Draw To God
By Gloria Fresquez Clouse

When I was fourteen or fifteen, I asked my mother to inscribe, on top of the birthday cake she was making for me, the words “Draw to God”. For a number of years, my heart had yearned to know God. However, religious traditions did not provide for me the reality of knowing a personal God.  

After graduating from high school, I told my mother that I needed to move to Denver, Colorado, “because there was something out there for me”. I found an office job in  Denver where a coworker invited me to see the movie “The Late Great Planet Earth”. Surprisingly, I accepted the invitation. After the movie, my coworker told me the  Bible story about Nicodemus and what Jesus said about being born again. I simply told her that I wasn’t ready. She wisely responded, “When you are ready, this is what you do : you ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins because HE  died for your sins and you ask HIM to come into your heart.”  

That evening, while lying on my bed, I was awakened by a touch on my shoulder. I opened my eyes. A wind came through the window and I heard an audible voice say to me, “The time is now.”  I  replied quickly with, “Jesus forgive me.” This prayer at that moment was the turning point in my life to commit my life to God, to know Him, to draw close to Him, to serve Him and to engage in an intimate, personal relationship with Him.