasn't even close to being in the same ballpark as that.
Around the 1982/1983 timeframe, my wife Helene decided to start attending a local Methodist church. She was not saved at the time, but felt that church attendance was the right thing to do and a good habit/example to set for our son. Somewhere in that timeframe, she became saved, and started to get on fire for the Lord. I can remember going to church every now and then, mostly due to her arm-twisting. I still had a bad taste in my mouth from the years of Catholic "crap" doctrine, and I wasn't too keen on church in general. I remember a few times when she brought up the issue of tithing. I always thought that 10 or 20 dollars was a very generous donation.....and she wanted me to consider 10%? I knew she had to be out of her tree! No way!! I continued to attend church once in a while because I knew she liked it when I went, but at that point, I was only doing it to please her. However, I always knew that God was out there, because of how He answered my prayer in 1981. I just had not heard the simple salvation message yet.
Around the 1982/1983 timeframe, my wife Helene decided to start attending a local Methodist church. She was not saved at the time, but felt that church attendance was the right thing to do and a good habit/example to set for our son. Somewhere in that timeframe, she became saved, and started to get on fire for the Lord. I can remember going to church every now and then, mostly due to her arm-twisting. I still had a bad taste in my mouth from the years of Catholic "crap" doctrine, and I wasn't too keen on church in general. I remember a few times when she brought up the issue of tithing. I always thought that 10 or 20 dollars was a very generous donation.....and she wanted me to consider 10%? I knew she had to be out of her tree! No way!! I continued to attend church once in a while because I knew she liked it when I went, but at that point, I was only doing it to please her. However, I always knew that God was out there, because of how He answered my prayer in 1981. I just had not heard the simple salvation message yet.
My daughter came along in Dec. 1984, and Helene's commitment became even deeper. She started working in the church nursery on Sundays, and also helped out as an aide in Sunday school. I was pretty content to keep church at a distance, continuing to attend only sporadically. It was around this time that my mom was having financial difficulties and had to move out of her home and into one of those Social Security apartment-type places. All that activity was coming to a climax in the Fall of 1985......but it was then that we found out that she had lung cancer....of the worst kind. Mom had complained of aches and pains for years.....it just seemed to be the thing she did - she never seemed to have any lasting effects. So.....whenever my brothers or I would see her or talk on the phone, she would almost always complain about this ache, or that pain.....and we'd just kind of let it go right by. Unfortunately.....these were now legitimate complaints. We ended up seeing good doctors and she received very good care, but it all resulted in the absolute worst prognosis.......Nothing they could do, and not much time left.
Ultimately......despite our best efforts to care for her, she passed away on March 23rd 1986.....Palm Sunday. This left me feeling quite low, and the following several months were probably the toughest ones on our marriage. Helene continued to be active in the church, but I could care less about it.....probably due to my grief, I'm not really sure. Anyway.....time passed.....and we came across an opportunity to build a new house in a new development in Washington Twp. Helene felt that God was leading us to make this move. I wasn't sure about the God part of it, but I knew He had a way of speaking in a special way, so I liked the idea and went with her lead. This common goal seemed to get us back on track as a couple, and we pursued it fervently. In Oct. 1987, we moved into our brand new home, and that was a really special time for us. We were pregnant with our third child and Helene gave birth in Dec. of that year. It seemed to me that I was finally getting past the grief of my mom's death, and life appeared to be going well and was good again. But....that was not the case..........
Just a few weeks later in January 1988, Helene was suddenly stricken with a very bad case of Pancreatitis....very serious. Doctors were unsure of the exact cause, and this event triggered a 2+ year ordeal of several hospital stays, visits to specialist after specialist, and more kinds of tests than I can remember. In the end, the doctors didn't know what else to do except operate, so she ended having major exploratory abdominal surgery in Feb. 1990. During those 2 years, I began to pray to God for help, in a similar way as I had back in 1981. I was still not saved, but I knew that I could not deal with life if I had to raise 3 small children on my own.....so I begged and pleaded with God time after time after time......to make her well again. The surgery turned out to be quite rough on her, and she was in the hospital recovering for 4 to 5 weeks afterward. But....praise God, it turned out to be the fix. After some additional recovery time at home, she was as good as new. I had my wife back, and my kids had their mom back.
As I reflect back, those 2+ years were training time for me. I had to get rid of "self," and get my focus on Helene and the kids. I had 3 little ones who were depending on me - for everything!! Helene's mom & dad were just fantastic during this time. They helped with the kids which allowed me to be able to work (rotating shifts), and care for Helene's needs as they came along. Again, I think this was "training time" so that I could flush out any selfishness that was in me. As 1990 progressed, I started to attend church with Helene and the kids more regularly, and I started feeling differently about it. She had asked everyone she knew to pray for me to get saved, and this obviously had an effect on me, because my attitude started to change. Helene joined the choir and was enjoying it immensely. They began to prepare for a Christmas Cantata in the Fall, and Helene kept bugging me to join up.......just for the Cantata....& if I didn't like it, I could quit after Christmas. All my life, I loved music & singing along with my favorite songs on the radio, and she knew this.....so I decided to join. The choir director was a really great guy, very outgoing and passionate about communicating the Gospel through music. I remember his teaching so well....."Music can reach into places where the spoken word cannot." This has turned out to be very true - to this day.
