welcome back

This post was written in my journal 12 Dec 10

So two weeks ago I started reading a book by one of my favorite authors, Jeff Shaara. It was a historical novel about WWII, specifically the African and Italian campaigns, written from the perspective of many of the major historical figures involved. Up until I read this book I knew nothing about that part of the war other than what I gleaned from Casablanca and The English Patient.

So today after church I went to a local bookstore, bought a new Bible, as I am a sucker for new Bibles at new phases in my life, and started to read. After a few minutes a WWII Vet (identified as such by his hat) sat down next to me with his book. After a while he asked me if I was reading a Bible. He said he recently returned from a trip from N. Africa – Italy – Austria – Germany with a young girl who whenever the conversation died between them would pull out her Bible and read. He then asked me if I was a born again Christian and would I mind telling him what that meant.

So many things were racing through my head. When  was the last time someone asked me to explicitly share the gospel? Could I even do it? It couldn’t be a coincidence that I just started getting interested in WWII, and the N Africa/Italian campaigns in particular. It kinda felt like Jesus was saying ” I know you are rusty, but welcome back”.

So instead of just defining “born again” I explained it in terms of the mini version of my story with Jesus. He said he had started reading the bible after this trip with these kids (it wasn’t just a girl he was traveling with but a group of college students, taking them to important places from WWII) and didn’t understand it. He didn’t even know why he was reading it except that he was getting old and should look into it. Then he told me about the trip. By the end of the conversation I learned he was a regular here and his name was Alan.

The whole experience made me feel welcomed home. I had quite forgotten the thrill it is to share the gospel so openly. I didn’t even feel the need to “close the deal”, something I have struggled with in the past. I felt like I had just been given this great gift, so unexpectedly, by my Lord. A little reminder of who I really am.

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