New Beginnings

On February 10th, my precious daughter became my sister in Christ. She has questioned and struggled for over 2 years now. It has been difficult to watch. She has at times said, "I am a believer." Then at other times said, "I just don't know God." Being in a believing home that is actively involved in sharing the good news, she of course "knew" all the answers. As she has grown in her understanding, I think it has caused her to question the commitment and confessions of her past. I also believe that out of the 4 of us in our family she struggled the most emotionally living in the east. At times it was a very crushing road for her. One of my favorite parts of my day is reading individually with the kids before their bed time. Grace and I have been reading a book of parables by James Dobson. When we came to the parable of the Wedding Feast, I read the parable and then talked about how God had invited everyone to join Him but that some people chose not to accept the invitation. At this point, Grace began to cry and say that she had not accepted the invitation and did not know God. I asked what she meant and she stated that she had known for a while that there was an emptiness in her but was afraid to tell us because we might be mad that she had been saying for so long that she believed but in fact had not. My heart broke as we discussed that I was not angry and wanted more than anything else in my life for her to know for sure that she had trusted Christ with her eternity. We knelt beside her bed, and she gave her life to Christ. What a weight came off of both my precious girl and her daddy to know for certain that she had entrusted herself to the everlasting arms of the one and only Savior of the universe. The next day, she approached Amy and wanted her to cut bangs from her all one length hair. She wanted a new look on the outside to show some of her new inside. When I came home from work, it was a wonderful surprise. It has been a pleasure to watch her over the last few days. We can all tell quite a difference in her continence. We realize that as she gets older she will go though times of doubt; however, we are confident the Father will work in these times to grow her faith and make her stronger. MT