There are so many steps on a journey. Even the ones that look insignificant became over time, significant milestones, don’t they? We can see these moments in our lives that, at the time, seemed small and inconsequential. But over time, they turned into the life-changing moments that altered the trajectory of our lives. They become those moments that we look back on and think “From this point on, things were – I was – different.” Whether it was deciding to go to a certain university or not. Go on that first date or not. Have sex that night without a condom “just this once”. React in anger rather than in love. Turn left instead of right. Say yes instead of no. Say no instead of yes. Take that job. Buy that house. Go on that trip. A thousand small decisions in your life, the free will wonder of humanity. Sometimes it’s interesting to trace these seemingly inconsequential moments of truth in our lives back.
I am going to wax rather sentimental for a moment about something rather ridiculous to most: an old Christian children’s record: Bullfrogs and Butterflies.
I found this old favourite record on eBay, repackaged as “God is My Friend”. But it’s still the same record. Pardon me. CD. Whatever.I bought it for Anne for Christmas but when it arrived yesterday, I couldn’t wait anymore. So I ripped it open and put it in the stereo. (Heavens. I’ve just dated myself again, haven’t I? Stereo. Who says that anymore? I guess I could really date myself to the 80s and say “ghetto blaster”.) I put the CD on and when the first strains of “Welcome to Agapeland, welcome to Agapeland, welcome to Agapeland…the wonderland of loooooove” floated out, I sat down in the middle of the floor and burst into tears.
I don’t think it’s possible to overstate the impact of this seemingly simple little record for our family. You see, this was one of the first steps of our journey towards deciding to become Christ-followers. We had a little 14-year-old babysitter. She came from a Mennonite background (she’s now forty and has three kids of her own!) along with her three sisters (all of whom babysat us at one time or another) while her mum babysat my sister and I while my Mum worked part-time. Leila went away to church camp and when she came back home, she felt like she wanted to tell people about how Jesus had changed her life. So rather than be confronting or combative, she bought us this record for Christmas.
We loved it. My sister and I were barely in school yet. It had songs and stories. It was happy and whimsical. And it talked about Jesus. We listened to it and listened to it until Jesus became very real to us. Over the years, we never tired of it. Dancing to it, reading the stories, looking at the pictures in the record album pages (remember those?). But what we didn’t know was that my Mum was listening as well.
My mother was raised in a difficult situation.She did not have a church background. But when she heard this record, something in her broke. She would listen to the record by herself when we were at school.
It gave her such hope and joy. Jesus became real to her. She learned the goodness of the Gospel in its purest form. She sat with the record player, tears streaming down her face, as for the first time she really learned that God was true, unabashed love.
It was the first step of a journey for our family. There were a lot of other moments of truth as we decided to follow Christ in our lives. But this was a big step. From there, my mum wanted us in church. From there, she met people that really understood what it meant to be a Christian as opposed to just going to church.
Sometimes she went a little overboard in our zealousness but she was so happy. My dad heard from one of those Christians that God can heal. So one night, he sat in the house and said something along the lines of “I heard you can heal, God. I’m not sure about that. But if you can, prove it to me and heal me of these ulcers and this crippling fear that has gripped my life.” And you know what? He did. God supernaturally healed my dad. He never “walked an aisle” or “repeated a prayer”. He just had an encounter with God. Later in my life, at 16, I had a similar encounter that made me believe in my heart of hearts that this was worth making the centre of my life. Same thing with my sister.
It all started with this little record – low-budget, 70s-style tunes, cheesiness to the power of 10. Songs about love and practice making perfect and waking up happy and Noah’s Ark and “bullfrogs and butterflies that both been born again”. And so beautiful and true.
So when I put on this record, I couldn’t stop crying. It was the start of my true life. I came into myself through the Gospel. I found my purpose and my joy in this relationship. I wonder if Leila could have imagined when she was just 14, how much that little gift would change our lives?
I know that not everyone chooses to follow Christ and they have a lot of reasons for that decision. But I have a lot of reasons for my decision to be “one of those religious crazies”. 
I sang all the songs out loud (amazed that I could still remember all the words!).
Anne kept touching my face, wiping away my tears.
