How one stormy, fearful night brought me to my knees…. My life would never be the same…
It all began with a yellow sheet, a hunters cabin and a cornfield… from there, my life would never be the same… Thank God!
Growing up, God was always around me and I knew of Jesus Christ, but I never took it very seriously.
That is until one fateful rainy night…
The Yellow sheet - I ran away from home…
In my school, if you didn’t turn in your homework or committed some other offense it was written up. If you committed too many of these offenses you were given a Yellow Sheet to take home to be signed by your parents. I can not recall what the Yellow Sheet was for. I just remember I had gotten quite a few of them during a short period of time and this particular one seemed ominous. I remember the feeling of riding home on the bus that night. It felt like a darkness had settled over my life and the sky reflected my feelings. As the clouds settled in and it grew dark out I confided in some local neighborhood friends that I was thinking of running away from home. I can’t remember the conversation, I just remember the actions. I remember walking the half mile it took to get home from the bus stop. I remember writing the note. I do remember the feeling of uncertainty as I gathered up my meager provisions (a few cokes and a couple of sandwiches) and
headed to what seemed like a good place to stay for the night until I could figure something else out…
The Hunter’s Cabin -
My friend came with me, to show me where the hunters cabin was and mostly just to hang out till his mom got home. As we crossed the cornfield and
started down the logging road, I couldn’t help but look back to the road that led home. It felt worlds apart….
Little did I know just how far away I was going from who I use to be…
After a short walk down the logging road we arrived at the cabin. My friend showed me around and I climbed to the loft so I could get settled in for the night. As we talked about what I had just done and what I would do next we decided to build a fire in the open fire place next to the door. It was starting to get dark and there was no need to worry about any smoke rising. We piled all the provisions on a giant cable spool near the center of the room and went to work. Just before it began to rain on the old tin roof, we had the firewood gathered and managed to get a nice fire going. By now, my friend had realized how close it was till his mom got home and thought it a good idea to go home. As we said our good byes he promised he would check on me the next day.
I remember the feeling after he left. That feeling of being completely alone in the world…
Then came the lightning….
At first it wasn’t that bad. It was quite a ways away and it didn’t really even phase me. The only thing I was concerned with was if the fire would go out as I heard the rain pick up on the tin roof. Soon I found out that the old tin roof wasn’t exactly water proof and noticed a few leaks. As I wandered around the cabin and tried to make sure the water coming in wasn’t going to ruin anything the lightning started to pick up…
BOOOOMMM….
It lit up that little rickety cabin bright enough to read the evening paper by….
BOOOOOOMMMM… The walls shook….
BOOOOOMMMMM…. The ceiling rattled….
BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM….. I… was… in… trouble….
I had to get out of there. I just knew that it would strike that tin roof and I didn’t want to be around when it did…but where can I go? I can’t go home.
Not now. Not after running away. Not after getting another Yellow Sheet.
As I stood in the doorway of that cabin… it all seem to make sense.
I had come to a place where I had no where to go. I knew I had done wrong and I couldn’t make it right. I knew I needed help… So I called out….
JEEESUS!!!!
JEEEEEEESSSUUUSSS!!!!
And I began to pray…
Dear God,
I know I’ve been bad… I know I need your help… I want to make Jesus my personal Lord and Savior. I ask Jesus to come into my heart and save me.
In Jesus Christ name I pray…
And… I ran for home…
The rain felt like stinging bullets and the lightning was all around me…..
BOOOOOOOOMMMMM….. to my right… night turned to day….
BOOOOOOMMMMMM….. what seemed like right in front of me… yet I kept running…..
BOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM…. There’s the cornfield…. Now what?
As I came to the cornfield I realized, running through a cornfield in the middle of a lightning storm was probably not a good idea. In a split second I made the decision to run around the outside edge of it so as to make it to the road safely. There was a tree line on the edge of the cornfield and it seemed like the right thing to do. As I rounded a corner of the cornfield…
BOOOOOOOOMMMMMM….
Lightning struck just a few yards to my left…. I hit the ground….
As I lay there, shivering, partly from the cold rainy night, but mostly from fear, I looked to my right and saw a house with lights. I remembered my 6th grade teacher lived there and I jumped to my feet and RAAAAN….
It must have been quite a shock to hear the noise I was making on that door, then to open it up to such a disheveled, dripping wet, wide-eyed boy who is covered in mud and asking to use the phone…
From there I made it back to my house and was baptized in a church shortly thereafter. It was a night I’ll never forget and I am eternally grateful for. Praise God!!!! And Thank You Jesus!
Thanks for reading. Till next time… May God Bless You ;)
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