Knowing Him
My first experience with Jesus was when I was just five years old. My mother, who was single, took all four of us kids to an Episcopal church where I learned the basics of the Bible, including the story of Noah and his big ark and the wee little man Zacchaeus, who took money from people, yet climbed up a tree in order to see Jesus.
In the sanctuary, I always wondered why I couldn't drink from the big, beautiful, gold cup that the priest held for everyone to drink from during communion and why my mother dipped her wafer instead of sipping from the cup. Later I learned that the wine and wafer were only for those who went through a special class and you needed to be a certain age. I also learned that my mother was an alcoholic and that was why she only dipped instead of sipped.
My mother had many "slips" as she called them, and that was why we went to those smoke-filled rooms packed with people who took turns standing behind a podium, speaking about horrible things they were going through (Alcoholics Anonymous).
By the time I was six years old, I learned the Lord's Prayer by heart. I knew of Jesus our Lord and Savior, and longed at that very young age to know Him more. My mother took me to church off and on for about two years, but we moved around so much I didn't ever really have a place to call home.
When I was 12 years old my sister took me to a Baptist church. It was there that I accepted Jesus into my heart. I felt a great sensation pour over me; I felt unconscious for a moment and then I just started sobbing. I felt brand new after that, knowing that I had just been "saved," as the Baptist preacher called it.
As an adult, I have been exposed to many different types of denominations but have found that, after 30 years, I do not need a denomination or a certain status to be loved by our Lord. I also have found the importance of studying God’s Word and applying it to my daily living. I now have the honor of passing this message on to my children and grandchildren: God gave His only Son to die for our sins so that we could live.
I hope that my walk and talk are pleasing to my Heavenly Father and that He smiles when He sees me. I am waiting patiently for my Father in Heaven to come back for me because I can only imagine how it will be to go home.
Holly
