homeier@aero.ARPA (Peter Homeier) (10/04/85)
t year at Harvey Mudd in Claremont, CA. We wanted to expose her to as
many different aspects of mechanical design as incoming project would allow.
It also worked out within the first week that she and I would carpool the
entire summer.
Art, the "old man" in the office (he will retire within the next two years),
spent the first couple of weeks instructing Lauren. Art's a very talented
mechanical designer, but has been so used to just doing his work for the past
thirty years that he had difficulty teaching Lauren. She's very intellegent
and can pick things up on the first go-around, but basically Art did not want
to "play teacher" so that task fell to me. Granted, nine years' experience
versus thirty is no match, but I've got a fairly good grasp of M.E. stuff to
be able to convey it to someone else. Plus the age gap between Lauren and
myself was much less (she'll be 19 in October--I'm 28), so that probably made
for easier communication.
Now were we not only carpooling, but working together, too.
I sensed right away that she was something special...Early on I found out that
she's a Christian...she has a pleasant demeanor, great attitude, wonderful
personality...she just "walks" differently from anyone I've ever worked with.
I really enjoyed her company. One particular day in early August, on break,
I was reading net.music, and there was some article on a biblical reference in
a Kate Bush song, so I "N net.religion.christian"ed after that article, and
asked Lauren to come over to the terminal because I thought she might like
to read, too. This went on for a few minutes each day for about a week, then
something possessed me to ask her about God. She was floored...but so was I,
since I wouldn't have expected anything like that to come out of my mouth!
I was raised a Roman Catholic (even spent first through fifth grades in a
parochial school), but all I ever got out of it were rules, fear and guilt.
Rejection and rebellion was certainly there at age 14 (probably got started
around 11 or 12)...I figured (partially rightly) that I could do better on
my own. I sort of wandered back now and again...at 16 I went to a Campus
Life meeting, and then another one the following week, but my parents
expressed that they didn't want me "getting anything out of that" because
it wasn't Catholic. I really enjoyed being with those kids, too. So I
just dropped it. All of it. Just prior to my 17th birthday my parents
figured out that on some Sundays when I said I was going to church early
because I had something planned for later, and I was actually out riding
my bicycle for an hour or so. That hurt them, but it solved my problem of
not wanting to be involved with the Roman Catholic church. Agnosticism
set in when I was about 19, and in the army...So based on that little bit
of background, you can see why I was amazed why I even asked Lauren about
God. I learned about His unconditional love...something my parents never
taught me, the nuns never taught me, or the priests. I saw charity being
done, but I never knew why, because I had never been told why, only that
I "had to". I was hearing things from Lauren (only when I asked her--she
never pushed anything on me) that I never heard before. I so opened myself
to the message that God's spirit took ahold of me...I experienced a feeling
that I had never gotten from any accomplishment I had done in the past. It
came from an external source, because there was no way I could have created
a feeling like that one!
That day I made a decision to follow the Lord. Lauren and I agreed that she
was placed there at work by God as His instrument. She couldn't figure out
any other reason why she got a summer job with us, based on no real work
experience. I know God manipulated my boss' and colleagues' collective
decision to bring her on board. The really exciting thing about why this
past summer He made an effort to bring me to Him, is that nothing really
is wrong with my life. My marriage is fine, I've been promoted to GS-11
recently here at work, I'm not depressed about anything (except the fact
that California urban/suburban housing is $50000 more than it needs to be,
and that San Diego is getting too crowded for my tastes). So many people
turn to Jesus when they're down-and-out, and He just decided it was time
for me.
Another really beautiful thing to see is my wife's long dormant commitment
reassert itself. And to top it all off, we've found a goldmine of a church
to go to, called Horizon Christian Fellowship. It's an offsoot of Calvary
Chapel of Costa Mesa, CA, and the pastor, Mike MacIntosh is a most inspiring
speaker (he gave his testimony recently on the Billy Graham Crusade from
Anaheim Stadium, if you caught that on television). I find myself so thirsty
for the Word, and this church has, in addition to regular Sunday services,
a Sunday evening bible study, which we went to last Sunday for the first
time, a Tuesday evening study class for new Christians (which I went to for
the first time this week), and members of the church hold Thursday evening
home fellowships--over sixty of them in San Diego county (one in our neigh-
borhood which we went to also for the first time, last night!) I'm just
so amazed and thankful at how quickly and neatly it all fell into place for
me these past few weeks, as only He can do.
So that's about it, Peter. That's how it all happened, in a few long-winded
paragraphs. Thank you for bearing with me. I haven't the ability yet to
communicate about the Lord as you can, and the several other people I've
met. My prayers are very basic one-sentence things...but God hears them
just the same. Pray that my knowledge and faith continue to grow...that I
can keep my mind open to Him, and my heart. Everything has been going so
smoothly up to now, but I am humbled by the responsibility I've chosen to
accept and all that I have to learn now, and follow. Praise Jesus!
In the name of the Lord,
Mike Wroblewski
wro@nosc.ARPA
(Peter: I think that there are few things as beautiful as this "first love"
that Mike is experiencing. He is an inspiration and a comfort to me,
and I hope to you.)
--
Peter Homeier ______
Arpanet: homeier@aerospace / o \_/
UUCP: ..!ihnp4!trwrb!aero!homeier \___)__/ \
The Aerospace Corporation, M1-108
El Segundo, CA 90245