A woman who works as a waitress brought her grandmother to visit the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte.
It wasn’t Jenny’s first choice for spending a free day, but she wanted to do something her grandmother would enjoy.
Together they toured Mr. Graham’s boyhood home, lingered in the quiet prayer garden where Ruth Graham is buried, laughed as they watched children reacting to the animatronic cow in the barn display, explored the many interactive exhibits in the main Library, and heard brief snippets of historic Billy Graham messages.
As they left, happy from sharing a relaxed morning, the granddaughter picked up what she called “all those papers,” literature made available to visitors, including a special edition of Decision magazine on the life of Ruth Graham.
Late that night in her apartment, Jenny lay awake thinking about the Library experience and what she had heard there about God’s love, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and the power of the Holy Spirit to transform her.
An hour past midnight and unable to sleep, she turned on her light and started reading about Ruth Graham. Near the end of the magazine she read, “Each of us must stand before God someday. If your time were now, would you be ready?”
“I answered out loud, ‘I don’t know,'” says Jenny, “and I kept reading.” Suddenly, after years of ignoring her grandmother’s faith, it all made sense.
“At 2 a.m., I knelt by my bed and began to cry.” Unsure what to pray, she used words she found in the Library literature, repenting of her sins and asking Jesus Christ to save her.
In the midst of tears, she understood what had happened.
The next day, she recognized a pastor having lunch in her restaurant and hurried to his table. “I got saved last night,” she announced enthusiastically, barely able to contain her joy as she spilled out the story of her visit to the Billy Graham Library.
“I am a different person this morning. I have a relationship with Jesus Christ, and I’m not alone anymore.”
