Minnie Goes to Heaven (132)

(a novel continued)

“Well praise the Lord,” John proclaimed. 
Minnie hugged the boys. “Welcome into the family of God. I guess we know what this means, eh John.”

Henry and George looked a little puzzled.

“Did you notice the for sale sign on the lawn.

“Missed that,” George said.

Minnie and John told them about the deal with the Lord, including the fleece.

“So, you are the ones to thank.” Henry said.

“You could say that,” John said, “But, we were only following the Lord’s leading.”

Just then Mary came home. “Hey, George, Henry, what’s up?”

“Notice anything different?” George said.

“You look kind of happy.” Mary ventured.

“We are,” Henry said.

“Okay, you won a lottery.”

“No, guess again.”

“You’ve decided to buy the house.”

“There’s an idea,” George said. “We’ll have to consider that one.”

“We’ll give you a good price,” John said.

“Too bad the realtor is already involved,” George said.

“Okay, I give up,” Mary said.

“We gave up too,” George said. “We belong to Jesus now.”

Minnie Goes to Heaven (131)

(a novel continued)

“We were listening to the radio one day and this preacher came on describing sin, and a life of sin. He said it wasn’t fair the way we blamed God for creating us with a desire to sin, when we were the ones that brought it on ourselves. 
“That preacher had my attention because I was going to shoot him down, but first I had to hear him out. The way he told it...he said the devil brought sin into the world. Mankind sinned and was filled with desire to sin. We all carry in us original sin which we inherited from Adam. We all have this innate propensity to want things that don’t belong to us, to lie, to steal, to cheat. We fight these desires because there are laws against such things and we don’t want to bear the punishment. He also mentioned that it used to be that the laws of the land lined up with God’s laws, but just because something isn’t against the law of the land doesn’t make it right. That was just an aside.

“He said that God writes a law on our heart. He also said that if we accept Jesus as our Saviour, we accept His payment for that sin that is in each one of us. That doesn’t mean the desire goes away, but He paid the price for that sin. He took the punishment. And, He helps us fight against wrong desires if we accept Him.

“Now this is the crazy part. Henry and I looked at each other and decided we could put this thing to the test. We had nothing to lose. To be honest the sex part of our relationship was getting a little old. So, we actually got down on our knees and confessed that we had given into our sinful desires. We asked Him to forgive us. Then we asked Jesus to come into our hearts and take over, to be the Lord of our lives. All those Sunday School lessons weren’t wasted you know. We asked him to help us fight against our wrong desires.”

“I can’t begin to describe the peace, the joy, the freedom....” Henry said.

“It was like a thousand pounds lifted off me,” George said.

“I felt, I still feel so clean,” Henry said.

“The neat thing is we are still buddies.” George said, “and that sexual attraction I used to feel is absolutely gone. It’s a miracle. I know it is.”

Minnie Goes to Heaven (130)

(a novel continued)

‘Now what?’ prayed Minnie one snowy morning. She felt that the Lord required something more. John felt it too. ‘Wait on me.’ Minnie heard in her spirit.  The Lord impressed on them that they should fast. 

John and Minnie only drank water for the next two days. The third day they cut out the water as well. Then they heard the Lord, ‘The task I require requires sacrifice.’

‘Lord, tell us and give us the ability.’ John prayed.

‘I want you to sell all you have and give it to the poor. I want you to go out into all the world and preach the gospel. I will meet all your needs. Simply go where I direct and do as I say. You will see even greater miracles than you have seen here in Haven.’

‘Can we think about this?’ John asked. ‘Can we perhaps put out a fleece?’

‘Ask anything and I will perform it.’

‘Well,’ Minnie said, 'That’s easy. I ask that George and Henry give their lives to you.’

‘Yes,’ John agreed, ‘we ask that George and Henry turn over their lives to you completely.’

'"Consider it done.'

The next day John called the realtor and listed the house as well as the nursery.

The day after that George and Henry came to visit. They were beaming. “Mom, Dad, we have something to tell you,” George said.

“We have never been so happy,” Henry added.

“We’ve given our lives to Jesus,” George said.

“How does that change things for you?” John asked.

“It’s very amazing,” George said.

“I knew that if I gave my life to Jesus, He would want me to live a holy life. That’s why I put Him off for so many years. I like my life the way it was. Besides I really didn’t think it was fair the way God created me. I always figured if He created me with an attraction to men instead of women, it wasn’t fair that He called that sin."