Do You Know What Happened March 29th?

March 31, 2011 by Susan Shay 19 Comments

March 29th is a very important day. Do you know what happened? No? (Good!)

Well . . .

• Man O’War  racehorse, winner of 20 out of 21 races and $249,465, was born. So were Sam Walton and LaToya Jackson. (Not the same year. LOL!)
• Dr. John Pemberton brewed the first batch of Coca-Cola in a backyard in Atlanta, Georgia. (Don’t ask what was in it or what color it was. You don’t want to know.)  
• The last United States combat soldiers left South Vietnam. (Yay!)
• Edwin Drake drilled the first productive U.S. oil well. (Yay again!) 
• Brenna Logsdon had her first surgery for a brain tumor. (She’s tumor free today! PTL!)

But, but, do you know what else happened on that day? What is more important (to me) than all the happenings I posted above?

I was eight, nearly nine, years old. Sunday morning. Easter Sunday morning. Our preacher, Roy Blizzard, had just finished his sermon (I don’t remember that particular talk, but I can tell you about some others he preached if you’re interested.)

Roy gave the invitation, the church started singing the invitation hymn. I knew, I KNEW Jesus wanted me to give my life to Him. I also knew my daddy needed to do the same.

Since I was standing next to Dad, I leaned on him just a little. They started singing the second verse. Daddy hadn’t moved, so I leaned harder, then I gave him a little push.

We were baptised together that day.

I remember holding Mama’s hand that morning. I wasn’t a bit nervous as we waited to give our confessions of faith, but Mama (who’d been a Christian for years) shook like a leaf.

Now some people don’t believe an eight (nearly nine) year old is mature enough to make a life decision such as that. And while I didn’t know everything the decision would mean to me, I knew that I wanted Jesus to be the Lord of my life. All my life.

I don’t have a great conversion story. I didn’t have a radical change in the way I lived. It was deeper than that.

I had a change in my thinking–a change way deep in my heart. The reason I did the right thing. Why I shared when it was easier not to. Why I was nice when others weren’t nice back. Why my smile doesn’t start on my face. (Kind of like a flower, mine really starts at the root.) 

The reason I care.

No longer just to make my parents proud of me. (Back in those days, most of us kids wanted to make our parents proud.)

Simply put, it’s because He lives in me.  

Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God.

And on March 29th, we had a birthday.

Want to share about the day you accepted Jesus? Tell someone about the difference He’s made in your life? Please do!