My favorite comic strip has always been "Peanuts" and my favorite character while growing up was Peppermint Patty. Why? Because she would say, " My daddy always calls me his Special Gem"! Well, my own father never called me his special gem . He never called me his favorite anything. My father left our home when I was 6 years old. as I grew into teenage-hood, I longed for a Daddy figure. I repented of my sin at age 15. Mom taught me to pray, simply by her lifestyle of daily prayer.I would time myself for 30 minutes to make sure how long I prayed. Sometimes I would just cry out to the Lord and ask Him to come into my room and just hold me. I longed so badly to sit on His lap and have His arms around me like a Daddy. When I learned about the Baptism of the Spirit, my prayers to receive this got more intense, but nothing happened. I would be loud or quiet, wait on the Lord in silence, kneel, arms upraised, arms down, but nothing happened. There was no Pentecostal church or meeting or anything, in my home town in Canada at that time.I had read about the Baptism of the Spirit, in a biography, and heard about it from Jimmy Swaggert on T.V.. Finally, I laid it all in God's hands, and continued with life, Bible School, missions, choir tours, and singing in various churches. At age 24, I came home from Germany, having been there with the Janz Team. My girlfriend told me she had received the Baptism of the Spirit, and would I please come with her to a meeting in a room above the ice skating rink. That's where I received the Baptism of the Spirit and spoke in tongues. Since my start following Jesus, at age 15, I have come to know that...He is Faithful, He will never leave me, nor forsake me...and...that He is my Daddy and I am HIS SPECIAL GEM!!!
