Faith Story of Becky Jensen

My husband Ken and I have been members of St. Stephen since 1971.

I have been a Lutheran all of my life. I always thought of myself as a Christian, but in retrospect I know that I have not always been what I feel now is a Christian.

Today I would like to share with you why I feel that way.

I grew up in a little village in Huron County, Ohio. I was baptized, confirmed and married in the First (and only) Lutheran Church in Plymouth, Ohio. It was then and still is a very quiet place and as a young person I thought it was terribly boring. There were only two sources of entertainment in that community-one was the movie theater, which I visited each time the movie changed and the second was either Luther League or Youth Fellowship (the Methodist youth group.) I truly enjoyed the young people's groups. We had a lot of fun and worked hard on projects for our little community. It certainly wasn't like what we have here at St. Stephen now.

My childhood was quite happy, if living with four difficult brothers can be called happy. I assure you that then I did not look upon that time as especially happy. Actually, I was anxious to get to a more exciting place. So when it was time for college, I went to Tennessee for undergraduate work. It was a very small college and a good place for me since I came from a small town. I did find college much more exciting than my home town.

There were no Lutheran churches in the area, but I attended church most Sundays.

In my senior year I met a wonderful guy named Ken.

As an adult that was the first of many blessings from God. The second occurred on August 16, 1951 when I married Ken Jensen in that small Lutheran Church in Plymouth and we began our life together. We went back to Tennessee so Ken could finish college and I could teach second graders.

Our first child, a beautiful healthy little boy, was born in July 1952. However, on the Sunday just before he was 4 weeks old as I was giving him his evening bath, I discovered a lump on his neck. The next morning I rushed him to the doctor and was told that the lump had to be removed immediately so on Tuesday he had surgery . It appeared that all was well. But when I went to take him home on Thursday, the surgeon came in to take out the stitches on Wade's neck and ankle and he told my mother-in-law, who was a nurse at the same hospital, that our baby would not see his first birthday because the lump was cancerous. I could hear him talking to Mother Jensen even though he had sent me from the room. I was devastated. I couldn't believe that our wonderful little boy would die within a year.

That night Ken's family minister came to our house and we prayed that this cancer would not spread and that Wade would be all right. Between prayers and crying we managed to get through the next couple of days.

On Saturday afternoon as we sat holding our baby and talking with Ken's parents, Ken's aunt arrived with good news. Her husband was the pathologist at the hospital where the surgery had been performed. Because he was a family member, he had sent the specimen to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville to verify the results of his tests. Two of the pathologists concluded that the specimen was cancer but the third disagreed. The whole family had been praying and on that Saturday, Aunt Esther came to tell us that all three doctors had finally concluded that the specimen had changed from cancer to benign. God had answered our prayers.

Even with this miracle, I somehow was not on track as a Christian. Because we had different religious backgrounds, Ken and I didn't go to church very often.

Almost two years later we were again blessed with the birth of our twins a little boy and a little girl. We were living in a suburb of Nashville and were happy with our little family, but we still did not attend church on a regular basis, but I still thought of myself as a Christian.

In a few years we moved to Akron where Ken had a new job. We added to our family twice more before we moved to Stow. It was while we were still in Akron that I decided to look for a Lutheran Church and I found Divinity Lutheran Church on Hawkins Avenue several blocks from our home. The children and I started to attend Sunday school and Church. When the four children were going to be in the Christmas Program, they wanted Daddy to come too. And he went. Still he did not attend church with us even though he was asked. But one Sunday as we all prepared for church; Ken got dressed and went along. We did not ask why, but were happy that he was with us. After about a year he too joined Divinity. Another prayer was answered.

Then we moved to Stow and after a few years at St. Mark in Tallmadge, we all joined St. Stephen.

Five years ago this month, I had cancer surgery. When we knew that I had to have surgery, Ken called Pastor John for prayer. He came to the house to visit and to pray with me. I was so scared that while he was there all I did was talked and talked and talked. Looking back, I really feel sorry to Pastor John. He hardly got in a word, but it was comforting to have him listen to my rambling and to pray with me. A few days later we went to the hospital for the big event. By that time I was not afraid any longer. I knew that St. Stephen's prayer chain was at work and I just knew that I would be all right. Ken, Pastor John, three of our boys and one of our daughters-in-law were there. I still laugh when I remember the scene we must have made when I was wheeled through the corridors with this long entourage following. We had to wait at various stops for different tests, so we had time for talking and prayer. Everything was fine and again prayers were answered. The strange thing was that when I got home, there were so many cards, food, flowers that all I could do was cry. Why were people sending all of this to me? It took me three years to discover the answer to that.

One day Kristi and Peter Sabin invited us to their home to discuss Via de Cristo. Coming away from there I was very excited, but Ken was somewhat dubious. If you really want to know how dubious, just ask Peter. But Ken did agreed to go. This was what I really needed. I finally realized that God loved me. Me, of all people. You see, most of my life I have felt unworthy of love and certainly not worthy of God's love. To me this was truly a miracle. I have always known that Ken loved me even though I didn't always feel that I deserve his love. I know now that Ken's love has helped me become a better person. Now I finally realized that God loved me, too . God, through the Via de Cristo weekend, has shown, me that I have so many people who love me and whom I love. This was finally what God had been trying to tell me all along. I am truly thankful to God for showing me His love. I thank God each day for Ken's patient love and to my dear friends in Christ for their love and acceptance of me.

I now feel that I am closer to what a Christian should be.