The Decision....

The fervor of a new life in Christ had ebbed a bit while trying to establish a fellowship with Carlo. I was tring to fit into what he was doing. I knew that he needed me and loved having our young crowd join in but I began losing patience with all of it. The passion for Jesus was still there but was severly interrupted by trying to interpret "church" the way Carlo was doing it. His preaching was long and boring but he seemed so impassioned by it all. We congregated in this big old white frame house right next to Carlo's gas station. We even had a Sunday School on the second floor. I began to resign myself to the fact that there apparently was a model or a system of church that was necessary to live out the Christian life in America. I was never raised in the church and so I knew little about it other than the obvious times that it met. I concluded that I was a novice in this area and that it might be good to try and fit into the systems that were already in place instead of just walking daily with Jesus. In my mind, Jesus must have had something to do with church in America. It was all supposed to be centered around Him anyway and so I began to make judgements based on this kind of reasoning.

As I looked at the situation, there were only two options. I could stay with Carlo or move back to Pittsburgh and join in on what Pastor Ron was doing. My heart was heavy. I loved West Virginia. I loved the culture. I loved the laid back feeling I got while hanging around the people. I had compassion for them. I just couldn't do the Carlo thing anymore and so I decided to move my family back to Pittsburgh. I have thought about this decision many times over the years. What would it have been like had I stayed?

Next up....

A New Beginning...