3. Give My Heart Away

There was only one radio in our country home. It was in the living room. When my father came in from the fields, he would wash up, eat lunch, and then go in to sit in the big rocker. He would each over and turn on the radio and listen to it for a few minutes while he rested. Sometimes I would pull up my little rocker next to his and sit beside him. Other times I would ask to crawl up onto his lap. It always seemed to be that he liked to have me around. I was quite little then. I enjoyed the music but I didn’t care much for the weather or the farm report. That was my father’s main interest however and he left for the field as soon it was over and turned off the radio.

There was a program with homemaking hints and recipes and mother listened to that while she worked in the kitchen. On Sundays, we always listened to Reverend Charles E. Fuller. I especially enjoyed hearing the quartet and the piano player was absolutely wonderful. Mrs. Fuller always read letters from people who wrote in. There were always several letters from military men who wrote in to say the program encouraged them and reminded them of home. I didn’t care too much about most preachers, but like to listen to Brother Fuller, he seemed to say things like my Sunday school teacher did. So, I could understand what he was talking about. This program came on every Sunday afternoon and immediately when it went off, we left for church in town.

Sometimes we all sat down beside the radio to listen, but we had had company that afternoon and our schedule was different than usual. I had played outside with some other children and needed to clean up a bit and change clothes. Mother helped me get ready. And there was a ribbon in my hair that matched my dress. It was a winter day and the bedrooms were never heated. Only the living room and kitchen. So, I was pleased that my mother put my little chair near the wood stove and turned the radio on for me to listen. Mother usually got me ready. Then she went to get ready herself. I knew to be careful to stay clean, but several times I’d gotten tired of waiting and started playing and got my dress dirty. Mother did not want to have to clean me up twice. So, she gave me strict instructions. Sit there. Don’t get out of that chair. I don’t want to have to clean you up again or I will spank you. I really enjoyed the music and even the letters were interesting. Brother Fuller started preaching about giving your heart away.

My parents had taken me to church all of my life and my Sunday school teacher had told me many stories. My mother told me Bible stories too. So, I knew about Jesus in heaven. As Brother Fuller spoke, he said he would fill our life with good things or bad things or combination of the two. He said we would be much happier if we filled our life with good things, but no matter how good we were, we could not go to heaven unless we gave our hearts away to Jesus. He said it was easy. All you had to do was talk to Jesus and tell him you were sorry for all the bad things you had done. And you wanted to give your heart to him. Brother Fuller said, if you wanted to do that to kneel down and talk to Jesus right now. Well, I wanted to do that but mother had said not to move. The Holy Spirit had I already touched my life and I knew I just had knee down and give my heart to Jesus no matter what I faced later on. I stood up, took my chair and put it behind the stove and got down on my knees and began to tell Jesus all the bad things I had ever done. I asked him to forgive me and asked him to come in and live in my heart for, I sure wanted to go to heaven. Brother Fuller said, if we asked Jesus to forgive us, we were to tell someone that we had given our heart away to Jesus.

By now, tears were streaming down my face. I got up and was in the process of moving my chair back to the place where mother had placed it. When she walked into the living room, she saw my tears and asked what had happened. I said, I just gave my heart away to Jesus. Are you going to spank me because I moved? I was thrilled at her reaction. She swooped me up in her arms and wiped the tears from my face and hugged me hard. Soon we were on our way to church. My father was not sure I was old enough to really understand what I was doing. So, he began to question me, by the time we reached the church, he felt sure I understood and said when they made the alter call, I should go up and tell the pastor about it. I went up all by myself and told the pastor that I had given my heart away to Jesus. Many years have passed since then. And I can’t figure out why I got behind the stove to pray but I’m sure I made a very wise decision. I know I will go to heaven because at the age of four, I chose to give my heart away to Jesus.