April 14, 1974 – The Day Everything Changed

April 14, 1974 – The Day Everything Changed

One Sunday morning when I was about eight or nine years old my brother and I got up early and headed out to play. Living in a little house in the country with no “visible neighbors” left a lot of room to go play and explore. The town of Blacksburg, SC is about five miles away from the place I grew up. We were not “church people” at this point in our life, so on this Sunday morning we knew mom and dad would be sleeping in so we left the house to go play. We were looking for something interesting to do and our dog “Brownie” ran up and gave us an idea. We named our dog “Brownie” because… well he was brown.

Brownie was wet. We were excited. We were not aware of water anywhere near our house so we told Brownie to take us to the water. He must have understood because he was ready to take us on a hike in to the woods. We followed him as he led us into the forest behind our house. We were exploring territory we knew nothing about. Before long we came over a hill and there we saw a creek. We played, explored and got wet just like Brownie had done earlier. After a while the dog wanted to move on so we followed him deeper in to the woods.

All was fine until he saw something that caught his attention and blasted in to the forest and left us behind. There we stood. Everything looked so familiar but nothing seemed clear. We quickly realized we were lost. I can’t explain the feeling that poured through me. We walked for hours always wondering if we were closer to or farther away from home. Truthfully we had no idea if we would ever find our way out. It lasted all day. Finally we happened to change direction and heard the sound of a car horn. Our dad was going outside and hitting the horn every so often to see if we might hear it. That sound became our guide to eventually bring us home.

I never want to be lost again. Over the next several months someone invited my parents to visit Oak Grove Baptist Church. The church was out in the country, just a few miles from our house but like the creek in the woods, we knew nothing about it. People were friendly and the sermons were relevant to our lives. God began showing us that we were all truly lost spiritually. One by one God began dealing in our family and my dad made a decision to be saved, then my mom and a few months later, on April 14, 1974 I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior.

It was during a Sunday night service at the church that God began to really move my heart and I realized I needed and wanted a personal relationship with God. At the end of the service I went to the front of the church and talked with one of the men. He took his Bible and showed me how to come to Christ and be saved. At that moment I bowed my head and prayed for Jesus to forgive and wash away my sins, come in to my heart and save my soul. The change in my life as an eleven year old boy was very real. I went to school on Monday morning realizing I was not the same person. I wanted to serve God, I wanted to be more like Him and there was a peace I had never experienced before in my life.

I remember Sunday mornings hearing the “church bells” coming from a church through the woods. The sounds were coming from Oak Grove Baptist Church. It’s amazing to think that eventually we ended up in that church. Like the sound of the horn that brought us out of our lost adventure in the forest, the message of this church brought us from our lost condition and we found God’s path. We found the water of life.

This month I celebrate 35 years with God. I am so thankful for His presence in my life and the way He has changed me, guided me and provided all I need to be living a life full of His purpose. I thank God for all He has been to me. I can’t image life without Him.