Ok, So, I promised the account of our call into ministry....so, here goes. I committed my life to the Lord, as Chas had done several months earlier. We began to attend that little church. We drove 25 or so miles one way. We were there every time there was a service or an activity. We often stayed late & fellowshipped with the pastor & his family at the pastorium, or with others, just by sitting around on the church steps. We could not get enough of Jesus or fellowship with His people. We found ourselves falling deeper and deeper in love with Him and desiring to know Him more each day. Summer was in full swing with lots of activities. We were looking forward to our first major youth trip.....Super WOW, the Georgia Convention's Summer Youth Camp on Jekyll Island. We were looking forward to Super WOW so intently that we almost over-looked the obvious. One Wednesday night in third week of June, I was working in the nursery and after the service, Chas came to me and said, "I could have been called into the ministry for a little bit tonight." I thought it odd, but didn't question it. Two days later, we went to a local church that was having a youth event. Former wrestler, Tully Blanchard, shared his testimony and a message. After the service, I told Chas that I 'felt bloody from the knees down,' as I felt that my toes had been stepped on that severely. Then, on Saturday night, we went to yet another church to hear our friend, Bud's band, Kindred Heart play and to hear our pastor preach. The message was from Luke chapter 14. Yes, you guessed it, more conviction....The next morning at our home church, our pastor picked up in the very next verses of Luke 14. The message on Saturday night had been about going into the highways and hedges and compelling people to come in. On Sunday morning, the message was the next verses in the passage, which speak of taking up our cross and following Jesus to be His disciple. By the time of the invitation, I was so ready, I thought to myself that if Chas doesn't head toward the altar, I will just have to walk through him or knock him down. Amazingly, in true Daddy fashion, Chas was moved in the same way. We, along with our friend, Bud, were at the altar. We were crying messes. That morning, my commitment to the Lord was that I would go where He wanted, do what He wanted, whatever it was, I would live in a 'dirt-floored, grass hut' if He so desired. It was official...we had surrendered ourselves to the Lord for His service. That evening after church, we went with our Sunday School Class to a couple's house with whom we were close. As we sat around the table that night, we discussed the events of the morning. Chas told the group that we had been called into ministry (somewhat of a surprise to us), to which everyone there replied, "well, it's about time." When we questioned them, they said that they all had seen it coming, but was simply waiting on us to see & hear what the Lord was saying to us. That was 19 years, many mountain tops and valleys ago. In the next post, I will take you through the first few years of our service after surrendering to our GREAT AND MIGHTY LORD.
Who are these bikers & why do they do what they do? The story of us....the call into ministry7/21/2010
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Well, I promised to tell you about the journey that brought us to the present. As for us, we grew up pretty much away from any or most any forms of Godliness in our families. Chas had gone to church with his grandparents as a child. I, on the other hand, had only gone to a Holiness Church once with my grandmother and to a Baptist church once for a week of VBS. When we married, Chas was basically attending a local Baptist church to play church league sports. We would spend most Friday & Saturday nights with our friends, drinking....a LOT & go to church with them on Sunday. Needless to say, this was not a situation that helped one grow close to Jesus, or even come to know Him. Long back-story short, we eventually fell out of church and lived very reckless lives. We had a son & when he was 2 years old, he was very sick....we didn't know if he was going to live or not. We look back now & realize that the Father was trying to get our attention. Several months later, our lives hit an all-time low...we were on a one-way road to destruction. Our marriage was falling apart, our finances were a shambles and we were extremely in need. During this time, Chas became different, as if he was no longer the man I had dated for 2 years and been married to for 4 years. For the next several months, I was still on this road to destruction, but my Chas was a totally new creature....I didn't know how or why. I didn't even want to know or even care what had changed him. Even during this time, he was unwavering. I often tell people that he was "Jesus before me." It was his solid commitment and steadfastness that truly spoke to me. Because our son had been so sick, Chas would call the daycare each day to check on him. When he would call, he would ask the daycare owner to pray for me. She was a pastor's wife & each Friday when I would pick David up, she would invite me to church.
Well, I finally wore down and in December and we went to a Christmas Play. While I had prayed with a deacon from the church we were in early in our marriage, I can't tell you for sure when I actually gave my life to the Lord...then, or at that play. What I can tell you is that the Lord used that play and a young couple to reveal to me that He was the ONLY one who could put my marriage and life back together. We began to go to that little church faithfully. In doing so, we began the awesome journey. Our surrender to the ministry will be the next post..... Well, we have the new site up and are trying to get all of the pics posted, as well as labeled. This process will take a little time, but please visit often to see the new additions. Chas (aka Old Socks) and I are excited about the opportunities we have been afforded by our Lord to be a part of something as awesome as HBW, and now LAHBW. I will attempt in the next few blog posts to bring you through the years with us, explaining how we began to be involved with HBW and of the journey that has brought us to where we are today. I will only say this for now, a popular Christian song on the radio at the moment is "He's Not Finished With Me Yet'. I truly believe that when we feel that He is finished with us or that we have arrived and are superior spiritually, we only display our true need for growth.....May we all seek to know Him more each day for the rest of our lives that we might not reach up & touch the ground, only to find that we've been living life upside down, as Truth sang so many years ago.
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AuthorMy name is Sonja. I am known as Road Rash, for obvious reasons. I have been a member of His Blood Warriors since 1996 I served as Secretary of LAHBW since the charter began in February 2002. In October, I became International Secretary and currently serve in that position. Archives
June 2012
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