Jane's story
What’s going on?
‘Jesus is real! Some of my friends were ill – they prayed and got better. One person
needed money and someone posted the exact amount they needed through the letterbox…’
My sister Sheila had become a ‘born-again Christian’ and couldn’t wait to tell me about it on her visits home from university. I was pretty good at looking as if I wasn’t interested (she told me later) but she was determined to tell me anyway. She was definitely the ‘religious type’ – I remembered that she had dabbled with Christianity when we were young but that had worn off.
But when my brother David – who was at a different university – rang home to say that he had ‘become a Christian’ too, I began to take notice. He had never done anything like this before; he was busy with sport and generally having a fun life. Religion was certainly not his sort of thing. What was going on?
Outwardly unconcerned, I was inwardly becoming disturbed and fascinated. Could this be real? – I wondered. Is this what life is really all about? It troubled me that life seemed so tragic and complicated. I guess I thought that God was real but could we ever know more than that? It had never crossed my mind that he could actively play a part in my life in the way Sheila was describing. But now, despite seeming indifferent, I was becoming gripped with the idea that this was what I needed – unasked and unhoped for. I wanted it.
Reaching out to Jesus
Alone in my room, I started to talk to Jesus, asking him to be part of my life. At first I didn’t feel any different but knew I’d done the right thing. My sister, naturally, was thrilled and eager to help me in my first steps in following Jesus. David was pleased but a little suspicious that I was just copying him and Sheila. My mum confessed that she had prayed to God that all three of us would follow Jesus – but hadn’t expected this to happen within months of each other!
Over the next few days, I began to feel invigorated – as if something powerful had happened to me. I was amazed. As a child I had been fascinated by stories about people leading magical lives – but something fantastic was now happening for real. God himself was talking to me and getting involved in my life.
Life that makes sense
This happened several years ago. But I am still blown away by how satisfying it is to follow Jesus. Nothing makes sense to me outside of the amazing story that Jesus wants to meet and change each of us. Life brings confusing and upsetting things, but I am confident that there is more to life than daily routine. Life with Jesus is rich and rewarding and it never ends.