Chapter 7

    On Memorial Day weekend in 1993 Linda attended a youth retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho, coming back enthusiastic and excited. She told me of a preacher, who had been ministering up there, that had really touched her, deep inside her soul, and she wanted to share it with me. That was the last thing I wanted to hear!  I didn’t even want to think of religion or religious issues. To consider what I was doing with my life, in the light of what the Bible says, was to stand convicted . . . and yet . . . ?

    When she had returned, that Sunday evening, she mentioned that there was going to be a breakfast the following morning with some of the people who had attended the camp. (So!) Anyway,  the next morning as she was getting ready she again mentioned it and asked if I wanted to go. I said, "Yes"

    I can’t tell you why I said that. It was as much of a shock to me as it was to her. As I said previously, I had started feeling strongly convicted that my behavior had been wrong.  I really didn’t want to be reminded just how wrong I was, but something inside of me drew me to that breakfast.

    Anyway, I got ready and off we went to the breakfast. (Linda was thrilled, but I didn’t find this out until years later). Because of the time it took me to get ready we were a little late. There were about 20 people seated at this long table in a secluded area of the restaurant. Linda sat with a bunch of the ladies and I found a seat across from this man whom I didn’t recognize.

    We introduced ourselves and he said, "Hi, my name is Ron Peterson."

    We started chatting, as strangers do, about the weather and the beauty of the Idaho and Sun Valley areas and I noticed that he was watching me rather closely.

    Out of the clear blue he says, "I believe that God has something important for you to do!"

    If he had reached across the table and hit me in the mouth I could not have been more shocked!  I’m sure that I kind of sat back in my chair with a stunned look on my face. This guy obviously had no idea who he was talking to,  or what kind of person I was. Anyway,  we continued to talk and something almost as remarkable happened. I invited he and his wife to come to our house that evening and hold a small home meeting for those people who were at the breakfast. When Linda found out she was flabbergasted!  Not because she wasn’t ready for a bunch of company, but because I had actually invited people for a church service in our home. Come to find out, this Ron Peterson I had been talking to was the preacher she had been trying to talk to me about. Something supernatural was happening here

Other Voices - Ron Peterson     

    After attending the meetings in Idaho, Brother Jim Swanson had invited us to come through Twin Falls and spend the night with them, then head out the next morning.  It seemed like a good thing to do as we were quite tired after such tremendous meetings at the camp.   It seemed like it was what the Lord wanted us to do because I was feeling led to go there for some reason. So we went.

    Upon checking into a hotel in Twin Falls, we called Brother Jim and we made arrangements for a breakfast the next morning at a local restaurant.  It was there we met Brother John Low for the first time, as he had not attended the camp meetings. Brother Jim thought I would enjoy meeting him and perhaps we could be an encouragement to him.  When we were seated in the restaurant, as fate would have it, Brother John was seated directly across from me at the breakfast table.  His large infectious smile upon his bearded face was warmly welcoming as we shook hands after having been introduced.  It was as though I had known him for sometime, yet we had just met for the first time.  We had met Sister Linda at the camp meetings and it was the same way with her when we met.   Things like this always seem to happen when elect seed meet each other, almost like what the world calls déjà vu.

    After our small talk of introducing ourselves and exchanging your mutual,  getting to know one another sort of details, I was deeply led of the Lord to let Brother John know that God has something special in store for him and, perhaps, there is something the Lord wants him to do.  I just spoke it and I could see that it profoundly affected Brother John by the looks of his countenance.  Our fellowship was so intense that Brother Jim felt, perhaps, there was more fellowship to be had together.  He suggested that we have an impromptu house meeting that night where I could minister to the saints.   Immediately Brother John had offered his home and the time was set [5:00pm].

    After what seemed like an hour of driving into the country on dirt roads we finally arrived at a large two-story ranch home in the country.  We were welcomed at the door and that night we had one of the most special house meetings I have ever had the privilege in attending.  There were only a handful of believers there, but the meeting was electrified by faith in pulling on the gift inside of me.  Such singing and rejoicing for such a small group was so refreshing to my soul.  I can remember telling them that we had better end the meeting as we had a long day of travel tomorrow, it was now almost 1:00am, and we were still singing.

