A few years ago I was training at a local facility as I prepared for an upcoming backpacking trip. I arrived one morning ready to go, only to find the facility completely shut down. I had no alternative but to go to the Leisure Center, which didn’t thrill me because I didn’t want to workout in a mixed gym. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. At that point in my life things were falling apart all around me. my marriage was NOT doing well, and my husband had a serious alcohol problem. So I really put all my focus on my training. It’s amazing how anger and frustration can motivate one to do something.
One day while I was stretching, Colin, a trainer at the gym asked me point blank what I believed in. I found to my complete dismay, that I couldn’t answer the question. I simply replied, “I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it.” My reaction completely caught me off guard and I was moved almost to the point of tears. Colin dropped the subject.
When I went home that day it was only to find that even stranger things were about to happen. I opened my email to find, for the first time in my life, 5 or 6 email messages that were all about Jesus, angels and God. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I was really freaked about this and quickly printed them off and shut down my computer.
A week or so later out of the blue I received a postcard from Europe. The postcard was addressed to me and portrayed a picture and information about The Last Supper. I did not recognize the name of the sender but finally realized it was from a client of mine whom I had met once a year earlier.
I pondered the implication of these strange events and one day when I was back at the gym I asked Colin what he believed in. He replied, “I believe in Jesus Christ and that He died for my sins.” He said it with all his heart and he was so proud and enthusiastic. I had been observing Colin I could definitely see that he was different from others. His caring nature, his genuine interest in people and the way he interacted with them was something I hadn’t noticed before. I was beginning to think I wanted to be like that.
It was finally time to leave on our backpacking trip and I left in complete turmoil. I wasn’t sure where my husband Pete was at, or how he would be when I got back. I was distressed and uncertain. About 4 days into the trip, we had all settled into our own pace on the trail and had spread out a good distance from each other. I was walking along, in my own space and began talking out loud to myself; I guess I was really talking to God.
I began saying that I just couldn’t deal with the troubles in my life anymore and that I had tried everything I knew to fix things and realized that I couldn’t do it on my own. In that moment I gave up the struggle and handed it all over to God. I immediately had an overwhelming feeling of calmness and peacefulness. It seemed as though my chest opened up and I felt incredibly light, as if I was floating on air. I knew at that moment that everything would be ok. Then the words, “I accept Jesus into my life” came out of my mouth without a thought. I was truly amazed.
It was such a strange thing and I actually thought I might be losing my mind, so I didn’t say anything to anyone. I went back home and fell into my old routine. The first day back at the gym Colin asked me if I knew what I believed in yet. It was as if he could tell there was something different about me. I told him yes and was very emotional and cried. Even my clients were starting to notice a change in me and often told me I seemed different.
One day I brought the printed out emails to Colin and he read them. He just looked at them and said, “Terri, do you need a brick thrown at you? I think someone is trying to tell you something.” Colin then asked me if I had a Bible, and when I said that I did, he encouraged me to bring it with me next time. Colin began to point out certain passages and teachings and I became more and more interested. I began to attend church with my friend Lori.
I’ve now been a Christian for 3 years and I am sure glad I made that choice. The neatest thing about the whole experience is that my husband too has accepted Christ into his life. He hasn't had a drink for over 10 months now, and our lives have really turned around. When I first told my husband about my experience he was brought to tears, and on one of the most exciting days of our lives, we were baptized together on August 14th 2005!
