I had the best childhood any kid could want. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had parents that loved me and showed it: my parents were involved in my life. In the summers, we would spend every day at the lake. My childhood was great; my parents were great; everything was great; except there was this nagging, empty, lonely feeling inside of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I was going through my teen years, I thought maybe it was a boyfriend that I needed. Then I thought it was a husband. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But nothing filled that deep, empty feeling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I kept on searching, moving, looking for answers. “How about trying a totally different life-style?” “How about living out in the woods in a teepee?” “How about marriage again? Maybe this time I’ll be lucky.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I met John, who I later married. I had three children, and John had one when we married. We were both hippies, and we were searching. We tried meditation, vegetarianism, anything but Christianity. We got along pretty well, but I still felt that nagging loneliness. I knew that this marriage had to work. I could not go through another divorce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I felt as though my life was at the end of a rope, and the threads were about to break. I had to find some answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We would pass the neighbor’s farm every day on our drive home. They had a big garden that their ten children worked in. We would see them out in the garden every day as we passed. They always seemed happy, and they smiled a lot. We wondered what made their children so happy. We found out that these neighbors were willing to dig a well for us with their backhoe. When we heard this, we went over to their home to meet them. Eva, the wife, met us at the door. John went in to talk to her husband about the well, and I stood outside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eva started telling me about Jesus Christ and how He died on the Cross to pay the price for my sins. I knew that I was a sinner; I did not have to be convinced of that. She told me that Christ offers us freedom from the debt we owe for our sins. We just need to ask Him for it with a willingness to yield our life to Him, and to let Him have control. I had no problem with that either since I had messed up my life pretty good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It all became a reality to me like strumming a guitar string that was in tune. I knew for the first time why Christ had to die on the cross, and I accepted His payment right there on Eva’s front porch. I sensed God’s presence, and knew that He had forgiven me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I trusted Jesus that day as my Savior and Lord. He is more than wonderful. He is my life and He has given me life\u2026a new life. He filled that deep hole of loneliness inside of me. He gave my life meaning and purpose. I know why I am here, and where I am going when I die. I have never regretted giving my life over to God. He has forgiven me, and has truly blessed my life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I knew that it would probably make waves between John and I when he found out that I asked Christ into my life, but I knew that it was true and that it was the right thing to do. But John also accepted Christ as his Savior that very night. God truly has blessed our life together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you were to die tonight, do you know for sure where you would go? Please consider the following verses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death; but the Gift of God is ETERNAL LIFE through Jesus Christ our Lord.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Romans 5:8 – But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Mark 1:15 – The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye (turn from your sin) and believe the gospel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Romans 10:9 – If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus , and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I had the best childhood any kid could want. I had parents that loved me and showed it: my parents were involved in my life. In the summers, we would spend every day at the lake. My childhood was great; my parents were great; everything was great; except there was this nagging, empty, lonely feeling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lynn-mclarty.jpg",1920,1235,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lynn-mclarty-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lynn-mclarty-480x309.jpg",480,309,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lynn-mclarty-768x494.jpg",768,494,true],"large":["https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lynn-mclarty-1024x659.jpg",1024,659,true],"thumblist":["https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lynn-mclarty.jpg",300,193,false],"thumbrelated":["https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lynn-mclarty.jpg",500,322,false],"meccarouselthumb":["https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lynn-mclarty.jpg",474,305,false],"gridsquare":["https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lynn-mclarty.jpg",391,252,false],"tileview":["https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lynn-mclarty.jpg",300,193,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lynn-mclarty.jpg",1536,988,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lynn-mclarty.jpg",1920,1235,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Lynn McLarty","author_link":"https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/author\/lynnmclarty\/"},"uagb_comment_info":326,"uagb_excerpt":"I had the best childhood any kid could want. I had parents that loved me and showed it: my parents were involved in my life. In the summers, we would spend every day at the lake. My childhood was great; my parents were great; everything was great; except there was this nagging, empty, lonely feeling…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionblvdbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}