My Life’s Journey of Faith – Part 2

Though I remained active at 1st Baptist Galena Park, I don’t think I grew much as a Christian during my teen years. I was what I now recognize as socially challenged. I would rather be alone out in the woods or on a creek than with a group. I was extremely self-conscious. In a group, I couldn’t think of what to say in a timely way and just didn’t say much. I was OK with one or maybe two but make it more than that and I clammed up. The only groups I would enjoy enough to overcome this were sports teams and the youth choir. When puberty kicked in, all I could think about it seems was girls. Sports, choir, and favorite school subjects could distract me from thinking about girls and sex. Mind you I was not sexually active – my hormones just made me want to be all the time. With this combination of hang-ups, not much energy was spent on spiritual thoughts. I still had the assurance of my salvation but didn’t feel very spiritual. One thing I didn’t succumb to during these years (or ever since) was the use of all those four-letter dirty words and cursing, nor did I ever get into smoking, chewing, or sniffing tobacco products, and back then I never even saw any illegal drugs used or offered by anyone. Finally, sometime during the ninth grade, I started to gain a little more self-confidence and self-esteem – from some teachers who praised some of my school work (I had become pretty good at academics) and from two friends I got close to that year – one who later became my wife. I ended that year with a lot more self-confidence including the spiritual. Though the whole sex thing still loomed large, I can remember reaffirming my self-commitment to save sex for marriage as the Bible teaches.

Junior High and High School Years-Finding Peace with God

However, through high school, my spiritual growth was still hampered by my shyness. I could sing solos and duet specials at church, but the thought of giving a devotional or witnessing to someone terrified me. I was one of the smartest kids in school (I finished 13th out of 365 in my class) and was active in football, basketball, and baseball, yet I was in total fear in front of a group and couldn’t lead even a small project team. I did have notoriety and respect from classmates for my academic abilities and varsity football and was also respected for my Christian values (some of my baseball buddies gave me the handle “deacon”). I mostly held my ground in matters of faith and even committed my life to “special service” for Christ during a service at 1st GP. I don’t recall discussing any challenging biblical or Christian issues during those years. I was in the Christian Student Union, and it and Baptist churches made an issue of dancing – both the weekly dances at the Rec Hall as well as dancing at the senior prom. We had a CSU banquet instead of going to the senior prom. I remember thinking that some of the dancing would have been OK and fun (it was the body-to-body slow dancing that spiritual leaders objected to so they didn’t condone dances period). In any case, it didn’t matter much to me because I had begun going steady with Radene Fowler, who because of polio was not able to dance.

Perhaps the most spiritual experience I had in high school had to do with Radene. We had shared our first class in the ninth-grade homeroom and by the end of the year, I had fallen for her. Because I surprised her and asked her to the freshman banquet six weeks in advance she kindly agreed to go with me. But she didn’t take much of a liking to me until the beginning of our junior year, and we began going steady. Radene was not only one of the most popular girls in school, but she was one of the strongest Christians – voted Most Outstanding Christian Girl our senior year. We had been going steady for a year and she had not allowed me to kiss her. I am a romantic and was truly in love with her and knew I wanted to marry her someday. She was ideal – a strong Christian, friendly and likable, smart and drop-dead good-looking. My heart truly ached for her, and one day in what was even until now the most earnest prayer of my life, teary-eyed I asked God to allow her to love me with my commitment to Him that I would love her and take care of her the rest of my life. I felt God’s presence more in that prayer than in any other since then. I believe God answered that prayer and turned her heart toward me, for shortly afterward she allowed me to kiss her goodnight and began showing affection. Sometime during our senior year, we mutually concluded that we wanted to get married when the time was right. For more information please follow How to Find Peace with God.

Dennis Christian