How I gave my life to Jesus Christ

                                              December, 1997

   Dear friends,

     Christmas 1997 was an especially meaningful one for me.  So much has
happened to me in the last year.  I'm not referring to material things,
but rather to those things that cannot be listed on a bill-of-sale, on
sheet of paper.

     Of course, as you may have already guessed, I am referring to
thoughts and feelings.  Yes, my thoughts and feelings HAVE changed over
the last year... in fact, mostly over the past six months.  The plain
message is coming next.

     I never was what I would call a "religious" person.  I finally found
the faith to accept Jesus Christ.  When I say accept, I speak of all that
comes along with that powerful Name!  For me, it means believing that
everything written in the Bible is true.  It means believing that Jesus
*really* did live (as opposed to the fact that I used to have trouble with
that) 2,000 years ago.  It means believing that He allowed Himself to be
killed... He died on the cross for all of us... He died for ME.  I also
know that He is alive today.

     The center of my life has changed.  I used to be family-centered at
times, self-centered other times and maybe altruistic (humanity-centered)
on rare occasions.  Now I am Christ-centered.  Jesus Christ is my Lord and
my Savior.

     It has not been a change which was brought about by all myself; it has
probably been in the works for years.  I can look back on many people who
were put in my life and I believe that they were put there by God.  My
wife was raised to believe, but she was only "saved" in the Summer
of 1994.  Her faith has grown since then.  I used to just take the stand
that all that stuff was okay for her... "just don't try to push your
beliefs on me; don't try to change me", I would say.  I liked myself well
enough just the way I was.

     Her strong participation in the church and her growth began to wear
on me.  There was more friction because of our differences.  You know
what?   That friction caused me to want to know more about what was going
on in her life and my seven-year-old son's life at church.  I didn't want
friction.  I wanted harmony.

     I ended up going to her church and seeing what was going on and I
talked to several people.  During this time, I started experiencing what
I can only call a constant, empty hurting inside (literally hurting)...
kind of like you feel when you have a broken heart.  It just kept lasting
for weeks and weeks.  I found myself becoming more and more interested,
and more introspective, looking inside myself.
I was spending more of my "thinking time" thinking about God, Jesus and
Dana Colbert.  I began to read more tracts and verify what they said
in my Bible that I have had for many years (never did read it much).

     On October 9th, I was walking home and I was praying to God, who I
really wasn't sure that I believed in.  I asked Him: "What's keeping me
from being able to have faith in You?"  Friends, less than a half-second
after that thought, I heard the word "pride" inside my head!  I suppose
that word *could* have been from my own mind, but it just wasn't typical of
the kind of "voice of my conscience" that I am used to.  I believed (and
still do) that it was God answering my prayer. After I heard "pride", my
eyes immediately had tears well up and I found myself gently nodding,
sobbing and saying "yes, yes it's true."

     I came home to find my wife in the kitchen and I asked her if we could
pray together.  "Sure," she said.  I found myself sobbing and weeping and
praying to God.  I said "I've been so wicked in my life... please help
me... please remove this pain from my heart."  At this point, she said
"Go to Him", which I took to mean go to Jesus and confess your sins and
ask for forgiveness.  The next thing I knew, I was confessing and asking
for His forgivness and asking Him to be my Lord and my Savior.

     That was it!  I asked her if that was all there was to it; did I do
it okay?  She told me that I came to the Lord more humbly than she did.
I took that to mean that I did okay.

     It was difficult for me to get to that point and set aside myself...
my pride... and do what my heart was telling me that I should do.  After
I did that, things were not difficult for me to accept.  My wife was
tearful and happy.  We are now a family united in Christ.

     There was harmony and happiness for me this Christmas unlike any I
have ever had before.  I now have a knowledge in my heart about Christmas
like never before.  This truly is the finest Christmas present anyone
could ever ask for: a new and loving heart.
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