Finding the Real Satisfaction, T.W.

A Little Bit About Myself:

Born in the late 60's, I was raised in the suburbs of Dayton, Ohio as the fourth of five children in a Roman Catholic family. I attended parochial schools from second grade until I was a senior in high school. Upon graduation from high school, I went to Wright State University in Fairborn, OH to earn a baccalaureate degree in English with a professional and technical writing concentration. Since that time I have returned to attend Wright State to take graduate-level coursework in business. I am now working locally in the greater Dayton area with an automotive component-testing supplier.

Meeting the Believers in the Local Church:

When I first came to Wright State, as a freshman, I met one of the Christian brothers who met with the local church in line to register for classes. Following that time in line together, I would run into this brother on campus for the next six months. During those months that I would see him he never mentioned that he was a Christian or that he loved the Lord. Instead he would just show genuine concern for how I was doing. To me, this was what opened me little by little to him and the Lord. Probably, if he had told me in the beginning that he loved the Lord or that he was a Christian I would have been closed to him and would have avoided him on campus because of my spiritual condition.

Eventually, in the right place at the right time, I ran into him again on campus. Under the Lord's sovereignty, I was dealing with a crisis in my heart. In response to him asking me how I was doing I shared with him a few things. He proceeded to tell me that he loved the Lord and had fellowship with other believers by singing songs and reading the Word. That night I went over to the apartment where this brother lived and met the other brother who lived there. Over the course of that evening, and many to follow, I was impressed with how one they were to care for me.

Getting Saved:

About a year and a half later, in the spring of 1990, after getting to know these Christian brothers I was ready to experience getting dynamically saved. In brief, I was working late at the dentist office where I worked. At one point, while waiting for the machines to finish a procedure I decided to take a nap in one of the dentist chairs. As I lay taking a nap, I expected to be woken by the buzzer of the machine. Instead I was abruptly awoken by an excruciating cramp in my right thigh. Immediately, I woke up yelling and squirming, attempting to relax the muscles in my right thigh, hamstring and even calf, but to no avail. The more I squirmed, the worse it got. Then my left thigh and hamstring started to cramp up on me as well. And even I felt anxiety and pain in my chest. I couldn't believe it. I didn't know what was going on.

Finally, the thought crossed my mind to try to pray. I had prayed several times with the Christian brothers so this was not completely new, but it certainly wasn't my habit, nor did I ever have the assurance or realization that I had received God's life into me. So I prayed. Initially, however, I prayed in a kind of religious, formal, even pretentious way. This didn't help at all. So I began to pray desperately and genuinely. I prayed, “Lord Jesus, if You are real, be real to me. Lord Jesus, I love You and need You!” This is about all I prayed. When I prayed those words I felt like I touched the Lord. When I was done praying I had so much peace, rest and joy! It was the most wonderful feeling. I got up, finished my job, went home to bed and got baptized into the Triune God the next day! (Matthew 28:19). Finally I had found the real satisfaction that I had been looking for all along!