The Road Less Traveled

I was ten years old when I learned that there are two roads in life: one is wide and leads to destruction; one is narrow and leads to eternal life. When I heard of these two roads, I knew I was not on that road that led to eternal life.

I had grown up in a home where the name of Jesus was an exclamation, not a name to be revered. The culture in which I lived was one of self-centered living. The philosophy by which my family lived seemed to be, “If it makes you happy, do it!” regardless of the consequences. If life had continued on as it was, I would never have had the opportunity to hear the Good News of salvation. Yet, in His mercy, God sent a messenger to me.

While I was quite young, my mother brought in extra cash by babysitting for other working moms. One particular mother, Mrs. Jean Palmer, offered to take me to church with her on Sundays, and my mother allowed me to go. Her son Andy was just a year younger than I, and I would read his Sunday school take home papers to him. Those early church experiences were positive. I specifically remember one Sunday when I was invited up to the front of the Jr. Church class. My new friends sang Happy Birthday to me, and I was allowed to pick a prize from a wicker basket. I pulled out a pocket mirror with a picture of Jesus knocking on a door. I still have that mirror. So when, as a fifth-grader, I was given an opportunity to attend release time classes at that same church, I was eager to do so, especially since it meant I could get out of Mrs. Spitulnik‘s fifth grade classroom for an extra hour each Thursday!

My release time teacher was the pastor’s wife, Mrs. Bailey, and her assistant just happened to be Mrs. Palmer! I spent the first few months soaking in the Bible stories and memorizing scripture verses, working hard to win the prizes she offered. Then, one week when she told the story of the two roads, I immediately knew which road I was on, and I very much wanted to start walking on the road that led to eternal life. After class, I asked my friend Doreen how I could know I was on that road. She wasn’t sure exactly how to explain it, but she encouraged me to stay after class the following week and ask Mrs. Bailey to show me the way.

That following week, I did stay and talk to Mrs. Bailey. I don’t remember the lesson she taught that day, I was too eager for class to be over to pay much attention. She explained to me the ABC’s of salvation. I first needed to admit that I was a sinner. That wasn’t difficult...I knew I wasn’t righteous! Next, I needed to believe that Jesus came to earth as a baby, died on the cross for my sins, rose from the dead, and was now living in Heaven preparing a place for me. After sitting in her class all those weeks, I knew it was true, and I did believe it. Then I needed to confess my sins to God and my faith to men. We knelt that day in an upper room of the church, and I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins, and give me the gift of eternal life. Mrs. Bailey prayed for me, too, that God would strengthen the faith in me, and do what I asked Him to do.

I left that room, ran down the street to catch up with my friend Doreen and exclaimed, “I did it”. I wrote in my diary, “today I decided to follow Christ. Let’s see what happens.”

What has happened since that day is incredible. I left that road of destruction, and began walking on the path of eternal life. Mrs. Bailey patiently discipled me. Several adults in my church spent time teaching me in the principles of God’s word, and patiently watched and coached me as I grew in God’s grace. Amazingly, I was even able to attend Bible College—the first in my family ever to attend college, and it was there that I developed an even greater hunger for God’s Word and God’s Way. After graduation, I moved to a city in New York to take a job as a Christian schoolteacher, and it was there I began dating my husband.

As a young girl, I had prayed that God would give me a Christian home in which to live, and that is precisely what He has done. I have a sensitive, godly husband who leads his family in serving the Lord. All four of my children have made a decision to follow Christ as their Savior, and they made those decisions right here at home. I am able to stay home with my children and teach them their school lessons from a biblical worldview. We enjoy each other's company and have long talks about spiritual things. God has done exceedingly, abundantly above anything I could ever have asked or thought to ask!

I have had the opportunity to serve in each of the local churches I have attended in both children’s and worship ministries. It is my desire to give back to the local church what so many others once invested in me.

As I look back at the road I could have taken, and the road that I would most certainly have been on had not God in His grace reached down and placed me on another, I realize that I have become God’s workmanship! My senior year in high school I taped a Robert Frost poem, “The Road not Taken” in the front of my Bible, and the last two lines sum up my walk with Christ perfectly:

“I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I—
I took the road less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference.”