I grew up in the Baptist faith. We were at church three to four days per week because of choir, Bible study, prayer meeting, church and children’s sunshine band.
I enjoyed church, and I loved the Lord. I did my best to live as I thought a Christian should. My parents instilled values, from the Bible, for which I am grateful.
Though I went to church, and my mother studied her Word daily, I never felt close to God. I felt He didn't really have time to listen to me. Perhaps it was the frivolous requests I had, or the fact that I really did not understand God. I never spent time in my Word; I just got my Bible answers from my mother or my pastor.
Looking For God
I went through life with a longing for God. I desired to be close to Him, but I didn't know how to do that. Reading my Bible would have helped, but it never really occurred to me. I also was afraid of everything. Were my dead loved ones watching me? Were ghosts real? These unanswered questions made me nervous and fearful, so I slept with a light on, from early childhood until I got married.
At university, I took a philosophy class, which made me question God. The professor made us question many things, for a grade. "If God is real, then why is there such suffering and war in the world?" he would ask. He would elaborate upon this, and it seemed to go on the whole semester. One girl in my class reported him to the school, stating that he was trying to make her question her religion.
This method of questioning God worked on me, for a while. I quit going to church for several months. Then my cousin began to reason with me. "If God is not real, and you serve Him, you haven't done any harm. If God is real and you don't serve Him, you have lost everything," she argued. I agreed with her, and returned to church and serving the Lord, though I always felt a longing for something more. I wanted a real relationship with God.
My husband and I heard of good jobs in Kansas, so we left Arkansas and settled in Overland Park, Kansas with our three young children. There I worked at a call center which periodically held meetings on Saturdays. It was required, or we would be fired. There was one man who never showed up to these Saturday meetings, but he was never fired. This same man had taught several of us about the nonalcoholic wine in the Bible. I looked it up, and sure enough it was true! I never found out, but I am pretty sure he was a Seventh-day Adventist.
The Adventist church was right down the street from me in Kansas. I was looking for a church, and I had always planned to go, later. “Later” never came, and soon we made plans to move back home.
As I was ready to move back to Arkansas, a miracle happened. I had my letter of resignation in my hand, ready to give to my boss at the end of the day. A miracle happened. I was called in to Human Resources, and laid off. If I had given the letter to my boss, I would not have gotten unemployment and severance pay. I tried not to smile as they escorted me out of the building. God surely took care of me! We quickly moved back to Arkansas. In the meantime, I prayed to God for truth.
Revelation Seminar
One day in 2009, the month after we got back to Arkansas, I took my children to the park. A young couple, Chad and Fadia Kreuzer, came up to me with a flyer. They stated they were having “prophecy meetings” and invited me. I thanked them and thought they seemed nice. I was certainly interested in prophecy. Then I forgot about the meetings and missed the first few days.
When I finally began attending these meetings, I learned many things I had never heard before. I learned about the Sabbath, and the state of the dead, and the Beast. God was answering my prayer.
I was thankful to know these things, and to share them with my family. My parents weren't open. My father is a deacon in the Baptist church. “Jesus is my Sabbath,” he argued. That made no sense to me, and he had no Bible reference for it.
My stepmother stated, "You don't know which day is which, because it changed in history and is lost.” They argued against the Sabbath, and still do, but they respect my choice, though they would rather I go to church with them and not be so “strange”.
A Pleasant Surprise—No Meat At Potlucks
After the prophecy meetings ended, I attended the Adventist church and stayed for potluck. I was looking around the table for the meat so I could avoid it, as I have been a vegetarian since I was nineteen. "I don't see any meat," I told the pastor while we went through the line. He told me that it was all vegetarian. I felt very much at home.
Before going to Kansas, I had responded to a newspaper ad and attended a Vegetarian Exchange potluck in this same fellowship hall. But I had failed to realize the Vegetarian Exchange hosts were the same Seventh-day Adventist church members who welcomed me to the prophecy meetings. Now the details were coming together.
The knowledge I received from this little church is just what I asked God to send me, the truth. I used to feel God didn't hear me. But now I know He does. He answers prayers; He always takes care of His people.
I’m Home
Even with all of this, I didn't join the church for three years. I attended Sabbath School, church and prayer meeting faithfully. I studied and learned and enjoyed church. But I was afraid of being deceived; after all, everything I grew up with was deception, so I wanted to be sure.
My son wanted to get baptized in 2012, and the pastor asked me if I wanted to join at the same time. I felt nervous but I accepted. I am very happy with my choice. Satan has thrown a lot at me, and God has kept me. The Lord has done much work on me, and I am thankful. He is always there, and now, more than ever, I appreciate the sacrifice Jesus has made for us.
Samantha Morgan attends the Clinton, Arkansas Seventh-day Adventist Church. She has three children. She works as a dental assistant, and loves to work in her garden. For fun she teaches and plays music.