New Years Eve

The first Christmas for Dar and I was quiet and joyful but our first New Years Eve party as newlyweds would be quite different. We didn't have a lot of options for some reason and so we decided to go to a New Years eve party back in Pennsylvania. My sister invited us to a place called "Windfall" in the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh. My sister lived in this area and so most of the people going to this party were people that she knew. Dar and I really didn't know what to expect but it didn't take long for us to see what was happening as we walked through the door of this big old farmhouse. The house was already full of party goers but these party goers were different. As I looked around the dining room and living room I could see quite a few Bibles. I thought that the hosts might have been super religious but it turned out that these party goers brought their own Bibles. I really felt uncomfortable. There was no beer or alcoholic beverage of any kind anywhere in sight. I thought to myself, it's New Years Eve and I am caught in an old farmhouse with a bunch of holy rollers. I wanted no part of this but I couldn't walk out on my sister. Besides that, it was snowing so bad outside and I probably couldn't get Dar and I back home in a snow storm with our old Plymouth. It was an ambush for sure. It felt like a set up. We were stuck at Windfall on this New Years eve.

I did my best to lay low but was interrupted while eating a cookie by a guy named Ronald MacDonald. No, he wasn't the clown from the food chain. He was a Pastor. He started talking to me about music. He was interested in my stint in Nashville and proceeded to tell me that he played the trumpet. He was real easy to talk to but he and I didn't really have anything in common. After the small talk, He looked me in the eyes and said to me, "Do you know that you are not here by accident tonight?" That was a question that I did not expect and one that I really could not answer. I was kind of paralyzed by it. I couldn't move. I just kind of stood there staring out in space. Pastor Ron then ask me another question. He said, "Davey, did you know that Jesus was coming back and that when He does come back that He is coming back for His people?" He then proceeded to walk away.

So here I am eating this cookie wondering what Ron meant by those questions. I couldn't think about anything else and I was really suspicious about this party. I tried to dismiss the suspicion but it was heavy in my heart. It wouldn't go away. After about a half an hour Ron returned and ask me another question. He said," Davey, if Jesus were to return tonight, do you think that He would be coming back for you?" I promptly responded, "No, Jesus would want nothing to do with me" and Ron proceeded to walk away again and that left me hanging with curiosity. I was so deep in inner thought that I couldn't get into my surroundings. All I could think about was that cry to the Lord that I made in Nashville and wondered if this party was His doing. I didn't know this God though and I couldn't make sense out of anything that was going on.

Pastor Ron returned a third time and ask me one more question. He said, "Davey, would you want to know for sure that you belong to Jesus before you leave here tonight? I felt down deep inside that this incredible moment in time was clearly orchestrated on my behalf. I remember putting my head down and responded quietly to Ron, "Yes, I would".

Dar and I were surrounded by these partygoers right before the New Year Kicked and they began to pray for us. Dar knew more about what was going on than I did. She went to church some in her childhood. I never did. I was ready to explode in anticipation and then it happened.

I fell to my knees and said my own prayer and Jesus filled me with His Spirit and washed me clean. I was literally a new person when I come up out of that. My mind and my emotions were miraculously riveted on Jesus the Christ. I knew for sure now that this was His plan all along. I can still feel the rush of love that filled my being that night. I was a new creation in Christ for sure and I wanted to tell the world about Him and I left that night ready to do just that.

Next up...

Panhandle Power