Looking back over your life you can find numerous clues to your potential destiny, like your favorite childhood game, gift, fairy tale, book—or song. Accordions were all the rage in our town in the early 1950s. So despite my brief sojourn with the cello (broken) and my inability to warble “Jesus Loves Me” on key, I convinced my Dad to…
When we began our spiritual journey, it was really exciting. One blessing after another fell on us. We just couldn’t praise God enough. Our hearts filled with joy and enthusiasm because we saw the power of God at work in our lives and in our friends. By the way, enthusiasm means to be overflowing with God. Our Christian walk was…
After beginning our spiritual journey, we were learning to go to Jesus in every situation—fishing, parking, shopping, moving, buy a house, painful moments, longings. God seemed to meet us every time. Here are four of our experiences with a living God. The wild Ferris wheel ride One day, my husband, Jerry, shared how he felt anxiety whenever the airplane he…
The still, small voice urged, “You need to be baptized again.” Why? I wondered. I’d already been baptized twice, once as an infant, and again when I was twelve. But since I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, I’d become more sensitive to these intuitive knowings. And I knew their importance—if I wanted to know God’s peace, joy, and righteousness…
Shortly after I began this spiritual walk, I started to sense different things. Some of them gave me joy and anticipation, while others brought discomfort and pain. Like the day I suddenly felt an inner prompting to return two books to my high school back in Michigan. Ouch! I didn’t like this. These books belonged to me, I thought! Yet…
Shortly after moving into our new home in Massachusetts, I received a letter from a friend in San Diego. She wrote, “Judy, God is going to give you someone special very soon.” My heart quickened with faith and expectancy. I needed this word from God. I had been feeling very alone, far away from the support of our friends on…
Walking toward Longfellow’s Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts in the spring of 1963, I suddenly knew that some day we’d live here in the Boston area—where the battle for freedom, the right to rule ourselves, had been fought and won. I’d just disembarked from our sightseeing bus, loaded with chattering young women, when I sensed this inner knowing. We were…
We had been sightseeing along the southern California coast and had just stopped at a motel for the night. After being in the car much of the day, our three restless sons had quickly changed into their swim suits and were about to jump into the swimming pool. “Mom, I don’t feel good; my head hurts,” my ten year old…
One bright autumn morning I needed to take our son for his weekly oncology visit, but our family sedan wouldn’t start. When I turned the key, all I heard was a click. I started to react and feel sorry for myself: Here I am alone, with a tremendous responsibility on my shoulders. My husband couldn’t help me—he was on a…
My experiences with a living God began to change me. I’d known about God all my life, but now I’d directly experienced his presence and power for myself. My faith no longer rested on someone else’s experience. I felt so excited, I wanted to tell everyone, especially my husband Jerry. But somehow I sensed that I wasn’t to say much…