Anyway, there was a young lady who was doing a duet with one of the men in the choir.....a beautiful song about Mary & Joseph & the birth of Jesus. As time passed, the gentleman who was supposed to sing with her missed many of the practices. She asked me if I could practice with her, so that she would be ready when her regular partner was there. I knew the song from listening to it on the overall practice tape, so I agreed to help. One night after practice I stayed after to run through it with her. When the director heard us sing together, he was blown away, and insisted that I was now the one who was going to do the duet with her. Long story short, there was an anointing on that song that night, that went into my heart.....and reached into a place that the spoken word had not. That night, at choir practice, I gave my life to Christ....Nov. 15th, 1990.
Since that night, I have known that the Lord placed me on a certain path....that my calling has been to reach people through music. I do not play an instrument, nor have I ever had any kind of professional training.....but nevertheless.....God has used me in that manner ever since. I learned a lot under that particular director, and God used him mightily in my initial instruction. As more time passed, we eventually left that church, and searched for a couple of years until Fall of 1993, when my wife found a church that met in a movie theater in nearby Pitman. She had visited a few times on Sunday nights to see special concert events, and when she told me about it, my first reaction was, "what kind of church meets in a movie theater?" But I ended up accompanying her on a few visits and I was hooked. In Jan. 1994, we became regular attendees of the Gloucester County Community Church (GCCC)....and we've attended ever since.
Over the years, the Lord had blessed me to be able to associate and sing with such talented folks at GCCC.....it has been such a joy. I never in my life dreamed that I would ever get to do something like this. I have no special skill, or talent, or ability.....yet here I am doing His work in song........absolutely unbelievable!! He has placed me under the direction & instruction of people who have always sought an excellence for praise & worship. And being under the direction and teaching of Pastor Bruce (the senior pastor) has been so beneficial.....I can't really even put it into words.
Anyway, that's my story up to this point. More installments to come.......as the Lord leads........
Just a few weeks later in January 1988, Helene was suddenly stricken with a very bad case of Pancreatitis....very serious. Doctors were unsure of the exact cause, and this event triggered a 2+ year ordeal of several hospital stays, visits to specialist after specialist, and more kinds of tests than I can remember. In the end, the doctors didn't know what else to do except operate, so she ended having major exploratory abdominal surgery in Feb. 1990. During those 2 years, I began to pray to God for help, in a similar way as I had back in 1981. I was still not saved, but I knew that I could not deal with life if I had to raise 3 small children on my own.....so I begged and pleaded with God time after time after time......to make her well again. The surgery turned out to be quite rough on her, and she was in the hospital recovering for 4 to 5 weeks afterward. But....praise God, it turned out to be the fix. After some additional recovery time at home, she was as good as new. I had my wife back, and my kids had their mom back.
As I reflect back, those 2+ years were training time for me. I had to get rid of "self," and get my focus on Helene and the kids. I had 3 little ones who were depending on me - for everything!! Helene's mom & dad were just fantastic during this time. They helped with the kids which allowed me to be able to work (rotating shifts), and care for Helene's needs as they came along. Again, I think this was "training time" so that I could flush out any selfishness that was in me. As 1990 progressed, I started to attend church with Helene and the kids more regularly, and I started feeling differently about it. She had asked everyone she knew to pray for me to get saved, and this obviously had an effect on me, because my attitude started to change. Helene joined the choir and was enjoying it immensely. They began to prepare for a Christmas Cantata in the Fall, and Helene kept bugging me to join up.......just for the Cantata....& if I didn't like it, I could quit after Christmas. All my life, I loved music & singing along with my favorite songs on the radio, and she knew this.....so I decided to join. The choir director was a really great guy, very outgoing and passionate about communicating the Gospel through music. I remember his teaching so well....."Music can reach into places where the spoken word cannot." This has turned out to be very true - to this day.
Anyway, there was a young lady who was doing a duet with one of the men in the choir.....a beautiful song about Mary & Joseph & the birth of Jesus. As time passed, the gentleman who was supposed to sing with her missed many of the practices. She asked me if I could practice with her, so that she would be ready when her regular partner was there. I knew the song from listening to it on the overall practice tape, so I agreed to help. One night after practice I stayed after to run through it with her. When the director heard us sing together, he was blown away, and insisted that I was now the one who was going to do the duet with her. Long story short, there was an anointing on that song that night, that went into my heart.....and reached into a place that the spoken word had not. That night, at choir practice, I gave my life to Christ....Nov. 15th, 1990.
Since that night, I have known that the Lord placed me on a certain path....that my calling has been to reach people through music. I do not play an instrument, nor have I ever had any kind of professional training.....but nevertheless.....God has used me in that manner ever since. I learned a lot under that particular director, and God used him mightily in my initial instruction. As more time passed, we eventually left that church, and searched for a couple of years until Fall of 1993, when my wife found a church that met in a movie theater in nearby Pitman. She had visited a few times on Sunday nights to see special concert events, and when she told me about it, my first reaction was, "what kind of church meets in a movie theater?" But I ended up accompanying her on a few visits and I was hooked. In Jan. 1994, we became regular attendees of the Gloucester County Community Church (GCCC)....and we've attended ever since.
Over the years, the Lord had blessed me to be able to associate and sing with such talented folks at GCCC.....it has been such a joy. I never in my life dreamed that I would ever get to do something like this. I have no special skill, or talent, or ability.....yet here I am doing His work in song........absolutely unbelievable!! He has placed me under the direction & instruction of people who have always sought an excellence for praise & worship. And being under the direction and teaching of Pastor Bruce (the senior pastor) has been so beneficial.....I can't really even put it into words.
Anyway, that's my story up to this point. More installments to come.......as the Lord leads........
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