New Life, Eternal Life, and a Mom

For as long as I can remember, I have gone to church. Yet outside of Sunday morning, there was no desire or instruction involving a daily walk with God or Jesus in my family, and life was pretty hectic. As a child, I knew how to pray, so when my parents got divorced, I started praying to God (a God that I wasn’t even sure existed), that he would give me a mom.

Neither parent had custody of me at the time, yet somehow I knew to pray for a mom. About a year later, I was placed in my father’s custody, and we started attending a local church. I was also still praying that God would give me a mom.

Well, after a couple of months of hearing about Jesus dying on a cross for me, I began to get interested about this “New Life” and “Eternal Life” business, but I wasn’t sure what I had to do, and I didn’t want to do it wrong, so I didn’t ask Jesus into my heart. Then one Sunday night, the pastor asked if anyone wanted to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior—stating that John 16:24 says that if they ask, they will receive.

When I heard that, I believed that was the best way to get a mom. So I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins and be in charge of my life. Roughly a year later, Jesus kept his promise according to John 16:24, when he gave me a mom like I had been asking. But Jesus didn’t stop there. He calmed my once stormy and chaotic life, gave me so many friends that we would make a small army, and if the past 15 years are any indication of what’s to come, I can’t wait to see what he has planned. But the only way I’ll see it is if I keep my focus on him.

Chris — Originally published in December 2010