Have you ever watched toddlers and children at play? With
all seriousness, they engage their imaginations and become anything their
little minds can dream up!  Their minds
are little sponges, absorbing information and experiences at an alarming
rate.  In fact, by the age of five, their
brains are pretty much ninety percent set! 
That’s why it is so very important that we instill in these young minds,
all that is vitally important; from the basics like what is hot to the touch to
their spiritual foundation that God lives in Heaven and made the world and
everything in it, that Jesus loves them, to instilling in them the awesome love
from their parents.  And don’t
underestimate the child’s capacity to understand; for even now, they are interpreting
everything they see and hear; perhaps, even what is unseen.

As I look back on my own life, I definitely had a blessed
childhood.  We didn’t have all the modern
conveniences that most folks already took for granted by then, like running
water and an indoor bathroom; if fact, the only running water was the Hocking
River that meandered under the black bridge behind our house.   However, we did have clean clothes, good
food on the table and there was always an overabundance of love to go around.  And what a playground!  We had the freedom to roam the hills in front
of the house, explore the railroad tracks and river behind the house or walk
down the dusty gravel road to pay our respects to the neighbors down the way; thus
was the enchanted life, living on Robbins Road.

However, when I was around eight years old and in the second
grade, my parents purchased a house on Dorr Run Road which was definitely an
upgrade from our faded clapboard house, having both running water AND indoor
facilities.  By then, it was only the
three youngest children out of six that moved with our parents into the two
bedroom house.  Dad built a partition in
the largest bedroom to separate the “boys” from our sister; the only problem
was that the new room was only about four foot wide and could only hold a set
of bunk beds and one dresser!  Being the
youngest, I had no choice but to take the lower bunk and privacy meant tucking
a sheet under the top bunk mattress and draping it over the entrance to the
lower bunk.  The one and a half lane road
was definitely more populated than the old one with a sprinkling of houses on
either side and made complete with a new cast of characters to get to
know. 

Once again, the area was full of exploration possibilities;
from hills and creeks, to strip pits and slag piles, our local “playground” was
a child’s dream and a mama’s nightmare. 
This is where I learned how thick the creek ice should be to hold my body
weight, discovered that baby copperheads could actually swim, that a sulfur creek
can turn your underwear orange.  I
learned that the much cleaner creek water was upstream from the little creek
that spewed raw sewage, that if you wanted to slide down loose sandstone on
your backside, you better make sure there weren’t objects sticking up out of
the ground first.  This was also the
place where I first sensed God’s presence...

I was about nine years old and on one of my
“explorations”.  Mom didn’t really seem
to care where we were or what we were doing outside as long as we came home for
meals and before dark, which varied as Mother Nature changed out one season for
the next.  I was climbing up a hill
behind John Stufflebean’s property, walking through a stand of tall majestic
old growth trees toward the top of a ridge. 
It was late spring and the sun was streaming through the trees,
illuminating the forest floor below.  As
I stood there, absorbing the warmth that the sunrays provided on my face, I
felt a presence; not the feeling you get when it seems as if someone is
watching you.  No, it was an acute
awareness that I was fully known and at the same time, totally loved, enveloped
in a peaceful embrace.  There was no
audible voice, no angel brushing up against me, no burning bush in front of me;
just my soul reaffirming what it already knew. 
God was in fact, the almighty Creator and I, his beloved creation.  It was virtually impossible to explain this
then and even difficult now, but it happened.

It wasn’t long until the feeling passed and I went on with
my life, knowing in my heart with certainty that God was real; He indeed did
actually exist and loved me explicitly!  Until
recently, I told no one about my experience; instead, I nestled that moment
into the recesses of my mind, like a cherished treasure that needed to be
protected.  Who would actually believe
this tall tale from a nine year old anyway?! 
So, life went on and I grew and became a young man who wasn’t
necessarily bad but felt lost and knew there was something lacking in my
life.  I knew from years of going to
Sunday School and infrequently attending church services that I was indeed a
sinner and needed to surrender my life to Jesus as my Savior in order to be
made complete as God had intended.  I
knew that God loved me but that just wasn’t enough; I had to be spiritually
restored as his child through His gift of salvation, Jesus Christ.

So, on an evening in May, 1978, at the age of twenty, I
attended a revival service with a friend of mine at my home church in
Nelsonville Ohio; The First Church of the Nazarene on Adams St.  I don’t remember who spoke or much of
anything else that evening except for the relentless tug by the Holy Spirit on
my miserable convicted heart.  I went
forward to the altar and prayed a pleading prayer of forgiveness; feeling a
hand on my shoulder and uttering a supportive prayer was Max Pitts, a longtime
member of the church.  I got up and went
back to the pew where I had planted myself several moments before but something
definitely had changed!  I felt the same
but brand new; the colors seemed brighter, the sounds seemed crisper and I felt
like laughing and crying at the same time. 
After the service, I literally levitated to my car, the lightness of my
heart carrying me up the hill. 

Once I got home, I immediately told my mom what had
happened; she had a pensive, if not, sad expression on her face as she tried to
gently tell me that the life I had chosen was a hard one and there would be
sacrifices.  I knew that mom was
reflecting back on her own life and past, when she accepted Christ and
subsequently faced the alienation of family and friends as a result; the
constant struggles between her desire to be faithful to God and at the same
time, enduring spiritual battles within her own home.  Mom eventually backed off her church responsibilities
before I came into this world so I didn’t get to experience that side of
mom.  I just know that peering back in
hindsight, she was right; I did experience some rejection.  Some friends and family members didn’t know
quite what to think of this new Steve or how to interact with me; some chose
just not to interact at all anymore.  But
I knew in my heart and soul that I was now what I was always meant to be; in a
completely restored relationship with my Lord and my God.

Several years have passed and I’m still holding true to my faith
in God and cherishing my relationship with Jesus.  It hasn’t been an easy road; there have been many
temptations, bad attitudes and blatant sin that had to be dealt with all along
this journey, but it has absolutely been worth the trials to experience the joy
and peace that sustains me even now.  For
the God that knew my name before I was a “sparkle in my father’s eye” as they
say, is the same God that met me on the hilltop so many years ago and
strengthens me yet today.  So my advice,
as time and experience has taught me through the different seasons of my life;
if your child comes to you some day with a story that seems farfetched or
unbelievable, just listen intently to them, hold them close and pray for wisdom
and discernment.  For you never know if/when
they might encounter the Eternal in THEIR everyday; for He knows their name as
well.

You have searched me, Lord, and you
know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my
thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you
are familiar with all my ways.  Before a
word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me
in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too
lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your
presence?  If I go up to the
heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are
there.  If I rise on the wings of the
dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide
me, your right hand will hold me fast. 
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night
around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will
shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me
together in my mother’s womb.  I
praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works
are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when
I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths
of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed
body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before
one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, God! 
How vast is the sum of them!  Were
I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I
am still with you. 

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me
and know my anxious thoughts.  See if

there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  Psalm 139:1-18, 23-24