Freedom Knocking at my Door

My life was full of fear before I received eternal life, I was angry at God for taking my father away from me. I was angry at the church we attended because we were not a well to do family and I felt looked down upon, because of that. We struggled with normal everyday things like not enough food in the house, old clothes, walking everywhere we went because we didn't own a car.

I remember when I was about 14 I was hanging out with a friend whose dad was a manager for J C Penney store. I wouldn't say he had a silver spoon in his mouth, but he dressed sharp and had a cool car. He drove me home one day so I could change. We walked in the back door and up into the kitchen and the first thing he did was go to the stove where my mother had something cooking on the stove. He was surprised to find a pot full of milk and kernel corn. This was our dinner for that night. Later at the party we went to, this guy I thought was my friend, started talking about how poor I was and mentioned that all we had cooking on the stove was a pot full of milk and kernel corn.

Several years later I was dating a gal that I thought was different and very confident in herself. She was talking about how there was a more than abundant life we were called to live. She peaked my interest, because I definitely grew up on the other side of that coin. She spoke of life eternal and freedom and riches and glory. The things she was talking about were the things I was searching for in my life. She told me the way to get this abundant life was to surrender my life to Jesus. I told her I heard about God, but I wasn't sure of who Jesus was. She began to explain to me what Jesus did while he was on this earth and the sacrifice he became so that I could have eternal life.

Eternal life was my ticket out of the world I was trying to get away from.

This girl I was dating soon became my wife and we were living a good life. I felt a freedom I had not felt before, I surrendered my life to Jesus.

I was married for 31 years when my wife lost a battle with leukemia and in that moment of sadness I became much closer to the one I surrendered my life to, Jesus. I grieved, but I also knew that someday I would see my wife again. I also knew that there was more to this story and that Jesus would carry me through to the end of this life and into that eternal life he promised us.