In the dark night I would lie awake saying a prayer in my head. Oh how I really wanted the prayer to come true but I couldn't see or feel any change. I was around 12 years old. Momma would take all of her children and attend our small country church each Sunday. I liked it all, Sunday school, singing songs and the preacher. I wanted to be a Christian but honestly, I didn't want to tell anyone. So I prayed. "Jesus please come into my heart." I would say the words over and over and nothing would happen. Sometimes I would squeeze my eyes tight and cry the words. Still I felt no change. In the back of my mind, there was a reality I had to face. I knew I would have to tell others when I became a Christian.

Summary Sentence: You were formed for God's family.

In Day 15 of the Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren tells us that God treasures relationships and wants a huge family. In fact, He has placed before humankind an invitation. He wants us to be a part of His family. But there is one condition: faith in Jesus. One of the earliest Bible verses I memorized during vacation Bible school says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead thou shalt be saved." In other words that tells us, you go through Jesus to become a part of God's family.

There is one more step in becoming a member of the family of God. In a healthy family there is pride. Having pride in who you are and who you belong to is important. Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19 that we should be baptized. Being baptized tells those watching that you are not ashamed that you belong to God's family.

Becoming a part of God's family and becoming a Christian gives us the great privilege of heaven when we die. The author tells us of the inheritance we will receive when we get to heaven. We will become exceedingly rich in the things of God. Here's what our inheritance will include: we will get to be with God forever, we will be completely changed to be like Christ, we will be freed from all pain, death,and suffering, we will be rewarded and reassigned positions of service and we will share in Christ's glory.

I was almost too old to attend the kid's camp in Disney, Oklahoma but since my best friend, Christine was going I wanted to go too. During that week, after the Pastor gave a devotional and talked about a passage from the Bible I told him I wanted to become a Christian. So in our small cabin he and I knelt by a bunk bed and he helped me say the right words and I prayed as sincerely as I could to make Jesus the Lord of my life. My hands were shaking as I said the words but that didn't matter because I really meant them. And then it really happened I knew Jesus was now in my life as the leader of my life. When I came home from kid's camp I went to my little church and stood with the Pastor to announce my decision. Then I was baptized in the church baptistery which was just big enough for two people to stand in. The water was about 4 ft deep. The Pastor dipped me under the water. All of this getting wet was a symbol. Just like the author of PDL says, it declared my faith, it showed I share in Christ's burial and resurrection, it symbolized death to my old life and announced my new life in Christ.

The fear and worry I had had on those sleepless nights when I wanted to become a Christian but not tell anyone, were now gone. I had done as Jesus wanted me too and it wasn't that bad after all.