Happy Birthday Cousin Georgie!!

Several weeks ago, Jerry and I went to New York City to work a trade show. He asked me to join him for the three days and I thought this would be a wonderful little retreat for me to rest up before I start my new life with 5 children under the age of five years old. Well, it turned out to be such a wonderful blessing. My new friend and sista in Christ and adoption, Deanna offered her apartment in NYC to us as a gift. It was about a mile away from the show. Then my cousins Billy and Patty got us fabulous tickets for Les Mis. Thank you Billy, Patty and Debbie! We had a great time! We got to visit with our niece Jaclyn at our favorite restaurant "Carmines" and had some wonderful fellowship with her. Then we got an email from cousin Georgie while there inviting us to his birthday party at a club in NYC. We missed it because we were at Les Mis but we made arrangements to meet the next day. Here is where the GOD STORY begins!

We were greeted at the elevator by cousin Georgie holding out both arms saying "I just read your blog a couple of days ago and I can't believe you're here. I know I need God in my life, he has been really calling out to me and I think he sent you here to talk to me." He shared that he had said a little prayer to God after reading our blog, "I wish I could talk with my cousins about some things" and then 9 days later we were sitting in his office in NYC! We spent three hours with him talking and answering a lot of great questions he had. We were so encouraged and blessed by this visit with him as it united us together and began a new relationship. When it was time for us to leave, Georgie walked us out and we decided to pray with him. There we stood in the middle of the sidewalk on 5th Ave, in NYC, with hundreds of people walking around us, and we formed a circle and prayed for Georgie. We hugged, kissed and told him to keep in touch and that we are always available to answer any more questions for him.

Well, Georgie just showed up at our house this past week. He felt led by the LORD to come visit and ask more questions. He intended to stay one or two days and he stayed for four! We had a blast! We stayed up to the wee hours of the morning answering his many, many questions with the word of God. We read the scriptures that spoke directly to his questions. We ate lots of good food, took him a little sight-seeing and then he went deer hunting on opening day with Jerry and Jonathan. He just happened to have bought a bunch of hunting gear the week before and had it with him. So, he had a variety of activities that equaled a good time. He even got to take a nap and rest in the middle of the day. Our big comfy couch got him a few times.

Well, after much deep thought, intentional questioning, reading God's holy word and praying, Georgie decided to give his life to Jesus Christ on Sunday, October 14, 2007 at 12:30 a.m. HE IS BORN AGAIN! He told us he wanted to be baptized and asked Jerry to do him the honor. So we went to church where we were honored to share this testimony. Georgie shared his testimony with the saints that had just heard about him a few weeks earlier and we had asked them to pray for him. It was awesome to see the rest of the story and to see him live, before us professing to be born again! What a thrill and joy for our Trinity Baptist Church family! We then went to Falls Lake and celebrated this new creation in Christ Jesus. There is nothing more joyous or important than what we have experienced here. Another soul has been rescued from the pit of hell. Georgie, like me, has been adopted into the kingdom, into the family of Christ. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, adoption is the perfect picture of salvation. Jesus Christ died to save us from our sin, to give us new life in Him. To enter the kingdom of heaven for all eternity with a love that is indescribable. The same love, agape love, that we have come to know through our journey of adoption with our children.

As we drove away from the lake, Georgie joyfully shouted "Today is the first day of the rest of my "New" life!" He was overflowing with joy and excitement. There was a big sign at the exit of the park that read "Thank you for being SAFE today" and as we drove by Georgie yelled out, "Hey, did you see that sign? Did it just say "Thank you for being SAVED today??" to which I responded, "I'll bet it did Georgie, I bet God himself wrote that for your eyes to see! He is rejoicing along with all the angels of heaven right now!"

So, this story began when Georgie sent us an email inviting us to his 32nd birthday celebration at a club in NYC and it wound up that we celebrated his spiritual birthday with him here in NC just three weeks later. PRAISE BE TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST! What an honor, privilege and joy to have been blessed by this amazing adventure in Georgie's life. We thank you Georgie for allowing us to be a part of the best thing that will ever happen to you on this earth. May the LORD richly bless you now as you seek to love him with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. Like you said Georgie, we now have a new bond, not just cousins anymore, but now having been adopted into the family of Christ, we are brother and sister. We Love You! Happy Born Again Birthday!

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