“I will declare thy name…in the midst of the church.” – Hebrews 2:12
My conversion story is probably not unlike yours. I went to Church all throughout my youth. Participated in Easter Programs. Went to Sunday School. Learned Bible Verses. My father was a Deacon. My mother sang in the Gospel Choir and served a Nurse on the Nurses’ Ministry. We children would prepare for Sunday on Saturday night. That meant getting our hair done, laying out our best clothes, studying the Sunday School lessons, then getting to bed early, to be up on time for Sunday School and Church on Sunday Morning. There was no such thing as getting to Church late. Sunday School started at 9:30 am and we had to be there until afternoon service was over, and then would often go back for the evening worship. Baptized, I gave my life to Christ at an early age, and for years my Church-Life was the center of my life. But one day, and I don’t remember exactly when, going to church became less of a priority. My Sundays were crowded out by other seemingly more important things. It became the day to do my laundry; or clean the house; or just to rest. It became the day to recoup from the partying the night before. And at one point in my married life, it became the day that we spent on the ball field, where my husband was a star-pitcher. I don’t think I ever forgot what my Church-Life had been, it just didn’t seem important enough to fit it in. The time came in my early adult life when I had spent more time out of Church than I had spent in.
I remember one day that my children were singing Rap songs, and they knew every word, every pause, every beat of the song, and it dawned on me that they didn’t know any Bible Verses. I decided then, for their sake, and reflecting on my youth, that they needed to be in Church. Surely if they could memorize Rap songs, they could learn scriptures. So, one Easter Sunday, over 30 years ago, we visited the Shiloh Baptist Church; and like most of you when you came, sat in the back, probably the last two rows. You know, when you “come back” to Church, you want it to look like you never left, and what you don’t realize is that God uses that time past, those years of Church-Abstinence to draw you closer to Himself. So, we came, and we kept coming, and we kept inching, and inching more toward the Word, settling somewhere in the middle, until it felt like we belonged; that we were part of the Shiloh Church Family. And not just that, but a member of the Family of God.
It soon became evident that Jesus loved me, that He had never stopped; and it was all these many years (18) later, under the pastorate of Rev. Herman Washington, that I came to know the Lord Jesus in a way that I had never known-even in my youth. I came to know that regardless of what I’ve done, the Salvation I received at my conversion in my youth, was a sure foundation. There was no losing it. There was no earning it. There was no deserving it. I came to know, that even getting tired of my children’s Rap songs, was part of His plan for me. Even that was a way of Him getting my attention and changing my life. Being in the family of God is important, but it’s equally important to be in a place where you grow and feel like you belong-and for me and my family-this 112-year-old Church-feels like home!
Submitted by Deaconess Irene Gardon
