U-Turn Grace

“No matter how long you have travelled in the wrong direction, you can always turn around.” 

Opening Prayer:  

God of the Road and the Revelation, just as Saul’s feet thundered toward Damascus, intent on destruction, You interrupted the path with Your light. You spoke—not with condemnation but with calling. Today, we ask You to interrupt us. Where our steps have strayed, reroute us. Where our hearts have hardened, soften them. May this time of devotion be our Damascus moment— a sacred U-turn back to Your purpose, back to Your heart, back to the road we were always meant to travel. Speak, Lord—we are ready to hear, and brave enough to follow. Amen. 

Breaking the Ice:   

Have you ever found yourself in the wrong direction but you’re not sure how to turn around? 

Reflection  

This is the story of my conversion, of coming to faith in Jesus Christ.  

I grew up knowing about Jesus and going to church with my family. I was baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal Church by Father Shirk, who was the rector of St. Dunstan’s on Kirby Road in McLean. Many of my friends went to church too. But very few of us actually had faith in Jesus. We participated in the life of the church because it was the “right” thing to do.  

When my parents’ marriage fell apart, the church and our community didn’t handle it very well. I became very disillusioned with organized religion and stopped going to church.    

Which is why Young Life appealed to me a bit – I figured, at least there are cute boys who seemed to love Jesus and were relatively kind. One summer I went to Camp Saranac and there, I heard the gospel presented clearly. But it didn’t stick – in large measure because of what was happening with my parents and because, you know, teenage drama. Nothing undermines the gospel like teenage girls who gossip and carry on as they are prone to do.  

So, I walked away from God and the church and the whole 9 yards. Until I took a Road Trip with my friend, Laura, who grew up being a United Methodist. She loved Jesus and she loved me. 35 years we’re still close friends.  

One of our pit stops was New Orleans – the house of the rising sun! Well, actually a Youth Hostel on Tchoupitoulas Street. Definitely a stop worth making for the Café Du Monde and the Beignets. Somehow, she convinced me to go with her to have her Tarot Cards read. I stayed on the front porch because, honestly, Tarot Cards and Palm Reading and all the Voodoo kind of scared me.  When she was done, the owner of the shop, came out and asked me again, “Honey, are you sure you don’t want me to read your cards?” Laura chided me by saying, “You only live once. When are we going to be back here? Just do it already and stop being such a scaredy cat.”  

So, begrudgingly, I went into the session on condition that I would not speak. I sat across from her steely faced and with my arms crossed. When the tarot card reader was done, she asked me, “Do you have any questions, honey?” And out of the blue, I responded, “When am I going to find my faith?” And then I started to sob rather loudly.  

Gratefully, the woman put her cards away, blew out her candle, and then took my hands in hers. She then began to pray with me, asking that the Lord would lead me and that the Holy Spirit would come into my heart and help me know Jesus. It was one of the strangest experiences of my life.  

I have often thought that if I had returned the next day that I wouldn’t have found the shop because that woman was actually an angel sent by God to help me find my way back to a personal relationship with Jesus. As if God knew that I wouldn’t find God in a church because I didn’t trust the people who were in the church!

When I left that encounter, I couldn’t speak. And I didn’t speak for at least a few days until I processed what had just happened.  I thought my life had been heading in one direction and then, it took a complete U-Turn and now, I was heading in a totally new direction.  

My U-Turn in New Orleans wasn’t the last time I needed help from Jesus either because I was going in the wrong direction. Far from it. But that encounter – when Jesus spoke directly to me through that woman, that angel, who met a hurting young adult – changed my life forever. I am here because of the seeds of faith that were planted, and I have been on the road ever since. That was the summer of 1991 – 34 years ago this past weekend.   

May you know Jesus personally, too, and this amazing journey with him.  

Wrestling with the Word:  

Read Acts 9:1-19 (CEB) 

Next Steps:  

Prayer for The Week:  

While not everyone will serve Jesus in the same way, we are all called to share our faith with others as Ananias did with Paul. Who is God calling you to go to this week? 

Jesus, we have heard your challenge to go and share the promise of your love. Forgive us for the times when we have not been obedient; when we have not paid attention to, seen, or helped those in our midst. Fill our steps with your love and peace, that your love might reach all those whom we encounter.  Amen.