The Beginning

Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.   Revelation 3:20

I was born January 10, 1962. I am Canadian with my roots coming out of Montreal, Quebec growing up as the 2nd oldest in a family of four kids (2 brothers, 1 sister). We moved to Ontario when I was four and that is where my memory starts kicking in.

This was the place where I got my first two-wheeler bike, over-sized and really fat tires!  I remember painting it a brilliant peacock blue (with the help of my dad of course).  I was so proud of it and felt so grown up!  Ha!  Hindsight can be terribly funny, can’t it?  We used to ride all over the place and without grownups.  It’s hard to believe that now as none of us would ever let our children go unchaperoned where we were allowed to go then.  Things have changed so much.

Our house was right across from the public school that I attended for Kindergarten and Grade 1.  I still remember Miss Monk, my 1st Grade teacher.  She was one of my all-time favourites! ...if I could only let her know now.

We had a lot of fun in those few years with tons of friends, playing T-ball in the summer, riding our bikes, going to the corner store, and watching TV on our rounded-edged, black and white screen.  I liked adventure and I liked fun.  We played and explored, we went on hikes and caught bugs (Praying Mantis were the prize catch!) and imagined ourselves to be teachers, parents and actors.

I was 5 when I met God.

Although I cannot recall every detail, I remember the impact of the moment well!  It was bedtime and my dad was reading me a Bible story. This was significant for me as you will see in later chapters; my mom was usually the one to read and tuck us in bed at night... Dad read to me about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins.  When I went to bed, the story and conversation just lingered.  This wasn’t the first time I’d heard about Jesus, but for some reason it was the first time ‘I really heard’ ...if you know what I mean.  My little five year old heart became so overwhelmed by the love of Jesus that I started to cry.  My dad must have heard me because he came into the room and prayed with me as I accepted what Jesus did for me and asked Him to come in and be Lord of my life.  Over the years, dad was often there to teach me of the deep things of God.

As an adult, I have not always been so quick to respond to God’s knocking as reason and fear grew to have a strong place in my life.  I do believe though, that He gave me this experience as a young child to anchor my spirit and memory.

---

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.  Ephesians 1:18