The Never Ending Gifts

Bracing myself, I made the call—and she graciously agreed to meet with me. Whew, that wasn’t so hard. I was glad I made the effort.

You see, 2012 was a different kind of a year for me. Seven people I knew died—as many as in all my previous years combined. I had prayed for the opportunity to ask two of these people about their belief in Jesus, but never found a comfortable way to bring it up in our conversations. I’d thought there would be more time, more opportunities. I was wrong.

After attending the funeral in early December, I thought of another person I’d been hoping to talk with about the Christian faith. New resolve set in to stop waiting for the “right” moment, to be courageous enough to risk the awkwardness, and to just pick up the phone and ask if I could come over and talk with her about Christianity. I didn’t want to bother her—I cared and wanted to be sure she knew God’s wonderful plan for us all. When she reacted so positively to my call, and invited me to her house, it made my day.

The next week, after listening to her church background, I took her through a pamphlet titled “The Five Facts about God and Us.” It explained that God loves us, but our sins—and we all sin—separate us from God. To remedy this, God sent his son Jesus to reconcile us back to himself. Our part is to believe in Jesus, agree to turn from our ways to his, and receive Jesus into our life as Lord.

I took a deep breath before reading the last line of the presentation. “Would you like to become a part of God’s family by asking Jesus Christ to forgive your sins and come into your life right now?”

She said, “yes.”

Wow.

In response to that last booklet question, she prayed a prayer, asking Jesus to forgive her sins and come into her life, and giving him the authority to be in charge of her life. I gave her a big hug and welcomed her into God’s family, overjoyed by the treasure box of opportunities she now possessed. With God at our side, we have access to tremendous resources for healing, growth, and fulfillment.

As I drove away, I felt a surge of warm, empowering joy fill my soul. I had still been feeling emotionally shaky because of all the bad news I received the previous two weeks (see “God Sightings” post). But this big “good” seemed to trump all the “bad.” Now my coping abilities popped back up to the surface like a cork. I felt unsinkable, and free to truly enjoy the rest of the Christmas season.

Throughout the rest of December, I continued to hear of more tragedies, both local and national. But this newfound inner strength held firm. Instead of the bad news throwing me into despair, I was able to calmly pray for those involved, trust God to work, and get on with my Christmas celebration. Thank you, Jesus, for this awesome gift.