How I came to know God
My friend, Martha, wasn’t allowed any visitors while she was in the hospital getting the help she needed after her attempted suicide. We hadn’t been able to see each other and we missed that. So one day I got a call from Martha saying she was going to Rose Drive Friends Church on Sunday and would I meet her there. It would be a chance to spend a little time together. Wanting to see my friend and to show her I cared and supported her I told her I would be there.
Growing up, my family didn’t go to church. I had no spiritual education other than the “Bible as Literature” class I took in High School. I didn’t know much of what went on at church other than what I had gathered at weddings and funerals over the years. I did get married in a church. Not that it mattered to me but it was important to my husband. He was raised in a Christian home and went regularly to church with his family. His mother even sang in the choir. She invited me to special events at their church, I’m sure hoping it would get me interested in coming more often, but It didn’t.
Now I was faced with having to ask my husband, Jim, if we could go to church on Sunday. What would he say after all the times I had told him I didn’t get anything out of church, and for him to go on his own if he wanted. Now all of a sudden I wanted to go to church? He may have wondered “what has Lucy and Ethyl cooked up now?” but he only said “okay, we can go see Martha”.
So how was my first time at Rose Drive Friends Church? Well, Jim and I wandered around outside looking for Martha when we first got there. There were people who came up to us, smiled, shook our hand and welcomed us. That was nice but I figured they didn’t do that all the time, it was just because it was close to Christmas and they had a lot of new comers. We spotted Martha and gave her a big hug. It was good to see her. After visiting with her a few minutes Jim and I followed her and the others inside. I remember hearing some upbeat music I could tap my foot to. That relaxed me a little and I thought it was even kind of fun. Something else I didn’t expect was that the Pastor started his sermon by telling a joke, and everyone laughed. Hey, I thought to myself, this church is different, not bad. Jim held my hand and I really began to feel comfortable. I can’t remember what the sermon was about but I do remember Martha and I both being surprised that in the sermon contained answers to questions we had been asking ourselves during our deep meaningful talks where we analyzed our lives and our problems and tried to figure out what it all meant. I remember we sat there with our jaws dropped looking at each other in disbelief. How could it be! The answers to things we had just talked about. How could that Pastor have known?
Okay, so that church wasn’t so bad. I didn’t feel too out of place, the people were friendly, there was good music, and therapy! If Martha asked me, I might go again.
Well, Martha did ask me again, and again. Jim and I were even there early saving seats for Martha and her friends. Then one morning we were there early, the only ones sitting in the pew, and the Pastor walked right up to us. He leaned over to shake our hands and introduced himself as the Pastor of the church, C.W. Perry. He asked us what our names were. We told him, Jim and Louise Mueller. I can’t fully explain how that made me feel but it made me feel good. That he would notice we were new to the church, someone he hadn’t met before and took the time to ask our names, like he really wanted to know us. That meant a lot to us.
Okay, so I went to see and support my friend. I liked the church and the Pastor but do you think God was going to stop there? No, now comes the time for God to introduce himself to me. How, you say? Well, my friend Martha who I came to depend on to talk things over with was now busy fixing up her own life. She now had professionals to help her and I was glad she did but it kind of left me out. And to make things worse another good friend I had talked things out with since we were 13 moved to Texas. I was feeling kind of lost myself and thought maybe it would be good for me to join a group or a club of some sort. I had just got back from my morning walk where I had prayed for God to lead me to a group or club where I could meet other women and maybe make a new friend. Shortly after I got back home from my walk the phone rang. It was Martha’s friend Hella inviting me to come to Joy Bible Study. She explained there was a group of about 100 women who split up into smaller groups and talked about the lessons. And that once a month they have a potluck luncheon and it’s fun. As Hella talked I was thinking that Bible Study wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but it did seem to fit all the things I asked for. And who knows maybe Hella would turn out to be my new friend. So when Hella said I could come the first week just to see if I liked it, I agreed. I think Hella may have been a little surprised that I agreed so quickly, but she took me under her wing and even gave me a Bible.
Okay, so now I am attending Bible Study to make a new friend, or so I thought. It so happens that the book of John was scheduled as our lessons. I had no idea at the time, but I was about to meet Jesus. We went line by line, analyzing each line in the book of John. Comparing each line to other similar statements in other parts of the Bible. It seemed tedious, but soon I began to understand what the Bible really was. It’s a collection of witnesses telling their accounts of what they saw and heard Jesus say and do while he was alive here on earth! Real people who saw, spoke to, and touched Jesus, God, as a human, who walked on this earth for a short time. That is what I learned in Joy Bible Study that first year. Don’t think it was that easy for me to accept it all. It took me a while but God had set me up with the perfect Bible Study Group Leader for me, Pat. I had so many questions, skeptical questions, tough questions. I questioned everything. Pat answered all of my questions in a way that made sense to me. And as she answered my questions I could see the love in her eyes and could feel the love she felt for Jesus. I, being the daughter of an engineer, don’t accept things easily. It has to fit together. It has to make sense to me. I need proof. During a luncheon I got to talk to Pat on a more personal level. She told me that she had been a Science teacher and actually had taught the theory of evolution. That was before a neighbor of hers invited her to church and she like me had many, many questions. Wow, I thought, if Pat could accept and grow to love the Lord as she does maybe I should keep learning. So I did. The more I got to know Jesus the more I liked him but the more I questioned and tested him. I asked Pat “how do you know the Bible is true?” She said she believes it to be true because history has proved events recorded in the Bible to have occurred when and where the Bible says.
So I began to trust in what the Bible said and the more I got to know Jesus as a man the more I felt myself falling in love with him. I remember telling Hella, “here it is almost Christmas and in our lessons they are getting ready to kill Jesus!” I felt so bad, but as it turned out that was the most meaningful Christmas I have ever had.
I asked Jim if we could go to the Church’s Christmas play. I thought it would be a nice evening for us. The play was professional quality I thought. I was surprised at how good it was. And afterward C.W. recited that little prayer, like I had heard him do so many times in church, inviting anyone who wanted Jesus to come into their heart to repeat it with him. I did it! I said the prayer silently to myself and asked Jesus to come into my heart! Did it work? Was Jesus really in there, I wondered. I didn’t know for sure but I did know that was a very different Christmas for me than I had ever had. I finally knew the true meaning of Christmas and of Easter too. Jesus was born and died so he could live in my heart and I could have a friend with me all the time to help me.
So . . . I went to church to see and support a friend who was going through a difficult time. The Pastor happened to notice me and introduced himself and asked my name. I ended up in Bible Study hoping to find a new friend and ended up with Jesus in my heart. Jesus has turned out to be the best friend a girl could have. My husband, Jim, turned out to be a pretty good friend too. Once I turned to him, I found out how much he really loves me. I thank God everyday for the love we share and God keeps pouring it on. Incredible love, love I didn’t know could exist. By the way, when I told my good friend in Texas I was going to Bible study she was so surprised. She then confessed she had been praying that I would go to church with Jim. Her prayers were answered beyond her expectations when I told her I was going to Bible Study too. She then told another one of our friends, and come to find out she had been praying for me to go to church too. So, was God behind the whole thing. Did he use Martha to get me to go to church to answer the prayers of my other two friends? What an engineer! What an awesome GOD! Thank you Lord, thank you all.
