At the age of four, I stood before our church congregation, recited a poem, then ran to the edge of the platform.  With one big leap, I jumped off the platform, fully expecting my dad to jump up from the front row and catch me.

Growing up, I learned about God's love and His forgiveness of our sins. However, I had some big misconceptions:                                    

1) Being a Preacher's Kid (PK) gave me a free ticket to heaven.  I was a good, religious girl, and had never done anything really bad, and never thought of myself as a sinner.

2) Regular attendance at church and Sunday School and giving an offering assures one of eternal life with God.

3) I was an active member and leader in my children's, youth, young adult, couples' and women's organizations, which were all good works that would catch God's favor. 

            It was several years after our marriage that my husband and I attended a Family Life Conference together.  After basic teaching on the Christian life, a counselor asked me when I had actually committed my life to God.  Thinking I had been a Christian all my life, I found I had a lot of head knowledge of God, but not His POWER, because I had neither asked nor received.  I immediately asked for forgiveness of my sins and surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. God does not have grandchildren - only children.  In other words, our parents do not make the decision for us. It was then I realized several things:

1) God did not love me because I was a PK.  He created me to be me; not for me to copy someone else. 

2) Sitting in church did not make me a Christian any more than sitting in McDonalds made me a hamburger. Habit, ritual attendance and memorized prayers are not the personal relationship God wants from us.  

3) We cannot get into heaven by doing good works.  God's offer to spend eternal life with Him is a FREE GIFT. 

Over the years I've learned that saying "yes" to God is the most important decision we'll ever make!  This has given me the assurance and peace of mind that I will spend eternity in heaven.  Daily, I ask God for the boldness to share His love to others and to help them have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 

In John 14:6 Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."

Paul writes in Romans 10:9, "...if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

By the way, my dad did catch me when I jumped off the platform as a child-just as my Heavenly Father has "caught" me in His arms many times since then as He continues to direct my life in the paths He wants me to go.