The Word is an absolute necessity in my Christian walk, and its importance takes priority because it’s the best “play book” ever written. But what I’d like to write about today is truly a matter of the heart. You know, that beating heart which is responsible for pumping blood throughout your body.
What is that anyway, knowing something with all of your heart? A heartfelt matter? The heart is also defined as the center of human emotion. How is it that your heart can feel things that in turn direct your thoughts and actions, which in turn dictate your character and how you deal with the ups and downs of your day-to-day life? Is this perhaps your soul? Perhaps the immortal part of you that’s called your spirit? We know it’s not the imagination, because it’s something your heart feels, which is physical.
When I was 10 years old, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. I was up in an old attic bedroom visiting my grandmother’s house in Seminole, Oklahoma, with my cousins who were telling me a little bit about Jesus. Sure, I’d been to church some but it wasn’t until that night that I had ever heard about being “saved.” When asked if I wanted to be saved, it was YES! BOOM! DONE! And I was so excited in my heart that I ran downstairs and did a few cartwheels and somersaults through the crowded living room of grown-ups shouting, “I am SAVED, I am SAVED, I HAVE BEEN SAVED!!!” Heart pounding. Heartfelt. Absolute. I didn’t even know the whole story — not even close — but I knew this was true because my heart filled up with an indescribable love that I had obviously never felt before. As for the moms and dads and aunts and uncles? Looking back, I’m not really sure any of them had any idea what that gymnasium act was even about. They probably had no idea that whirlwind of excitement taking place before them would impact the rest of my life. But that’s okay, because it was (and still is) one hundred percent between me and God.
Many days have gone by since then. Up until a few years ago, I functioned with my salvation alone — I guess you could call that taking advantage of “Our” relationship. But, since I knew in my heart that God was watching over me (actually, armies of His angels were involved in that too), and that I would someday go to Heaven, it was always a comfort to know that He loved me. Unfortunately, I was blinded for a long time to the fact that He had been trying to get my attention many times for something super important I needed to know and understand better. I was missing out on something — something life changing.
Eventually, I was in a position where I had no choice but to cry out to Him. For a lot of things. Actually, for everything. I found myself in a situation where I had no alternative but to hand everything about me over to Him — and I mean everything. This conclusion was not directed to me by reading Scripture. This was not a result of someone beating me over the head with a Bible. This was not a result of me going to church. This was something solely between me and God. He had been calling me with His mercy for a long time, and once I was finally so bound up and became still enough to hear Him, my heart knew He was the one-and-only way; I felt it, thus, I knew it to be true. The Truth saved my life, and the Truth also set me wildly free.
Moral to the story: I chose to open my mind to the idea of Jesus Christ and allow Him to enter. He immediately filled my heart and soul. He then lifted me up above my impossible circumstances to show me how much He loves me — so much more than I had even imagined. I am a walking miracle. I am happy to be here. And, there’s a plan. I’ve got a lot of work to do in His name.
Finally, there is the Word … and so this website begins.
Holding fast,
Lori
Photography by Leah Newberg