Testimony Tuesday #1 | Mike M.
Rantoul CofC | November 8, 2022
While I knew there was a God growing up I really didn’t know God in the sense that we had any kind of relationship. My parents tried to foster a relationship by teaching me to pray, obtaining a bible for me and other religious books. It wasn’t until I met my wife Valerie that it started coming together. Even then it took four years for me to obey the gospel. Most of those four years was spent attending her congregation, listening to sermons and singing hymns. When there was a visiting preacher coming to her parents home for lunch after Sunday morning services we would have an opportunity to discuss the sermon and other spiritual topics together. Over those four years I would consistently hear the gospel of Jesus preached, taught and most importantly, lived. I had great mentors before (and after) I became a Christian. Men and women who lived their lives as Jesus lived, having His character traits. Serving and making sacrifices where needed to live for Him.
Finally, one day I was asked by an elderly man, a farmer, if I would like to study the Bible with him. I turned him down. The next year around fall harvest he asked again if after harvest was over if we could study the Bible and this time I agreed to it. That fall, we met in my home one night a week where Valerie would make us supper then we would spend the evening studying. The old farmer and his teaching brought me clarity as to who Jesus and His Father are. After we concluded the final study session he asked me what I thought and without hesitation I knew what I wanted to do next, be baptized! I was baptized into Christ the Sunday before Thanksgiving, 1993 in the basement of the Church of Christ in Hidalgo, Illinois. We sang together the song Fountain Free as I walked to the front of the auditorium making known my desire. After being baptized we sang together Oh Happy Day as my new life with Christ began. I cherish that day, the men and women who loved God and me enough to influence me for good. Often during those four years I sinned, sometimes to the point of causing great emotional pain to people who I cared about and that cared for me. I knew there was a better way and I don’t know why I took so long but I am thankful to God that He would put people in my life who loved Him and wanted to make a difference in my life.
