My Story

Ok so it's official.I was baptized tonight.What an awesome feeling.

Here's my story,I was raised Catholic.I went to a Catholic school thru 8th grade. The last 3 years I went to mass every weekday morning then also on Sunday.There was always something that just did'nt sit right with me.It always seemed the same.Stand now,sit now, kneel now.Say the same prayers at the same time every time.I also could'nt understand how you could just change the rules mid way thru.You can't touch Holy Communion,oh wait,now you can.I also could'nt figure out the going to confession thing.I confess then say 5 Hail Marry's 4 Our fathers and then I'm good too go?And you can't take Communion unless you go to confession.This is one thing that has stayed with me to this day.I have never taken( since 8th grade) communion to this day as I have not been to confession.I will however be partaking on the first Sunday of October.
I stopped going to Church after 8th Grade.When I was going to be married,at age 17,I was told by my church I could'nt be married in a Catholic Church because my to be wife was Lutheran.Really?Wow.Ok so we got married in a Lutheran church,We are still married,30 years.My wife is awesome.She's a special person to have put up with me this long,We have 3 daughters.
My wife pretty much always went to Church.I on the other hand did not.She would try to get me to go but I just would'nt.As my kids got older I started going a little.You know,Christmas,Kids were in a play.But it all just seemed like the same old thing.What really started to get to me as I started going more often was how the people were.Not all of them of course,but many.I knew many of them outside of Church and they were not very Good people.Not that I was either.The differance was I knew I was going to hell.They seemed to think just because they went to church,gave money,volunteered and did all the right things in church they were going to Heaven.I did'nt know much about it but I knew if I was going to hell,I was going to be seeing them in the same line.
When my oldest daughter,Danielle, was in high school she started going to Grace Baptist Church.Her best friend,Molly, got her to start going there. I am so grateful to Molly.Really it is because of Molly both Danielle and I are Christians today.I know it was all in Gods plan. Molly really is a special person if you happen to know her you are lucky!
Danielle really grew as a person at Grace.She worked with the youth.She did a lot of power point presentations.And to this day she actually works at Grace.She is an awesme daughter.She started inviting us to Grace like on Christmas or if she was doing a presentation. So we would go.From the very first time I went there it felt different.That had to be ten or so years ago.Then Christmas would come and we would go to Grace.Ok this is where theFence in the title of this blog comes in.So I would go I would get up on the fence,I would look in and say this is pretty cool.Then the service would be over and i would get off the fence and go back to my life.This went on untill this year. On the fence,Off the fence,on,off,on,off.You get the picture.
Then My wife and I were blessed with granddaugters.As they were getting older we decided to take them to church.I figured why not it's only one hour out of the weekend.So we started going to Grace on a regular basis probably a year or so ago.So back on the fence,this is pretty cool,off the fence.
It was Good Friday of this year and Grace was doing a sevice.We had heard it was pretty cool so my wife and I went.It was kind of a stations of the cross making your way thru the church.So it turned out our first stop was in a room that Danielle had set up and was going to give a talk.And then it happened.She said two words that have been in my heart ever since.They were WHAT IF.She then went on to say what if the story is true?What if God really did send his son to die on the cross to forgive our sins?What if all you have to do is believe this,accept Him as your Lord and Savior,ask for His forgivness and you will be saved. My exact thought was holy crap,all these years and I never thought of it like that.I still get tears in my eyes thinking about it.
But there I was sunday,back up on the fence looking in.Shortly after that,as I was up on the fence I started noticing something.It seemed like most,if not all,the sermons were directed right at me.I'm not kidding.It started to freak me out!So I started to talk to some people about how I was feeling and they told me to talk to Derek,he's a pastor at Grace.Well I had never felt like this before and I surely never talked to a pastor about this before.
So after some time past and more sermons seemed to be directed at me I finally made the call.I went in to talk to Derek and am I ever glad I did.He was awesome.He answered all my questions,put my mind at ease about my doubts.And that is when I became a Christian.I accepted God as my Lord and Savior and asked to be forgiven.
During my time on the fence I often saw people or groups of people putting there hands on people and praying for them.I thought that was kind of odd.Man was I wrong.After i professed my faith to Derek(I'm not even sure if professed is the right word or not)He layed his hands on me and prayed for me.Wow!that was the most powerful thing I ever experienced.He said while praying him,Danielle,Molly,and many others have been praying for me for a long time.All I could think of was,they have to be exhausted.But I'm glad they did'nt give up on me!
Till next time may the Lord be with you.Our God is great!