You can tell by looking at me and talking to me that I have lived a sheltered life. My mom sheltered us (a bit too much lol). Now that I am an adult, I see why she did; since I have been married, my (amazing) George has sheltered me (he says protecting me from myself, lol). 

Growing up, we did not:

– Go to ball games 

– Go to the movies

– Do extracurricular activities at school 

– Have a TV in our house

– Have Christmas (considered a pagan holiday) 

– Wear pants, make-up, jewelry and mostly wore maxi skirts.

I understand now that my parents would do anything to prevent our innocence from being taken away. They didn’t want our view of the world to be that earth is a permanent place. 

My dad said once that we work all of our lives for the moment we get to be with the Lord. How true that statement is! This earthly life is just temporary.

As you can see, to say I was naive is an understatement. I really did not know how the world worked. Things were happening all around me, and I had no clue what was happening most of the time. I just assumed it worked as it did at our house.

UNTIL

This particular situation showed me things that I could not unsee! I simultaneously saw something so fascinating and scary and realized that not everyone lived as we did.

SO MY CHURCH (BRAT) STORY begins:

We were in a revival in Columbus, OH. We stayed with an amazing couple when we were in town for revival services. They had this large house that sat on a lot on a street that was …Ummm, let’s just say it was busy! People’s cars would get broken into in broad daylight, and you could hear people fighting all hours of the day and night and a lot of noise; now, I know it was probably drunk people partying. So, to say I was fascinated with all of this was an understatement. 

We were not allowed to go out of the house by ourselves. But I wanted to. I wanted to watch people. It was so foreign to me. It was scary and enjoyable at the same time to see what was going on around us.

One night we got in late to the house. It was after church, so it was probably somewhere between 11 pm – 1 am. Those services went hard, and they went long! So I was ready to go to bed, not that I slept much, but I wanted to lay down and at least pretend I was normal and sleeping so I could think!

When we got home, we found a snack before going to bed. My two older sisters, Debbi and Terri, and I shared a bedroom upstairs with a window where you could see the street very plainly. It was very well-lit. I can remember seeing people standing on the corner talking. I remember seeing money being exchanged (what I know now was probably a drug deal) and thinking how sweet it was for people to help each other by giving their neighbor money. I can remember seeing things that I had never seen before. I knew I should be sleeping, but I couldn’t help but watch and wonder what their lives were like. I really had NO clue!

That night, as we were in bed. I heard something. It sounded like a roar. I had never heard anything like it. It was thunderous, off-putting, and obnoxious, and I had to see what it was! I snuck over to the window. I could have never imagined in a million years what I was about to witness!
I went to the window because I heard helicopters hovering close to the ground. I saw their spotlights beaming down on something. I listened to the police saying things over the megaphone they had turned way up! It was muffled and distorted, and I could not understand exactly what they were saying.

I have to tell you we did not have a tv, but I am sure this was way better!

I finally got a visual of what they were shouting at. I heard the roar of motorcycles — lots and lots of motorcycles. I looked where the light from the helicopter was shining – I saw something extraordinary. I saw a biker with a woman on the back of his bike. She was wearing a veil — just a veil! I saw what appeared to be 100 bikers behind them (I am not sure, but in my eyes, it was 100), giving them a “send-off” for their nuptials! It was probably about 3 am by now.

They were whooping and hollering and revving their engines. They were throwing beer bottles and hitting the houses or just throwing them on the pavement (for the next person to come through and get glass in their tires!). Imagine this with at least 100 bikers; the sound was deafening. The glass was everywhere. They were shouting obscenities at the police in the helicopter and outrunning the police in cruisers on the ground. They were laughing so loudly. I remember thinking how happy they were, lol. They were having fun! I can still remember the laughter as they roared down the street.

The bikers had woken up the whole neighborhood. Quite frankly, I think the neighbors were scared.

I was fascinated until one of them looked up, and I thought she saw me peering out the upstairs window. My heart about stopped beating! I ducked down, and “curious me” peeked back out when I thought it was safe. I couldn’t look away, but I knew I should not have been staring. I knew that wasn’t very nice.

I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of life they lived. I even wondered, in that moment, if I should be a biker when I grew up. But then I thought how hard it would be to ride a motorcycle in a dress after all the bride couldn’t even wear her wedding dress!

WHAT’S ON MY MIND?  GLAD YOU ASKED

Oh this story is etched in my mind. I find the spiritual aspect of this situation quite intriguing.

Just as we are innocently living in our “church bubble” we are fine. We are ok with not knowing that our neighbor is living a life that could send them to hell. We just want things to be perfect for us as Christians. We want the world to be black and white and will only look at the white part, the purest part of living.

Jesus does not allow us to live under a rock. He told us to go out and get people from everywhere and tell them about Him.

Luke 14:23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.

Just like the helicopters and the police shouting, trying to get their attention and they just kept going on their way like they heard nothing, we treat God this way. He sends things to get our attention and we just keep going on our way pretending we do not hear and see the signs He is sending us. We are too busy living our lives our own way. We are breaking things and living in chaos following after our own delights in life. Yet, in the midst of all of the chaos, Jesus is calling us, just as he did His disciples to follow Him!

Matthew 4:18-22, Jesus begins to call His disciples, particularly the pairs of brothers, Peter and Andrew and James and John:

We are His bride and we are stripping God of our purity and exposing ourselves to sin and in that moment, it does not matter. Why? Because we are doing what we want to do and we have engaged others in a lifestyle away from God.

Revelation 19:7-8

“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

God will send someone to us and we outrun them, we do not want to hear anything that will take away the “joy of the moment” living life our own way. People will “peep” in and watch us make a fool of ourselves and duck out before they can be seen or heard.

We are just like Jonah not wanting to give them the words of eternal life that can change them, turn their life around. Instead we hide, we run from God’s calling not wanting to “get involved” or scared that the person will reject us.

My thing is so what if they do? They are not rejecting you, they are rejecting God. God gave Nineveh a chance to repent, and they did!

What is God speaking to you to speak into someone’s life – words of life and Godly counsel? Pray, ask Him to come to you. Ask Him to direct you to the person that needs the words of eternal life spoken to them. It is up to them to accept or reject, you are just responsible for what God asks you to do. You are not responsible for the outcome, that is between them and God.

Here I am Lord send me!

PRAY THIS WITH ME TODAY (in your own words)

God, I want to be a bride of purity that You are coming back for. I want to know the words of eternal life and help me to share that to others, no matter how awkward that may be for me.

Jesus, I just want you – nothing else will do!

Amen