Trucking for the Lord

I became a believer in June 2007. I was sitting at a truck stop behind the wheel of my 18-wheeler when I heard a knock on my truck door. A chaplain entered and we began a thoughtful discussion on God and life. That conversation shifted my consciousness towards faith in my life. A few months later, I was invited to participate in the dedication ceremony for my grandson at Zurich Mennonite Church. One of the members warmly greeted me, with an outstretched hand, and even though I knew church wasn’t right for me, that warm act made me rethink my relationship with the church. By the spring of 2008, I could be seen regularly, with my family, at Kingsfield Clinton, the sister congregation of Zurich Mennonite church.

By the next spring, I could still see my old life in the rear view mirrors, but the shadow of that life was shrinking with each new day. The church family I have found at Kingsfield Clinton has been unconditionally supportive and loving. I have learned a lot since joining the church, through their unfailing acceptance as well as the teachings through the new believers’ course I attended in the summer of 2009.

Two years after I first stepped into Zurich Mennonite church to join in the celebration of my grandson’s dedication, I joined the Clinton church in a baptismal ceremony, shared with two other members of that church. The baptism took place in the rough waters of Lake Huron; but although the waters were rough, I felt calm. This calm was a metaphor for my new life: although life may sometimes seem rocky and unsure, with my renewed faith in God I had an inward peace that could not be shaken.