by Ginger Boyce
I was raised in a good home in Texas by loving, caring parents. We attended a Presbyterian church until I was 6 years old. There was a church split, and our family left. However my parents never found another church they wanted to visit. Dad worked for Texas International Airlines and had to work most Sundays. So…we just didn’t go to church anymore.
There was a Bible on the bookshelf in our livingroom, but I have no memory of anyone ever opening it. I was taught that God existed and that Jesus was his son. I knew why we celebrated Christmas & Easter (though we never went to church then, either). My mom would take my sister and I to a neighborhood VBS program where she helped teach. If a friend invited me to church or Young Life I was allowed to attend. In high school, I dated a Catholic boy. We went on a weekend retreat with the youth group, but I wasn’t allowed to take communion. This broke my heart, because I knew enough about Jesus to know that he didn’t die just for the Catholics. I loved God and knew he loved me. But I had no consistent discipleship.
Fast forward to my junior year at Texas A&M University…Let’s just say that by this time in my life, l’d had my fair share of college parties and dance clubs. I was “looking for love in all the wrong places.” I lived in a dorm, and my next door neighbor, Keri, was known as a “Holy Roller.” You know…one of those really sweet “religious” girls. Everyday, she’d write a different Bible verse on the white board attached to her door. (Remember those?) Sometimes…if no one else was in the hall… I would stop to read that Bible verse. Then I’d quickly walk away before anyone saw me!
One Sunday evening I was heading up the dorm stairs to my room. As I rounded the corner landing, there stood Keri chatting with 2 other girls. Oh no! I suppressed a groan and tried not to make eye contact. We exchanged friendly hellos, and for some reason I asked what they were doing. Keri said they’d just had Bible study in her room. She told me they met every Sunday night, and they’d love for me to join sometime. I internally rolled my eyes and thought, “No way.” But just to be nice, I said something to the effect of, “Uh sure…maybe…if you remind me.” I couldn’t get away from those “Holy Rollers” fast enough!
As I continued down the hall to my room, I was literally stopped in my tracks by a sudden, unseen force that rushed through my body, front to back. I can only describe it as a warm and electrical WHOOSH! (I now know this was the Holy Spirit.) I thought to myself, “I’m going to that thing!” The minute l got to my room, I found a Bible that had been given to me 2 years prior by a friend. I opened it for the first time and found a note she’d written suggesting Romans 8 as a starting point. I couldn’t put this book down, and I read until the wee hours of the night!
The following Sunday evening on March 9, 1986, I knocked on Keri’s door. I was a bit fearful, yet curious…not really sure what to expect. The girls welcomed me with open arms. Their kindness made me feel comfortable, not judged. I said, “Ok y’all…I don’t know anything about the Bible. The only story I remember is the one about Noah’s Ark!”
Their kindness made me feel comfortable and accepted instead of judged. They explained that no one can ever be “good enough” to go to Heaven…that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…that the payment for sin is death…and that Jesus died in my place to pay for my sin. They told me that if I was the only person on Earth, he still would have come to live and die… just for me. They told me that Jesus was alive & real, and that he wanted to have a relationship with me…now & forever in Heaven.
For the first time, I truly understood the simple truths of the gospel. We prayed together as I allowed the love of JESUS into my heart. I was lost, but JESUS, the lover of my soul, found me! My life was drastically changed that day when I believed.
And I will never forget when one of the girls jumped up after our prayer and hollered, “ALL THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN ARE HAVING A PARTY RIGHT NOW JUST FOR YOU!!!”
Ginger Boyce is wife to Chris, mom to 4 grown kids (& 3 grown kids-in-law), and Gigi to 1 grandbaby (& another on the way!) She is self-employed as a Mary Kay Independent Sales Director. You will often see her singing praises to the Lord with the Calvary Worship Team.