The Story – Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time, long, long, ago, there was a little boy who lived in a small shingle sided house next to the railroad tracks in the rodeo town of Palestine Illinois.  His dad got a job in the big metropolis of Terre Haute Indiana, population 55,000. It was about an hour away from the only world he had known up to that point.  And following is the story, once upon a time.

His dad took a job as the “Pillsbury dough boy” for the new (at the time) Pillsbury factory.  As with any move for a five year old, the transition was difficult.  As his young years passed by he was becoming more of the man of the home. 

Learning Responsibility at a Young Age

With his dad’s night hours at work and sleeping during the day, the young boy began taking on more responsibility.  Along with the late hours his dad worked, it seemed his dad was a ‘functional’ alcoholic.  Taking on a high level of responsibility and “walking on eggshells” became a normal way of life for this growing young kid.  With the alcoholism came high levels of stress for the whole family. 

Children of Alcoholics – Once Upon a Time

To keep the peace, the young boy worked on being a “hero” of sorts, sometimes the clown. His older sister was the quiet one as to not make trouble. And the little sister trying to make her way, she was the rebel. All roles that children of alcoholics play. 

Though not the sharpest tool in the shed, nor the best athlete, and certainly a lot to learn, the boy pushed himself to make the best of it. So, he pushed himself in sports to draw attention away from the dysfunction.  And most of the time he somehow ended up on the winning teams and made a few of the all-star teams. But there was always an emptiness to it all.

As he got into his teen years, due to a lack of guidance, teen-age parties became commonplace.  He began following bands such as Alice Cooper and Kiss as well as the normal mainstream rock bands and he would emulate his favorite rock stars, such as Alice Cooper and Ace Frehley (the guitarist of Kiss). 

He was definitely on the wrong path of life, living life for the moment, not thinking about anything beyond right here and now…and himself.  He was trying to fit in in all the wrong ways.  Just like with everyone, he was well-aware that he was making bad choices, but at the time they felt good and made the pain disappear for a bit. 

People Just Want to be Wanted – To be Noticed

Because he was getting noticed and was being accepted he saw no reason to stop.  He was seeking love and acceptance. Or maybe a better way to put it was he wanted to fit in, to know he belonged.  He found it hard to say “no” in his life due to the need and desire to be accepted. 

The ‘YES’ Came at the Right Time

Fortunately, a “yes” worked in his favor. Some friends invited him to a Campus Life meeting.  And though he knew they talked about God at Campus Life, he wanted to be accepted. So he could not say no to the invitation – he went to the meeting. After going he had fun, met some cute girls and the short talk about God wasn’t so bad.  So he decided to go back the next week, then the next, and then the next week. 

A Life-Changing Spring Break, The Story

That continued all through his senior year, which led up to the big Campus Life Spring Break trip to Florida.  It was a dream for him to be able to go.  He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to see the ocean for the first time, to go to the beach, and be with friends, not to mention the cute girls he was anticipating meeting. 

Selling Candy to Raise Money for the Trip Fell Short

He worked on selling candy to raise enough money to go on the trip but fell well short. Thinking there was no way he was going to make the trip, he received a call from the Campus Life director, who’s name was B-Wat. That’s what all the kids called him, which was short for Bruce Watkins.  B-Wat excitedly told him that somebody had donated enough money to cover all the costs for him to go on the Florida trip!  He was shocked, excited and amazed all at the same time – the trip was going to happen after all! And why would someone give money for him of all people, to go to Florida and have fun? 

Little did he know that before the time he got involved with Campus Life, a group of his high school friends had been praying for him.  And little did he know that there were adults behind the scenes that actually gave money to groups like this to create opportunities for teenagers to accept Christ.  This was not even on his radar.  So off to Florida he went with over one hundred teens on the Spring Break Florida trip of his life! 

Trip of a Lifetime – an Eternal Lifetime

The trip did not disappoint!  From the camp, to the cabins, the fun games, hanging on the beach, the sun and girls and the food, and of course a full day in Disney World! It was more than he expected.  Even the big evening meetings were fun, full of excitement, high energy music and activities, and he didn’t even mind the parts where they talked about God. 

Then God Showed Up Once Upon a Time

Then on Wednesday night of that trip in the group meeting one of the Campus Life staff got up in front of the group and clearly presented the gospel.  After the gospel was presented, everyone was given a challenge of a half hour of silence; the challenge was to go out in the camp alone to talk to God and ask Him to reveal himself. 

A Forever Changed Life

So approximately 9:30 that night out near the little lake in the camp, the light bulb finally came on! I, Scott Ramsey, asked Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Savior. So that night when they rang the bell, we were all to gather again back in the big meeting room.  To my surprise, there were many others that night who also surrendered their lives to Christ as well.  There was a big celebration!  It was at that time, that one of my friends who was on the trip with me, Jeff Lough, revealed to me that he had been praying all year long for this very moment.

Challenge of the Day: Pray the life-changing prayer: Jesus I believe you are God, that you died for my sins, and then rose from the dead. I believe you did this for me. Forgive me for falling short. I ask you into my life by being my Lord and my Savior. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer for the first time, email me at scott@youreverydaylife.org. I would love to know and would love to share some next steps with you.

FYI – my dad became a believer and I held his hand as he died and then woke up in the presence of Jesus. Though my two sisters and I struggled in various ways as children, I have two great sisters.