My Stairway To Heaven
God wants to see you in heaven, and so do I.
NOTE: My purpose in sharing this story is hopefully for Christians to do a little repair work on their stairway to heaven. God wants to see you in heaven, and so do I. Remember, it is never too late to correct our mistakes in life. In the first half of my life, I strayed many times from the pathway He wanted me to walk. A couple of times, I strayed so far that I was surprised that I found my way back. Must have had some divine help. Remember, we only have to confess our sins to God, and He will forgive them.
My Stairway To Heaven was built on a solid foundation, as I was fortunate to be born to loving, caring parents who were very good Christians. Parents who taught me at an early age about God’s love for us. A God who so loved us that He sent His only son to die on the cross for our sins. That is how much He wanted us to join Him in heaven after our life here on earth. My parents taught me to pray to God before going to bed. I still remember a prayer Mom taught me. “Now I lay me down to sleep, and if I die before I awake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” She also taught me that I must always thank God for the blessings He has given us each day. I remember asking her what if I could not do that if I could not think of any blessing? She said, "Then thank Him for the sunshine and rain. Without either, we could not grow food to eat."
My parents also taught me to respect my neighbors and to respect my neighbors’ property. I can remember my dad telling me that when I was talking to an adult, I should always address them as Mr., Mrs., or Miss. I wonder how many parents teach that today? In my parents' home, it was always understood that church attendance on Sunday mornings was required and very often on Sunday evening. I remember that on one Sunday morning, I did not feel like going to church, so I told my dad that I was sick. He told me to go back to bed, which I did. When the family came home from church, I got up. He told me to go back to bed and stay there so I would be well enough to go to school on Monday. I hope you can imagine how hard and boring it is for an 8-year-old boy, who is not sick, to remain in bed all day. It was a lesson well learned by me.
When I was 6 years old, my parents enrolled me in Catholic grade school. We went to Mass every day. I did learn a lot about religion from the nuns I had for teachers. My favorite teacher was Sister Dorothy Ann, whom I had in both 3rd and 4th grade.
After graduating from high school, I did not know what I wanted to do with my life, so I did nothing for 2 months. One day, Dad told me he had found a job for me. I think he was trying to tell me something. The job turned out to be in Detroit, Michigan, working for Dad's brother, Paul, in his tool and die shop, working as a sheet metal shearer. The job was very boring and required no brain power. When I went home for Christmas, I learned that some of my friends were joining the Air Force to beat the draft for the Korean War, so I joined them. The Air Force broadened my outlook on my views of life and my travels. After 2 years, I was sent to Korea. It was there that I learned what real poverty was, and it taught me that I was fortunate to be born in America. I still did not know what I wanted to do in life, so when my 4-year enlistment was over, I re-enlisted. In 1960, the Air Force asked for volunteers to go to computer school. I volunteered to go, and I have never regretted it. I really enjoyed working on computers. After 2 years in the computer field, they asked for volunteers to go to the IBM computer school in Kingston, NY. I volunteered. After 2 years in that field, they needed volunteers to go to a digital computer school. Again, I volunteered. I was getting a lot of free education.
Yes, the Air Force gave me a good education, but it was also a period in life when “My Stairway To Heaven” became quite shaky. Many times, I strayed from the pathway that the Lord wanted me to walk. No matter how far I strayed or how long I strayed, He always welcomed me back. If you are reading this and your stairway is shaky, all you need to do is go to Him in prayer, tell Him you are sorry for your sins, and your stairway will become quite steady.
In April of 1975, I was divorced. The company I was working for transferred me to Minneapolis. It was there that I met Barbara Ann. We dated for a year and were married in April 1976. Barbara had 3 children from a previous marriage: a son, Larry, and 2 girls, Sherry and Mary. Mary was 5 when Barbara and I married. Barbara was good for “My Stairway to Heaven”. She was a devout Methodist. After a few months of marriage, I started going with her and ended up joining the Methodist Church.
We had been married about 6 months when Barbara asked me if I could get transferred away from the Minneapolis area. It seems Barbara was having some problems with her ex-husband's wife, so I was able to get transferred to Columbus, Ohio. After being there for about 15 months, I was offered a position in Louisville, Ky., maintaining the Bell Telephone computer. I would have to go to school in Anaheim, CA first. After talking it over with Barbara, I took the offer. Both sets of parents were in their golden years, and Louisville was closer to each of them. After I finished school in California, we returned to Indiana. I decided to live in Indiana as it was my home state.
We tried a couple of churches before deciding on Jacobs Chapel United Methodist Church. I believe that one should feel comfortable in the church. It was at Jacobs Chapel where both of us built our stairways to heaven a little stronger. We decided to become disciples of Jesus. We tried to become more like Jesus with each passing day. We strived to get others to become followers of Jesus. We became leaders of the MYF (Methodist Youth Fellowship). We met with the youth weekly, doing a lot of fun things. We helped them to start building School Classes each Sunday. I was thrilled when one of my students decided to become a minister. Barbara took over the duties of the shut-in ministry. Things went fine for several years. A change in pastors left us feeling very uncomfortable at Jacobs Chapel UMC. Our youngest daughter, Mary, was now the MYF leader at Silver Street UMC. We decided to join her at Silver Street UMC. Barbara assumed the duties of Shut-in Ministry. I again assumed the duties of teaching the High School Sunday School. We both helped Mary with the MYF. We went on many MYF mission trips. We went on a Tennessee Mountain TOP mission trip, a mission trip to an Indian Reservation in Minnesota, and a mission trip to New Mexico. It was a lot of fun working with the youth. Barbara and I would stay on for a couple of years. Barbara was having problems with Alzheimer's, which meant I had to drive her to see the shut-ins.
After a couple of years, a new Pastor took over at Silver Street UMC. One of the first things he did was shut down the Youth Group and the pre-school, which Mary had helped to start. When I asked him why, he said that none of the kids in either group attended Sunday worship at Silver Street. Needless to say, this did not sit well with either Barbara or me. So again, we were looking for a church that we felt comfortable in.
We decided to try Wesley Chapel as we knew the pastor there. Tony Alstott had attended Jacobs Chapel when we attended there. It was a wise decision. We felt totally comfortable there. Tony delivered very good sermons. The years would roll by. Barbara would climb her “Stairway To Heaven” on May 10th of 2019. I am now 93 years old. I feel that my “Stairway To Heaven” will support me when my time comes to climb it.
It is my prayer that this story will encourage more Christians to strive to become more Christ-like with each passing day. Remember, God expects more from his faithful followers than just attending church on Sunday.
