My Salvation Story
by Stella Harris
I’ll
start with a little bit of background. I was raised in a Catholic home with my
parents and 6 siblings. We were all baptized as infants, attended confession
every Saturday, attended Mass every Sunday, and in our earlier years received
instruction through Catechism Classes learning about the 7 Sacraments and how
to be a faithful Catholic. Never exposed to what the Bible said, just accepting
that it was a holy book that every Catholic displayed in their home, along with
statues, candles, and rosaries. When I was entering 7th grade I had
the opportunity to attend a Catholic boarding school in Arizona run by the
Benedictine nuns, with the dream of one day being a nun myself. I loved it and
if my parents would have been able to afford it, I would have finished high
school there. But my parents couldn’t send me back so I went back to public
school and remained faithful to the Catholic Church until my high school
graduation. I had lost interest in religion.
Ron
and I started dating in high school and 3 years later got married and soon God
blessed us with 3 precious little children. I once heard that man’s heart is
more tender towards the Lord when faced with life-changing events such as a
marriage, a divorce, the birth of a child, or the loss of a loved one. Well, those 3 little innocent, dependent
children who God entrusted to us to care for were the tools God used to call me
to Himself.
Let
me back up. When Ron and I were in high school, we started doing what most others
in school were doing: drinking and smoking cigarettes and smoking marijuana. We
were “responsible partyers” who kept our grades up, got involved in sports,
held class offices, and never got in trouble. We were just having what we
thought was fun. Even after we were married and started our family, we
continued our “fun”. Of course we would only do this after we had put our kids
to bed at night. But soon I was feeling so much guilt and shame of how we were
living. I knew I didn’t want my kids to grow up doing what I was doing. I knew
I had to make some changes… the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak.
Then God
used my neighbors to give me an example of what I wanted our family life to
look like. Jim and Ann had 3 little girls, close to the ages of our children,
who every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, each with their
bibles in hand, be off to church, which happened to be a Baptist Church. And as
we started to get to know this family, it was obvious they were different. They
had a peace, a gentleness, a joy about them that I wanted, but I didn’t know
how to get it and didn’t know them well enough to ask.
Then one
day, Ann invited us to attend a week of “revival meetings” they were having at
their church. I wanted to go, but Ron didn’t, so I went alone, it was the first
time I heard the gospel, how my sins separated me from God and how He sent His
Son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my sins so I could spend eternity
with Him. How could this be possible? I remember struggling with so much
conviction during the invitation, but was too afraid and ashamed to go forward.
So, I went home that evening with a heavy heart and a lot to think about. The
next day, another neighbor, who also went to the same church, brought her kids
over to play with ours, and I just came right out and asked her, “Dorothy, what
does it mean to be saved?” She lit up and asked if I had a bible. Ron had an
old worn bible that had been his grandfathers, so I got it out and she led me
through the Romans Road.
She
explained to me that my sins separate me from God. And the penalty for those
sins was death. But Jesus loved me so much that He paid that penalty for my
sins by dying on the cross. And if I would repent of my sins and confess and
trust Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I would not only be saved from my
sins but I would spend eternity with Him. So on January 23, 1983, I knelt next
to my friend by my sofa, and prayed, and asked God to save me.
And I
remember that night, I really wanted to pray to God, but I didn’t know how. I
didn’t know what to say. All I knew were the repetitive prayers that I had
learned as a child. So what I said was, “God, thank you for saving my life. And
please save Ron and Adam, Amber, and Daniel.”
And from
then on everything changed. I no longer had the desire to let my worldly
addictions have a place in my life. I started taking my children to that little
church, and I started reading the Bible, and I learned how to pray. It wasn’t
long after that that Ron started coming to church with us, and soon he, too
trusted Christ as his Savior and we were both baptized. We became members of
our little church and started serving as God led. And a few years later, one by
one our children trusted Christ as their Savior, were baptized and now are
active members in their churches.
I’m
thankful for God’s Word that tells us how we can have a personal relationship
with Him. How it is only through Jesus Christ that we can be reconciled to Him.
John 14:6 says Jesus said to him, "I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”.
There is no other way.
I thank
God for the life-changing event of having 3 little children that He used to
draw me to Himself.
.JPG)
