I had been pondering on who to interview for the God Kiss
blog series. I gave the search to God,
and he answered- go reconnect with your old friend, Karen. For you see, we had
been neighbors and became good friends back in the mid-1970s & 80s. And life
happened and we both moved and lost touch with each other. And low and behold, I remembered her old land
line number… which is amazing since I can hardly remember anyone’s phone number
let alone an ancient land line number from over 30 years ago! I called and got
ahold of her with my request to be able to share her story about how she became
a Christian. We quickly met for lunch to
reconnect and then set a time for me to come out to do the interview. And it
was like were never apart for all those years, the friendship was still strong.
Karen recalls growing up in a suburb of Los Angles and while
her parents didn’t attend church, they were the ones who showed up for others
in times of need. Their moral compass
was always set up for compassion, grace and love of their fellow man. Karen recalls the story of her mom raising
her two siblings after the death of her own mom. Her grandfather remarried a woman who
basically used church as a weapon against her mom and siblings. So even though attending church wasn’t a high
priority of her parents, Karen’s mom and dad were the kind of people you would
want in your world. At around age 7 or
8 Karen asked her mom if she could attend Sunday school with her friend. The answer was yes, and Karen and her friend
would put on a dress every Sunday morning and then Karen’s mom would drive them
to church and drop them off. There Karen
embraced the stories told by an amazing teacher. And then they attended the worship services
and embraced the scripture. It was where she learned the scripture 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.”
Fast forward to the teen years, and like many of us at that
age, religion was set aside and put on the back burner. Life revolved around friends, social life
which included partying and falling under the influence of our current
world. During the summers, Karen visited
Idaho where her older sister lived. And
after high school and a few semesters of junior college, Karen packed her bags
and drove to Mud Lake, Idaho to live near her sister & brother-in-law. Karen landed a job as a legal secretary. One night she attended a rodeo dance, and her
brother in-law introduced her to Rick, a cowboy who was on the rodeo
circuit. Karen recalls that was a rough
lifestyle which included a lot of drinking.
They married and Rick decided to leave the rodeo circuit and finish his
degree at the University of Idaho. They bought
a home just outside of Moscow which happened to be a house next door to yours
truly. Besides being neighbors, we
became good friends. One day Rick came home
with some biblical brochures he had been given.
Rick felt the calling to return to his structured Christian upbringing and
recommitted his life to God. I recall
Karen telling me that Rick had become a Christian and we pondered what life
would look like since neither of us were walking the Christian pathway. Karen said for about 6 months that Rick would
daily share his concern about her soul going to hell. Karen was angry and just wanted her old
husband back. Finally Rick gave the situation
to God, who also had plans for Karen. Karen
eventually committed her life to Christ and there they began their new life as
Christians. They had two daughters and
settled into life as parents along with joining a legalistic centered church as
Rick was raised in a stricter traditional setting. For Karen as a new Christian, she struggled
and questioned the church’s mandates/lists of rules that she felt were being
placed on her to obtain God’s love. Often it felt that the rules were oppressive
and unattainable to appease God. Some of the church practices required women to
wear tunics/dresses, have their hair in buns and bake whole wheat bread. That
along with submissiveness made Karen question these practices. It often felt
that members were simply going through the motions while not living the
gospel. Rick was a faithful, kind,
loving husband and father and together he and Karen continued their search for
a church that would be a good fit for their family. Karen began reading a book by Charles
Stanley and there she finally felt free, that she embraced and understood how
God valued her with or without her hair in a bun, wearing a dress and other
lists of rules to adhere to in order to be a good Christian. She experienced
and continues to experience His grace and mercy and feels His presence moving
in her life. When her mother was dying
in the hospital, Karen and her dad were there 24/7 taking shifts until the
end. It was shortly after that Karen was
approached by a nurse who had witnessed Karen’s behavior along with that of
anther Christian nurse and commented “that she wanted whatever they had in
their lives” as she saw God’s grace in action.
Today their children are adults, married and leading
productive Christian lives. Rick and
Karen are enjoying their lives and love the current church they are attending. As
the church’s focus is committed to “preaching the
Good News of Jesus Christ. We want all to be fed by God’s wonderful Word,
and be fruitful in Him.”
“Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8”
And as always, it is an honor for me to get to hear and
share the life stories of others. May God’s
will be your guiding light in all you do.
Gayle
