There is not a time I can remember when I did not believe that God was God, that Jesus was the Son of God or that the Christmas and Easter stories were not true. In April of 1975 God brought a group to my Methodist church composed of all ages. The weekend was scheduled tightly with meetings, picnics, etc.....you know, "church stuff". As the weekend progressed and things went wrong, as they often do, I began to watch these new friends' reactions. When I would get frustrated, they kept on smiling. I began to see a real contrast! My personality was usually described as happy and I was known for laughing.... a lot. Throughout the weekend I began to see that my "happiness" was totally based on what was happening and if it was what I wanted, when I wanted it! These folks were not reacting to the circumstances. They had something coming from the inside of them.
That Saturday night, the youth met at the foot of the altar. Everything was quiet except for our discussion. I do not remember much of the details of this talk but for the first time I realized that Heather, the sweet, Miss Goody-Two Shoes NEEDED forgiveness! Jesus had shed His blood for my sin. What a revelation! Somehow, I can not remember being lead in this, but I knew that there was more to this picture besides just believing in Jesus as God's Son. I knew, somehow, that I needed to invite this wonderful God into my life and to ask forgiveness. My church background was very weak, so as a 14 year old I embarked on a journey with God. Since I had not been "churched" I was an empty book for God to begin writing His truths in. "Godspell"....go ahead and laugh....came on TV the next night after the Lord drew me to Himself. Though it has it's errors, it also gave word for word large sections out of the Sermon on the Mount in the book of Matthew as Jesus shared them with His disciples. I took those portions of the Word very seriously with the realization that my life was to be different because I belonged to Jesus now. The realization that the Bible was relevant to my life was established at this point. Though my life before I came to know Jesus was not marked by "big" sins or addictions, I was absorbed with myself, was quietly rebellious and had a slew of wrong attitutudes towards others. God began to call me to give these things up.
Just a few months later we moved to Jacksonville, FL. New town, new friends and starting high school. I remember being intimidated but fully trusting that this move was God's best for my life. In January of 1976 the Lord placed me in the middle of a large, active youth group and choir. God had many things for me in this season. The group was not much different than any other group of young people in that they never really understood why I always wanted to talk about God! I acquired several nicknames....much to the horror of this high school girl, but oh to be called, "holy woman" now!
