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“Worlds Apart”
October 2003
by Amy Johnson
I grew up in a barely-practicing
Jewish home, where traditions were inconsistently followed and the Bible
was never read. The only time I ever heard the name “Jesus,” was in a long
string of curse words coming from my father’s lips. My mother taught me
that God was not love, or else He wouldn’t have allowed her parents to
be killed in a car accident when she was eleven, leaving six children to
cope with life alone. Thus, I grew up feeling unprotected in a home where
the highest power existed in my fallible parents.
When I met my husband and we decided to get
married, we discussed religion and agreed that it didn’t belong in our
new home. My husband came from an equally spiritual-less Catholic home,
with memories of being dropped off on Sundays to attend Sunday school in
a paste-colored room with a Sunday school teacher who didn’t know his name
without looking on the roster. We decided that our children would make
their own spiritual decisions, if and when the time came.
Although I always answered the question of
“What religion are you?” with the answer of “Jewish,” I knew this was only
a label. One day, a Christian woman at work asked me, “By blood or by faith?”
That was the day that I became keenly aware that I had no faith.
My search for faith began in June of 1996.
The funny part is, I didn’t initiate this search. I didn’t have the desire
to think differently, nor was I inclined to do so. It all began with music.
Music was everything to me. And God knew that only through this passion
could I be reached.
Oddly enough, it was my husband who escorted
me to the beginning of my personal yellow brick road. He told me about
a song he really liked on the secular, alternative radio station that he
and I listened to. He wanted me to hear it. When we arrived at the local
music store, we asked to listen to this CD. We were taken to the “Christian”
section, where we immediately assumed we had been misunderstood. It turned
out that the music was, in fact, from a Christian band that had crossed
over into the secular arena. Without enthusiasm, I agreed to listen to
the CD. From the first few notes, I was drawn in. Like sinking down into
a warm bath after a full day of skiing. I clicked through each song and
finally reached “Worlds Apart” – a song that I will associate with my first
“God” experience forever. As I always do, I pulled out the lyric sheet
and began to read the words. Jesus. Blood. Sin. To any Christian, the lyrics
would have made sense. But to me, born to Jewish parents, I felt uncomfortable
and guilty when I read them. I immediately pulled the earphones off, told
my husband we weren’t buying it, and we left the store.
In the next few days, amazing things began
to happen. I suddenly found myself interested in people around me who had
faith; the same people I purposely shunned and avoided in the past. I wanted
to know more about what they had that I didn’t. And “Worlds Apart” rung
through my ears for days, until finally, I could not ignore it. I bought
the CD. I couldn’t put it down. I listened and listened until I’d fall
asleep at night. I listened to it in the car, at work, while I exercised.
After visiting this band’s website, I e-mailed
the webmaster of the site and told of the odd story that caused me to be
a visitor to the site that day. I received a response (almost immediately)
from the most considerate, caring individual, who answered all of my questions
and more. For many months, we exchanged e-mails. He politely answered my
questions as I continued finding more to ask. I couldn’t get enough. It
was like I had been locked up in my bedroom my whole life, and finally
someone let me out.
But all this time, I felt like I had left
my husband and children behind. My new Christian friend encouraged me to
start searching for a Church. I began to attend Church alone, but always
invited my husband to join me. He politely declined. But, I never stopped
inviting him.
My new Christian friends at work shared with
me the power of prayer and I drew on that power in prayers for my family.
Finally, the day came when my husband (noticing the transformation I was
making) agreed to join me for a Sunday service. This is when I first learned
about Satan.
Satan was not happy to see my family turning
to Christ. So, he struck out and brought my marriage to its knees in July
of 1997. As a last stitch effort to save it, my husband and I went on a
weekend for marriages in distress. On this weekend, my husband accepted
Christ as his Lord and Savior.
And one final note…I have asked my mom for
several years to join me in a Bible Study. She had always declined my invitations.
Then, a wonderful Christian woman (with whom she plays Mah Jongg) asked
her to come to a Bible Study in her home on "The Life of Moses." My mother
shocked me with an invitation to join her at the first of what has now
been many months of Bible Study! And to think she had never picked up a
Bible in her life. My mom claims that she will never believe in Jesus.
But, I believe and pray regularly, that God has a different plan for my
Mom. Why else would He surround her with loving Christians?!?!
I am in awe every day that God had a perfect
plan for me and I truly believe that He desires my parents to be among
His Kingdom family. One day my Mom told me to stop talking to her about
Jesus. She said I should give it up. In a promise I replied, “I will
never give up on you, Mom.” We both smiled
Amy Johnson
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