Fall and football stir memories within me. As I look back and as Cru celebrates its 75th anniversary, I remember.
As a child, I heard about a God who loved me and about His Son Jesus who died on the Cross to pay for my sins and give me eternal life. At an early age, I understood the clarity of this beautiful message, and I chose to respond. I invited Christ into my heart to forgive my sins—my wrongdoings—and make me the person He created me to be.
And I was relieved to know that when I died, I would indeed go to heaven because of what is written in the Bible: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.”
In my formative years, reading my Bible and praying before going to sleep were important to me, and attending church was pivotal.
But there is more:
For years, my relationship with God was characterized by fear. I was afraid that if I released my life into His Hands, if I allowed Him to take control of my earthly destiny — my future, my profession, my relationships — He would ruin my life. So, I kept God at a comfortable distance and operated within a self-created set of religious rules. I wanted Him in my life, but not in control of it. These rules and routines characterized my relationship with Him, not warmth, or love, or intimacy.
But then:
At Mississippi State University, I met a group of students who had a smile on their face, a song in their heart and a spring in their step. They talked about Jesus like He was their Best Friend. These students marched to the beat of a different drum, and soon I joined their ranks.
One Sunday afternoon following a weekend Fall Retreat sponsored by this group, Cru (then Campus Crusade for Christ), I found the only place I knew to be alone, the bathroom of my dorm, and I knelt before God and released every aspect of my life to Him. It finally dawned on me that if God loved me enough to send Jesus to die on the Cross for me and give me the gift of eternal life in heaven, I could trust Him to guide my life here on earth. My manifesto before God declared, “Anything, anytime, anywhere.” And releasing the fingers of control, I said, with palms open, “My life is in Your Hands. Whatever, whenever, however.”
The decision to release control and let Him direct my life was the best decision I could have made. It was as if my soul had finally come home. A deep and supernatural peace filled my being as I stood up from kneeling on that cold, hard tile floor. Playing games with God was over, and I felt free.
As I walked forward into the days ahead, I began to grow in this new, fresh dynamic relationship with God. The fear and distance were replaced by a closeness and intimacy with My Creator Who said in the Bible, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Soon afterwards on campus, this cheerleader fell in love with a handsome blue-eyed SEC football player. And Larry’s proposal to me was, “Will you go with me in helping to reach the world for Christ?” My yes to him was, simultaneously, a yes to God.”
That yes took me to live in four countries with four languages and four cultures, fueled by the passion to give every man, woman, boy, and girl at least one chance to hear the good news that Jesus saves! And it all began on a university campus in the fall of the year.
As I tell my grand darlings, “Nothing is worth anything unless everything is given to God. But when everything is given to God, we experience the amazing life for which we were created.”
This I know.
Living With Eternal Intentionality®
“For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Phillippians 1:21
When and where did you discover that your soul finally came home?
What would you tell a friend or family member that God has done in your life since then?
