My Introduction to the Lord

I lived with my Grandpa and Grandma Baker off and on throughout my childhood. They were the ones who taught me the most about Jesus, and our Heavenly Father. While staying there my Great Grandpa Shuff taught me the song "I'll Fly Away." Someone, probably Grandma Baker taught me to say 'The Lord's Prayer'. I can remember saying it when I was about three years old, alone at night in my bed. I can't remember when I didn't know it. My daddy, although he is not saved, taught me never to call him father, because I only have one, and that is my Heavenly Father. As far back as I can remember, Grandpa and Grandma took me to the little McClarity Baptist Church, down on the McClarity Fork of Four Mile, in Lincoln County, West Virginia. I can remember sitting, or lying, on the hard wooden pews. There was an old coal stove in the center of the room, for heat in the winter. We used hand-held paper fans during the summer. Almost all of the men sat on the right side of the church. They all hung their hats on nails in the walls for that reason. The women and young children sat on the left. There was no running water. Aunt Alma Sanders carried a bucket of fresh water from the well at her house all the way down to the church house. It had a dipper in it to drink from. (Grandpa and Grandma brought our own, in a bleach jug, with empty tin cans for each of us to have our own.) Out back, on the left side of the church yard, stood an outhouse for the women. On the right was one for the men. Our church only had one room. On Sunday mornings we all went to our assigned pews for Sunday school, so we could have our own little groups. There were a couple of adult classes that sat in their own assigned pews. They all had Sunday School books. All of the children, irregardless of age, sat together. Our teacher was Aunt Alma Saunders. She gave us each a little card, with a lesson on one side, and a picture on the other side. We loved our cards. There was a chart on the wall with our names, and we each got a shiny gold star by our name every time we attended. I think Uncle Ligie Adkins may have been the one to start the church service. Some of the details are a little fuzzy. I know he kept the church books and usually led the songs. Now Aunt Alma and Uncle Ligie were not even related to me, but we were taught to call our elders, Aunt and Uncle, as a term of respect. Our church had song books, but most of the members did not believe in musical instruments in the church, not even an organ. We didn't have a choir. Anyone could go up from and sing on the podium, or take song books back and sing in the pews. Uncle Ligie often chose the songs, but anyone could request a song, or they could volunteer to sing one of their own. Not all of the singing was good, but all of it was always full of the spirit. Our preachers started out quietly, reading a few verses that held the message they wanted us to hear. Before they were through, they were usually so caught up in the spirit, that they were shouting. It would have been hard to sleep during their sermons. They preached 'hell fire and brimstone', but it came straight out of the Bible. They would never have even have thought of suggesting that God was different than what the Bible taught. It would never have occurred to them to question whether the stories in the Bible were true. They told it like it is. The churches were always full of 'Amens' and 'hallelujahs'. Now and then, someone would start rejoicing. That didn't disrupt service, it just added to the spirit. I'm blessed to have had such a wonderful introduction to the Lord.