Susan Lafferty“Is your arm hurting?” she asks. Yes. The broken bone near my shoulder is healing. Slowly.
It’s 2015 and Manga is prepping me for physical therapy at a hospital in Malaysia. “Be happy!” she says. “Think positive thoughts. Then you will not be hurting.”
I smile. She’s friendly. Gregarious. Her speech and ways and dress make me feel at home.
South Asian home.
The story of Jehoiakim in Jeremiah 36 gets me every time. The king of Judah showing blatant disregard for Truth. Seeking to destroy the word of the Lord.
“Repent! Turn from your wicked ways.” Images of a street corner preacher flicker across my mind. My wicked ways as a child involved telling a lie about sneaking a piece of candy. Or pinching my brother and sister. Or talking back to my parents. Hardly the stuff of dramatic “repent and believe” testimonies.
After I repented and believed as a child, I was baptized. Thus began my walk with the Lord. That initial “repent and believe” is the forever turning point in my life. The time Jesus saved me from my sin. He put His seal, the Holy Spirit, on my heart. I am His for eternity.