We thought we knew God, having both grown up in the Methodist Church. But as time went by, we came to realize that we didn’t. This is the story of how God got a hold of us. The story begins with Judy, as we lead up to March 31, 1975.
We had been married several years with four young boys, ranging in age from five months to six years. A friend of mine had once told me “I know what’s wrong with you – you need to be saved”, which greatly offended me. After all I have been going to church all of my life, first in the Methodist Church and later in the Lutheran Church. I had been going to Sunday School since I was three years old. I had completed two confirmation classes – I thought that I was a good Lutheran girl. How could I not be going to heaven?
But then came the trials that would bring me to Jesus. We had six solid months of sickness in the family. There was not one healthy day in six months in the family. At two months old, Chad needed surgery. This was very hard on me as his mother. Michael had to be hospitalized for a week with Mononucleosis. Aaron also came down with it. Mark came down with Scarlet Fever. His temperature was 105° for five days. I was up with him day and night, giving him cold baths to try to get his temperature down.
I had no way to deal with all of this – now as a Christian, I have the Word of God and the Church Body to carry me though the hard times, but back then I had nothing. I didn’t have Jesus, I didn’t have the Body, I didn’t have the word of God. There was no one there to help – Alan had to work, so I was left to manage on my own.
Next, the entire family came down with the Hong Kong Flu. We all spent six days in bed. The refrigerator was filled with medicine bottles. Not only were they labeled with each child’s name, but also with the schedule for when they needed their doses. None of them had the same schedule, and I would be getting up several times a night to give a different child his medicine.
We were totally broke. There was no money. Everything was going to pay for medicine, hospital bills and doctor bills. Alan was working two jobs, getting only four hours of sleep a night, in order to keep up with the medical bills.
I fell into a deep, deep depression. I would wake up crying. Alan would try to comfort me, telling me that he loved me, that we have each other, and that we were together as a family, that it would all be okay. But it wasn’t okay! The extreme stress was taking a toll on us. Our marriage was becoming really rocky. We were always tired.
Then one day it all started to change. I don’t really know why, but I felt the need to call up Carol, a former coworker – perhaps just to talk to someone that was different, someone that I hadn’t already talked to about all of this. I knew that she had an unlisted phone number, but I looked her up in the phone book anyway, and there her number was. I called, and as I explained all that had been going on to Carol, she told me, ‘I know somebody that you can talk to, who will encourage you and make you happy.’ I thought ‘Oh boy! That’s just what I need. I need to be encouraged, to be happy’.
Carol told me, “I’ll take you to him. He really helped me. I know that if you would just talk to him you’ll be encouraged. I’ll pick you up and we’ll go visit. Would you like to go?”
I said, “Sure, I’ll go!”
So, we went to the home of a man named Reverend Steinman. He had a small cottage behind his house, and we met there with several other people. This man was just filled with love. He greeted me with love, he shook my hand, he smiled, he gave me a big hug. For a long time they talked to me. They shared Jesus with me. They shared the joy that they had with me. They all truly ministered to me.
As they would share the Word of God with me, a thought kept coming back to me – ‘I’ve heard this’; ‘I’ve heard this’; ‘I’ve heard this’ – All of these things were things I knew. But Reverend Steinman later told me, ‘I’ve fasted and prayed all day for you.’ But then he said something that has changed my life forever. He said, ‘Judy - it’s not what you know that will ever get you in to heaven – the devil knows more about Jesus and about the Word of God than you ever will. So it’s not what you know, but it’s Jesus in your heart that gets you in to heaven.’
After hearing this, for the first time in my life it hit me and I finally saw Jesus, and became a Christian. And it was a shock to me, because until then I didn’t know that I wasn’t a Christian. Reverend Steinman asked me if I wanted to be that lost sheep that Jesus carried on his shoulders back home, and I told him yes, yes, YES! They all gathered around me and started to pray. I had never heard anyone pray like that! They led me in a sinner’s prayer, and the peace of God just flooded into me, flooding my soul, and I was filled with joy.
