Print

My grandfather was saved when I was four years old.  There was in incredible change in every area of his life.  He began preaching in Ennis Texas right after his conversion.  My parents would drive to Ennis from Dallas to hear my grandfather preach.

Granddaddy and I were very close. I was captivated by all that he said the Lord had done in his life.  My parents along with all of the other parents put their children in the nursery.  Before the music would stop, I would sneak out of the nursery and crawl under the back pew and hang my head out into the aisle just enough to see the pulpit.  My granddaddy would wink at me and this was our little secret.  Even at the age of four, my heart yearned to know and love the Lord.  We would talk about Granddaddy’s sermon after church.

My heart was so sensitive to the things of God.  I know that I walked the aisle three or four times because I wanted to know Jesus.  In the summer of my ninth year just before I turned ten, I went to a Billy Graham Crusade in Houston at the Astrodome.  For the first time, I understood that I was a sinner and that it was Christ’s blood that was shed for my sin so that I may have eternal life.  I accepted Christ Jesus as my Lord and Savior.  I was assured of my salvation and I understood the security of the believer.  I would never question again.

The very next day after that crusade, I was outside walking to my friend’s home.  It was during my prayer and remembrance of all the Lord had done the night before that I heard the Lord call me by name and speak to me.  The Lord asked if I would surrender my heart, dreams, desires, ambitions, goals and my life to Him and serve Him with all of my heart.  I willingly surrendered all of my personal hopes, dreams and desires to those of my Heavenly Father.  I was enveloped in the warmth of His embrace and the fragrance of His presence.  Words hardly describe that moment.  I learned to hide that moment in my heart.

As I have grown more and more intimate with the Lord, I have learned that it is to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth; to stand before Him with clean hands and a pure heart.  The desire to serve Him at this age of nine has grown to be a burning passion within my heart as I seek to please Him in all that I do.  I choose to dwell in the secret place of the Most High God and abide under the shadow of the Almighty!  He is my refuge and my fortress, my God; in Him will I trust.

This was written in 1997 for E3 Partners (formally known as Global Missions Fellowship).  I was to go on my first mission trip to Moldova and Romania in April 1997. Since that time, I have been to Romania and Moldova multiple times.  The Lord has also sent me to India, Hungary, Germany, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Russia, Peru and Mexico.

Print

My grandfather was saved when I was four years old.  There was in incredible change in every area of his life.  He began preaching in Ennis Texas right after his conversion.  My parents would drive to Ennis from Dallas to hear my grandfather preach.

Granddaddy and I were very close. I was captivated by all that he said the Lord had done in his life.  My parents along with all of the other parents put their children in the nursery.  Before the music would stop, I would sneak out of the nursery and crawl under the back pew and hang my head out into the aisle just enough to see the pulpit.  My granddaddy would wink at me and this was our little secret.  Even at the age of four, my heart yearned to know and love the Lord.  We would talk about Granddaddy’s sermon after church.

My heart was so sensitive to the things of God.  I know that I walked the aisle three or four times because I wanted to know Jesus.  In the summer of my ninth year just before I turned ten, I went to a Billy Graham Crusade in Houston at the Astrodome.  For the first time, I understood that I was a sinner and that it was Christ’s blood that was shed for my sin so that I may have eternal life.  I accepted Christ Jesus as my Lord and Savior.  I was assured of my salvation and I understood the security of the believer.  I would never question again.

The very next day after that crusade, I was outside walking to my friend’s home.  It was during my prayer and remembrance of all the Lord had done the night before that I heard the Lord call me by name and speak to me.  The Lord asked if I would surrender my heart, dreams, desires, ambitions, goals and my life to Him and serve Him with all of my heart.  I willingly surrendered all of my personal hopes, dreams and desires to those of my Heavenly Father.  I was enveloped in the warmth of His embrace and the fragrance of His presence.  Words hardly describe that moment.  I learned to hide that moment in my heart.

As I have grown more and more intimate with the Lord, I have learned that it is to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth; to stand before Him with clean hands and a pure heart.  The desire to serve Him at this age of nine has grown to be a burning passion within my heart as I seek to please Him in all that I do.  I choose to dwell in the secret place of the Most High God and abide under the shadow of the Almighty!  He is my refuge and my fortress, my God; in Him will I trust.

This was written in 1997 for E3 Partners (formally known as Global Missions Fellowship).  I was to go on my first mission trip to Moldova and Romania in April 1997. Since that time, I have been to Romania and Moldova multiple times.  The Lord has also sent me to India, Hungary, Germany, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Russia, Peru and Mexico.