When I was a young child my family did not
attend church. It wasn’t that we didn’t believe,
it was just that mom worked most weekends, and
as a single parent, it was difficult to get us all to
church. My knowledge of God and Jesus was minimal.
I remember looking out the window on Sunday mornings as a church school bus drove through the neighborhood picking up willing children to go to Sunday school. The mystery of what they did there always made me curious.
One Sunday afternoon, my friend Julie knocked on my door. She was filled with excitement as she jumped up and
down on my front porch. She had just gotten off the bus
from Sunday school and came directly to my house. She
came in and grabbed my hands. She looked me right in
the eyes and asked me if I had been saved. Saved?
Saved from what, I thought. She asked me if I believed
in Jesus. I said yes, but that I really didn’t know
anything about Him. She was still bouncing with
enthusiasm when she announced that it was ok
that I didn’t know anything about Jesus that He
would save me anyway.
She proceeded to walk me to the
bathroom, which of course, I thought
was strange. She said all I had to do
was go into the dark bathroom
with her, turn in a circle three
times and say Jesus loves
me, and then I
would be saved.
Seemed simple enough, I thought. So we
closed the door in the bathroom, she turned
me around three times while I said Jesus loves
me, and then POW! She smacked right me
the forehead with the palm of her hand and
yelled, “You’re saved!”
While I never told anyone about that moment
until many years later, in an odd way I
feeling joyful, light, and happy like I had
received an amazing gift. Obviously, I soon
found out that being saved does not occur in
a dark bathroom turning circles, and being
smacked in the head, but rather through
learning and growing in a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ.
I think that experience was the first of many
wake-up calls from God. He wanted me to
explore my curiosity about Him and discover
His true love for me. And while it took a few
more “smacks in the forehead” for me to really
get it, I finally did. My first step toward finding
God may have been unconventional, but I’ve
learned that God is less concerned about HOW
you find Him, and more concerned about making
sure you do.
26
A Real Smack
in the Face