This had all gone on long into the evening. It was now midnight, and I hadn’t even called Alan to let him know that I was okay. Reverend Steinman told me that I should call him and let him know that I was okay. I thought I should call, but then I realized that I didn’t know what I would say to him. Reverend Steinman suggested that I shouldn’t say anything – if Alan didn’t notice any change in me then the words would be meaningless anyway. Just go home and see if he notices the difference. So I went home, getting home at 1:00 a.m. …
So, here it was March 31, 1975 and Judy had left home after a quick supper. Now it is getting late – I had played with the boys, I had put the boys to bed, and gotten them their drinks of water, and they had said their prayers. I had watched the 10:00 p.m. news. I had turned out the lights as I sat in the living room. The house is now quiet, and dark, and no word from Judy. Now it is 11:00, then 12:00, and still no Judy and no phone call from Judy. Nothing!
At 11:15 I am getting upset. We ALWAYS communicated! At 12:30 I am doing a slow burn – ‘she should have called! – am I going to talk to her! – This just does not happen!’ At 12:50 I am pacing around the living room, verbalizing, rehearsing what I am going to say to her. I am hot!
Finally, at 1:00 a.m. Judy comes home. I am in the house, just waiting to give her a tongue lashing. All of the lights in the house are out, and there is no moon. The house is totally dark as Judy comes in. I didn’t even get up to open the door for her – ‘she can just open it herself! Just wait until she gets inside – am I ready for her!’
She comes in and closes the door. She sees me, and says nothing. I want to start the tongue lashing, but I can’t – there is this glow around Judy’s face lighting up the room. I wanted to chew her out, but I just couldn’t. I couldn’t say anything. We had some small talk, but the anger was just drained from me. Now I realize that the power of the Lord was all over Judy, but back then I was too ignorant to see it. We just went to bed.
The next morning (April 1st) we got up and said nothing. I kind of was waiting for her to say something to me, but she didn’t. However, I was beginning to sense that something was different in Judy. I went off to work. Later in the day I started noticing something different inside of me – a mild uneasiness or stirring. After work I went home. And again we said nothing.
April 2nd was mostly a repeat of the prior day. Nothing was said about the lengthy meeting at Reverend Steinman’s. Again I went to work. However, the stirring inside was becoming more noticeable, becoming uncomfortable. I thought maybe I was coming down with the flu. I did not sleep well that night.
April 3rd I was really not feeling well at all. I still didn’t say anything to Judy about it. I had a really bad day at work. As I came home I decided that I had to talk to Judy about it. I told her that I have not been feeling well at all for the past three days. And I told her that I had noticed a new peace about her. I asked her, ‘how did you find this peace? Whatever it takes to get it, I want to get this same peace.’ So, Judy explained briefly what had happened, and asked me if I would like to have this peace? I told her yes, let’s go talk to Reverend Steinman. If this is how I get it, call him!
So, we get to the little cottage around 7:00 p.m. Again, Reverend Steinman was there with several other people. We sat there talking. I can remember ever since I was a child I knew that there was a God. Twice before I had been in a church meeting where a man gave an altar call, asking people to come forward to receive Jesus, and twice before I almost went forward, but I didn’t. A long time had passed since then, but this time after Reverend Steinman spoke, and prayed, I prayed that sinner’s prayer. I was crying, and it just seemed to be getting worse! I couldn’t understand it – instead of peace the uneasiness was getting worse – and I was crying on top of that.
So, Reverend Steinman nodded to another man, Reverend Rozeboom, who came and ministered to me from Romans 10:13. He had me read it - “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” I read it, and I was crying, but it didn’t mean anything to me. So Reverend Rozeboom started to break it down for me:
“For whosoever – that’s you, right?” and I agreed, yes it is.
“shall call upon the name of the Lord – you did that, didn’t you?” again, yes I called upon the Lord.
“shall be saved.” and at that moment the Holy Spirit bore witness with my spirit, confirming that I was saved!
Like in the book Pilgrim’s Progress, I felt the guilt, the shame, the lying and cheating – God took it ALL from me. I could feel it physically lifted from my body. Joy and forgiveness just flooded in.
Judy and I held each other crying for a very long time. Ephesians 2:8-9 says “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” I don’t want to boast, but I do want to brag about what God has done. Since that day God has put a hedge of protection about our family, keeping us healthy. We now know God – not just knowing of Him, but really knowing Him in our heart. We now have a relationship with Him that is real.
