GLEN HAVEN

    glen:  a narrow valley;
 haven:  a place of safety or refuge.

   Added together, glen haven, to me, is a place of rescue from the storms of life.
      "Enter ye in at the strait gate:  for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:  because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."  (Matthew 7: 14-15)
   Two points stand up in these two verses to me:
      "many there be which go in"  (and) "few there be that find it"
   To begin, let me tell you that I do not know where my life would be today had it not been for a place called Glen Haven Baptist Church.  For it was there in 1983 when I sat down and began my education in the knowledge of God.
   "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:  the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling...."  (Ephesians 6: 17: 18)
   To be honest, I was not looking for anything special to happen in my life in 1983.  All my family and I did was go for a visit, to see if this church would be any different than other churches we had visited, and I thought we would hear some singing, hear some preaching, shake a few hands, then go home. 
   What we discovered, however, was something different:  something that was actually better after the coffee and doughnuts.  And there we remained, for the next fourteen years, at Glen Haven.
      "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:  that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."  (1st Corinthians 2: 4-5)
   Glen Haven taught me the Bible, verse by verse and chapter by chapter, by some of the best Bible teachers under the sun; and I was blessed just to get a seat there and take notes.
   My life has not been perfect since 1983, for I have made more mistakes than I care to number.  But through it all I can tell you that God still loves me in spite of myself.
   Let me tell you, too, that I am not a minister, preacher, pastor, or priest.  I have never been to a seminary.  I have never been to a Bible college. But this blog I write would have never happened had it not been for a place called Glen Haven. 
   For the past five and half years, however, all I have wanted to do with my life is write about God, write about Christ, and write about the Bible.  Glen Haven gave me the tools I have needed, through faith and prayer, for all the stories I have written. 
   Therefore, I can tell you that Glen Haven still flows through me and out on the 7th Highway.  I cannot change that, nor would I want to. 
  What I have learned from this experience is to give gratitude where gratitude is deserved, and not to myself. 
   Most of all, I give my gratitude to the Lord, who loved me and gave His life for me.

Glen Haven Baptist Church, McDonough, Georgia USA