My come to Jesus moment was during a marriage crisis. In the midst of my confusion, and guilt, unsure what path to follow, I stumbled upon a savior through a Christian neighbor who believed what the Bible said was true. True about God, and true about me. That God understood how helpless and ashamed I was and loved me anyway. Loved me so much, he came to earth with flesh on and died in my place, for all I could not fix about myself or others because he alone is perfect and good.
I was eager to learn everything I could about this new God and his ways, so my neighbor encouraged me to read the Bible every morning to get each day off on the right foot. I tried but failed. My son was an infant who got me up several times a night, and his older sister a two-year-old who awoke at dawn. The best I could do after dinner, after bath time, after story time, after tucking in my two-year-old and nursing the baby, was to read a small bit of the Bible before I fell asleep exhausted.
I also went to church, and one morning following adult Sunday School, a woman I’d never seen before, said she’d like to get to know me better and sort of invited herself over to my house for tea. By that time, my marriage was healing, and I had three toddlers. Her older daughter was the same age as my youngest. They played while we chatted, and I discovered we had much in common, among other things, both our husbands had gone back to school at U. Mass. And we both loved to write.
Before we parted, she shared it was the Army who’d sent her husband back to school for his Ph.D., and with only three years in one place, she’d learned to select friends quickly. Would I, therefore, like to be her best friend during this post? I’d never had anyone be so direct, but she was interesting and smart and sincere and became my first Christian best friend.
Romans 12:2 encapsulates what I learned from our time together. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good pleasing and perfect will.”
Knowing we’d be together only briefly, I believe she wanted to impart what she’d learned was the core of this Christian life, to trust God’s Word, and through it, maintain an intimate relationship with our heavenly father.
Years past, we kept in touch sporadically, and we both kept writing.
This week, that special friend, Sharon Gamble, launched her second book, Give me Wings to Soar: A Sweet Selah Journey towards a Deeper Walk with God. Click here to check it out https://www.amazon.com/Give-Me-Wings-Soar-Journey/dp/1946369527/
It also comes with a companion journal https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Give+me+wings+to+soar+journal&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss_2
By the way after thirty-eight years of walking with Jesus, and finally retired, all my children grown, you’d think it’d be easy to read my Bible first thing every morning. But true confession, without excuse, I’m still tempted to pick up my phone first to check the news or Facebook. And when I do, in these crazy times, I’m filled again with angst and confusion.
But Sharon and my old neighbor were right. When I pick up my Bible first, and rest, even for a moment in God’s truth, I’m at peace, high above the chaos of the world.
P.S. You can find my new book, Teacher Dropout, Finding Grace in an Unjust School by clicking here or on the link at the top of the page on the menu bar. Thanks!
