10 Years, 10 Stories: Story #2 - The Day Jesus Met Me
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
I had no language for it then. I only knew that something was drawing me forward.
It was a warm summer evening during a weekend that would change my life forever. The day had been filled with laughter, playing, and so much fun. But the evening would take me somewhere I had never gone before.
I had grown up in church, but at eleven my faith was still more familiar than personal. I was attending children’s Bible camp where the evening took us to worship in the sanctuary. The sanctuary was packed. Just hours earlier, a playful food fight had broken out. Children were settling down after the excitement of the day. The music quieted our hearts as voices filled the sanctuary. Children laughing, singing, crying. Many were coming to know Christ for the first time, including me.
As I looked around the room, I saw children who had accepted the invitation to welcome Jesus into their hearts return from the altar crying tears of joy, though I didn’t understand those tears back then. I couldn't comprehend what I was feeling. I only knew something was drawing me forward.
My own journey was about to begin - a surrender to Someone greater, an invitation to receive His grace, forgiveness, and love, and to walk with Him for the rest of my life. I was sitting at the back of the sanctuary with my Bible teacher - a sweet, elderly woman who encouraged my walk with the Lord - when all of a sudden I felt something that beckoned me toward the altar. I didn’t know what “it” was, as I had never experienced that calling before, that of the Holy Spirit. I responded to the invitation that drew me, walking slowly toward the front where the children before me were already kneeling. I looked from one child to another, wondering why they were crying, until I realized tears were streaming down my own face.
If there's one person I would thank for setting me on this path, it would be my mother. She faithfully took me to church, making it possible for me to meet Jesus that summer at Bible camp. I can see now how the Lord was going before preparing me for what was ahead. The pain of my parents’ divorce almost tore me, had the Lord not carried me through the storm. The years seemed endless until He brought me through. There were many nights I didn't understand what was happening to our family. I carried questions no child should have to carry.
Words cannot convey how grateful I am to have encountered a relationship that would forever change my life, that day when I met Jesus – or better yet when Jesus met me at the altar. As I recall upon that day, I can see the Lord’s hand upon my life, through the highs, the lows, and everything in between. He has always been with me.
Looking back now, I realize Jesus wasn't waiting for me to have everything figured out. He met an eleven-year-old little girl exactly where she was.
Perhaps today He's inviting you, too.
Maybe you've known about Him for years but never truly known Him.
Or maybe you've wandered and long to come home.
Jesus still meets people where they are.
He certainly met me.
Jesus said, "You did not choose me, but I chose you..." John 15:16
And He invites us into a relationship with Him.
As for me, God not only carried me through the storm, He brought me through it…stronger, more resilient, and whole. Looking back now, I can say with confidence that the greatest gift of my childhood wasn't simply growing up in church, it was meeting the Savior who has walked with me every day since.
As I celebrate ten years of writing, I'm grateful for the stories that remind me of God's faithfulness. This is one of the stories that has shaped my life, and I'm thankful I could share it with you.
10 Years. 10 Stories. One faithful God.
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