52 Pieces of Me Part 4

January 15, 1976 is a day that I will always remember. It was my Birthday as a Born Again Christian. Sure I had gone to church all my life – even joined the church, made a profession of faith and been baptized when I was 12 – but it was never anything more than just words to me.

Back in 1975 I was working for a CPA firm and one of my co-workers, Gary kept telling me about Jesus. I politely listened and even thought at one point – what are you talking about – I was born a Christian. Yeah right. Let me back up a bit farther to the how and why I was working at this CPA firm. I can even see God’s hand in getting me into that job. I was just finishing up my degree in Accounting and had applied to take the CPA exam in November. But I was a DAY late turning in my application and was turned down for the November exam. I did everything I could to get them to accept me but the final answer was NO. My day told me that every cloud had a silver lining but I sure couldn’t see it at the time. I knew I needed to do something to fill the time until the next exam in May. The next day I was up at the local convenience store crying about my situation and the store keeper told me he had heard that the company that did his bookkeeping was looking for another accountant. He referred me to them and I had a job the next week. This was where I meet Gary, who eventually led me to Christ.

Back to January 1976 - I had always “tried” to live a good life but I had slipped quite a bit around that time. I was drinking a lot and my life was a bit out of control. Jeff, my oldest, was in grade school at that time and one day he and another boy collided on the playground and Jeff bounced his head pretty hard on the cement. The Dr told me to watch him all night, wake him up often, check his eyes, etc. Needless to say it made for a long night. But around midnight or 1am, I got bored and ended up picking up my Bible and the Bridge illustration that Gary had written down for me over lunch one day. I got to thinking about my life and all that Gary had been saying. It finally made sense to me. I WAS a sinner and only Jesus could do anything about it. (6 months before I was still “trying” to live the good life. So I can definitely see God’s timing.) At this point I knew what sin was. I could totally identify. So sometime in the early morning of January 15, 1976, I prayed the prayer of salvation and asked Jesus to come into my life and heart. THAT was the turning point in my life. From then on I have never been alone. I have always had Jesus with me. Heck, even the Bible finally made sense. Thank you Gary for sharing Jesus with me. I will be forever grateful!!!!!!!!!!!