The First Step | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: The First Step | Previous Challenge Entry
By Janet Kelly
06/05/13
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THE FIRST STEP

As I stood tightly gripping the pew in front of me, my legs felt like lead. I tried to move them but I could not. My heart was beating so hard I could actually hear the thump, thump, thump in my chest. My mind went back to the night before at the skating rink. It had started out like every other Saturday night. We were 12 years old, too young to date, too young to drive, so we all met at the skating rink and just hung out. We had a great time skating, talking and flirting too. Saturday night was usually my favorite night of the week, but not tonight. As soon as I saw them heading my direction I knew it was not going to be a fun night. The moment I saw Sue and Lynn making a bee line for me, my heart began to thump and beat like crazy. I was trapped, no place to hide, no where to run. As soon as they made their way through the crowd to me they started barraging me with questions.

“Did you think about what we told you? Have you done anything about it yet?”
“No” I answered hoping that would shut them up but it didn't.
“What are you waiting for?” they asked “Don't you want to be saved?”

Having no answers to give them I excused myself saying I wasn't feeling very well. I immediately called my mom and asked her to come and pick me up. I just wanted to get away form them. They had been hounding me for months. I hadn't grown up in church like they had. I really didn't understand it all yet.

Upon arriving home, I went straight to bed. I really wasn't feeling well now. I had left the skating rink, but Sue and Lynn's words were resounding in my head. It was like a radio that I couldn't shut off. I tossed and turned in my bed for what seemed like hours. Finally I knew what I had to do. In the quietness of my room, I knelt beside my bed and asked Jesus to come in and be the Savior and Lord of my life. In that moment Sue and Lynn's words were gone, replaced with the greatest peace and joy I had ever experienced. My heart was no longer thumping like a piece of broken machinery but was now filled with unspeakable joy.

The next morning I told no one, not even my mom, what had happened. As soon as I arrived at church I found Sue and Lynn and told them what I had done. They were overjoyed and rejoiced excitedly with me. They told me the next step was to go forward at the end of the service and publicly declare my faith in Christ. I was eager to do so. But now I stood with my hands gripping the pew and my feet and legs seemingly unable to move.

As the invitation hymn started, I tried to move but nothing happened. They sang the first verse and the second one began. Sue nudged me and whispered, “I thought you were going forward?”
“I am trying,” I answered, but I can't move my feet.” Sue leaned close to me and said, “You just take the first step and God will take the rest for you.”

Somehow I was able to make that first step into the aisle. From that moment on I don't remember my feet touching the ground. It was as if I had floated up on a cloud. I had just taken the most important step of my life. I had no idea of the journey I had just embarked on. Now all these years later I treasure every moment. It hasn't been smooth sailing all the way and sometimes it has been an uphill journey. But one thing for sure I know -I have not taken one step alone. My Savior has been with me all the way.
If you have not made that decision in your life, take that step for Jesus today. It is the most important decision you will ever make. (See Romans 10:9-10)

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