    Even after the singing I was being led that God also wanted to encourage the Low children.   We got to meet them and I distinctly remember feeling burdened for Ben and Brian.   My attention was more directed to Ben, sensing he needed more attention at the moment and was resisting it the most.  If I remember it correctly, we prayed for Brother John and his family and then drove back to the motel.  What a night to remember!

   Now my oldest boy, Ben, had been having a pretty tough time for about the previous 9-12 months. He had tried to pre-enlist in the Army but had failed his drug screen because of marijuana. We had had a pretty serious meltdown over that issue and he really started to turn his life around. He got rid of his old friends, he graduated from high school (which had been questionable), developed some outside interests and was making a serious effort to get his life back on track - but nothing religious. Brian, my second son, on the other hand, was doing well in high school was excelling in sports and was showing some real promise by dedicating his life to Christ. He was kind of taking my place as being a religious support for his mother and sister. Aaron was struggling in junior high and seemed to have fallen into the wrong crowd. I didn’t find out till later (remember I was in Nevada most of the time) that he had been messing around in gang activity. Carin and Linda were drawing very close because of the religious stand they were making. Ben, Aaron and I were all struggling and causing conflict in the home while Brian, Carin and Linda were trusting, believing and praying for us. Their prayers were about to be answered.

    The service in our home started about 5:00PM. We started off by singing and then Ron Peterson started preaching. Honestly, I can’t remember what he said but I do remember it had a profound effect on me. I remember that everything he said I could agree with and his ministry was like a breath of fresh air in my life. I was sitting by the front door (in case someone else came or the phone rang) and Ben came home. He could see what was going on so he went down to his room. Sometime later he came up and sat beside me in the front hall and after a period of time I glanced over at him.  He was crying!  Now you’ve got to understand, Ben didn’t cry. Something had been said that touched him as deeply as it had touched me. Something indeed was going on here!

    After Brother Ron finished we all had something to eat, but no one wanted to go home. Well, we just sat around talking about the Bible and the Message of the Hour and had a little questions and answers time of fellowship. One thing led to another, more eating and such, and we started singing around the piano. After awhile I noticed Brother Ron and Ben were in the dining room talking alone and Ben was again weeping. A change was trying to take place in Ben’s life, just as one was taking place in mine. As I said, we started about 5:00PM and we finally started asking people to leave about 1:00AM the next morning because we had to go to work.

    I went back to Nevada the next day, but it wasn’t the same. There was a real feeling of conviction in my life. Not that I stopped the affair, but now I felt convicted that I was doing wrong. I was not deluded any longer; in fact, I realized how close I was to destroying my life. About this same time I really started having trouble at work.

    I had written a sales plan that our upper management called, "The best they had ever seen" Not only was that gratifying, but we had really turned our business around. Now we had some achievable goals in front of us and an outline of what we needed to achieve those goals. But for some reason, all of those resources we had asked for (and I had been told were approved) were not all forthcoming. It made no sense. I asked and asked, but the approval never came. What was going on? I was not very spiritual at the time and I couldn’t see that someone else’s hand was working behind the scenes. After a period of time I was again on a business trip to Las Vegas where I received an abrupt phone call saying it had been decided to close the Elko branch. I was devastated! I had worked so hard to make that branch profitable and was enjoying the respect and loyalty my customers were giving to us. As much as I hated the decision, curiously I didn’t argue with it. I say curious because I was a genuine loud-mouthed, get-in-your face type of person who was not afraid to back you into a corner and argue with you if I thought something was wrong. But as I said, I didn’t argue.

    We started the tedious process of closing down the branch. As the months progressed the tension surrounding my affair was getting really strained. I had made some promises to Susan (the girlfriend) that I now didn’t, or couldn’t, follow through on. I wasn’t ready to end the relationship but I couldn’t follow through on the commitments I had made. Here is the situation.

    I had moved this lady halfway across the United States and then led her to believe that I was going to divorce my wife and marry her. This goes on for almost two years. Then, when they decide to close the branch, I decide to move back and work out of the Twin Falls, Idaho store (where I lived) and sporadically see the lady when I could. She was, rightly so, feeling pretty bitter towards me.

    During this same time period some visiting ministers had been holding services in our home, and occasionally in a rented hall. It was now no chore for me to go to these services. In fact, I really looked forward to them. One of the ministers that held a fairly large meeting was a minister named Donnie Reagan, of Johnson City, Tennessee. He is an evangelist and his series of meetings were electrifying to us.