When I was a little girl, a woman came by our apartment in the projects of downtown Nashville to invite me to church. She told me about all of the fun things the youth did at church and promised to come get me on the bus every Sunday. And she did. Her name was Lana Banana (although I am sure that wasn’t her real name). I loved going to church where I learned about Jesus and His love for me. It was something to look forward to every week, and she gave me candy every time I walked onto that bus.
A couple of years later, the owner at a furniture store that we broke down in front of told me about Jesus and I told him I went to church on Sunday’s. He gave me a stuffed doll that I cherished and invited me to visit his church. I told him I would, but I was maybe 8 years old and didn’t have a way to get there. It was the first promise I ever remember breaking. It hurt to break that promise and I learned going forward to never again promise something that I couldn’t do. He told me I was special and was going to do great things in life. No one had ever told me this, and I believed him.
A few years later we moved from Nashville to Shelbyville. My great uncle Chuck came to visit and invited me to church with him. He picked me up every single Sunday. He paid for me to go to church camp when I was 13 years old, where I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart.
Why did I share this? Because it was those people who helped lead me to salvation. Not 1 person. Not 1 experience. But several. Lana Banana, the driver of that church bus who came to the roughest projects in Nashville didn’t know that I was ultimately saved. The owner of that furniture store couldn’t have realized how special that doll was to me or the words of life he spoke into me. My uncle Chuck couldn’t realize that by sowing the money to send me to church camp it would ultimately lead me to the cross and salvation.
I’m not sure if I have ever been instrumental in someone’s journey to become saved. I hope that I have been. And I hope that all who read this are reminded that every time you share Jesus with someone, speak words of life and encouragement into someone, or sow financially into ministry, you too may have been one of the people God used to help someone eventually reach salvation, without even knowing it.
Love & blessings,
C.C.
roadwaytoheaven.com 