April 30, 2010.

Well, its a warm, but windy day outside. I hit a few garage sales with my mom this morning...spent a whole $ 2.00!!!! She is always looking for clothes for her great-granddaughter and she did find several things that she bought for her. My niece is a young, single mom and grandma is always helping her out.

Tonight we are going to attend our first Emmaus Gathering. I am looking forward to this and looking forward to seeing some of the people I met last weekend. It's up in Hammond, Indiana, so will be a little bit of a drive.

I thought I would reflect a bit on last weekend. I thought about it this morning on my walk. I have been asked to do the scripture reading at church Sunday. I think I'm going to use John 8:12: When Jesus spoke to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

My decision last week to accept Christ into my heart really wasn't specifically because of my attending the Emmas Walk. I think you can sum it up in the conversation I had with my husband afterward. Sunday we talked a bit about the weekend and my experiences. I told him I had accepted Christ. His reply was, that is nice, I am happy for you. I asked him...have you ever done that, accepted Chris as your Savior. Give your life to him. His reply was...."I'm not really sure". He asked me how I knew, why I chose that weekend.

I've been thinking about that. Some people may think it's because of the weekend and all that took place. But, that is not really true. To be honest, I began that weekend skeptical...only taking it half seriously. On Thursday evening when we were asked to spend the time before bedtime in silence, I just thought..what a pain. You can't chat with all these new people. On Friday during the first couple of talks, I only half paid attention. I often found my mind wondering away on other things. Because of that, when it came time for discussion on the talks I was glad for the printed handouts they gave us. Later in the afternoon, I began to pay more attention to the talks and what the speakers had to say. My mind wandered less and I began to focus more on the messages that were being conveyed.

Saturday, I was getting more into the weekend, I began finding the discussions very moving and thought provoking. The time after each talk when each table discussed it, all of the ladies at my group were getting more and more involved. The communion we shared that afternoon was very moving and meaningful....but, I still kind of felt on the outside looking in.

That evening was another special time. Towards the end, all the participants were asked to step away by ourselves and reflect on how we were feeling...how we felt God speaking to us, etc. I found an empty chair not beside anyone and sat there. The room was dim, and I just listened. I began to hear a voice in my head...kind of telling me, Jodi it's time. It's time. One of the ministers was not talking to anyone at this point, so I approached him. And asked him honestly...."how do you know when it's time to give your life to Christ." As I have said before...you hear about people doing this, but how do they know? He looked at me with a big smile and said, "Jodi, if you need to ask me that, then you should already know the answer!" And, he was right...I did know the answer. He sat with me and Karen came over to. I honesty don't remember all the words he spoke that evening. I do know I listened intently, but as to his exact words I couldn't tell you know. I just knew at that moment...it was time.