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Peace

Rita Chamberlin
June 22, 2007

My family went to church on Sunday mornings when I was young but we never discussed what church was about at home.



My general attitude before I received eternal life was an ignorant one. I thought I was doing things the right way and that I was a pretty good person. I thought there were others better than me and others worse than me but I did not commit any "mortal" sins so, I was okay.



I struggled with how we know things are "right" and why don't we all know what is right? So, I figured that we all make our own decisions and come to our own conclusions based solely on doing what is best for one's self. I was confused when others did "bad" things. I enjoyed praise from others.



Over time, the major questions were still not answered: "How do we know what is right and is there really anything wrong aside from harming others? Does it matter? How do we know there is a God?

What if church were just a joke; just going through the motions but it did not mean anything? I wanted to be"above" being fooled! How do we know it matters or not if we go to church? When my brother, sister and I were young, we went to church and I thought that is what people do but I never knew why it mattered except to celebrate Christmas and Easter and I am not even sure I knew what they symbolized but maybe I did (can't remember!) I did not really know about heaven and hell. I remember someone telling me that if you believe in heaven you have to believe in hell but I had no clue as to what this meant. My Dad died of cancer when I was nineteen but nothing about heaven or hell was mentioned at home; I guess I thought everyone who is basically good goes to heaven.



So, before I received eternal life I was confused and did not have peace about many issues.



Then, I received eternal life and all the pieces of the puzzle came together. It was like putting on a pair of eyeglasses and seeing clearly for the first time!



After receiving eternal life I was no longer confused and now had answers for the things that confused me. This certainty brings peace and that is what I now have.



I now know for sure that if I were to die today I would go to heaven.