Tracey's Life Story: Tragedy Changed My Life

Everything in my life seemed normal and happy until the summer of ’93 when a very close friend of mine tragically drowned in Harrison Lake.

That is when my life took a turn and I wasn’t even aware of it. I felt such a sense of brokenness and loss. I started asking myself a lot of questions that I didn’t have answers for: Where did he go? Will I ever see him again? Is there life after death?

I did some reading and asked a Christian co-worker a million questions, but I was still very thirsty and I didn’t know what for. I was invited to Church with my co-worker and when I got up that Sunday morning and got ready for church, what was about to happen to me was the furthest thing from my mind.  Near the end of the pastor’s sermon, he told a story that I will never forget….

A father worked on the railroad and one day his boy was at work with him. The boy was playing with the controls that move the tracks when the father realized that a train was rapidly approaching. There wasn’t much time. He had to make a very difficult decision: change the tracks and save all the people aboard the train from derailing, or save his only son from being hit by the train. He chose to save all the people on the train and he lost his only son. The people on the train, not knowing what this man had just sacrificed, smiled and waved at him as they traveled by.

Then the pastor went onto say that that’s what God did for us. He sacrificed his only son to save us. I was very moved by that story, and felt that it all of a sudden made sense.   Minutes later he asked, “Is there anyone here today that wants to know Jesus? Just raise your hand.” My heart was pounding out of my chest; it felt like it was my only chance to be saved, and up went my hand. My friend looked and me and asked “Are you sure?” I remember feeling so positive, I just nodded yes. I accepted Jesus into my heart that day: September 18^th 1994.

Although this event was very exciting for me, it was confusing for everyone   who knew me. They had a lot of questions. Why did she become a Christian? What was so wrong with the way her life was? Were things that bad? And the truth was, my life was great! But that Sunday in Church, when my heart was pounding out of my chest, I really believed that it wasn’t me who raised my hand, it was God! And from that moment, I knew I had found what I was thirsty for.

A year or so after my friend died, I was talking to his wife about my becoming a Christian and she said:  “If Mark were here he would be right there with you”. She said he had been looking at going to church so seriously that it was worrying her.  I was comforted by the fact that Mark had been seeking, and he would have had enough time out in the water all night to ask God to forgive him. Then I knew where he went and I knew that I would see him again, and my heart was filled with peace. I know that God had a reason for taking Mark and maybe I was part of that reason. All of the questions I had were being answered by God through my prayers.

I’m still not sure what God’s plan is for my life, but I know that God will show me in his time. So I will keep standing strong in my faith and live everyday to the fullest. I know that my life here is just a portion of the life that I’ll have with Christ for eternity.

Who is Jesus?

How can I change my life?