To my surprise, nothing was said the next day about the doll. I avoided
the girl and hurried home after school. But yet the fact of stealing
that doll weighed heavily on my heart. A few days later I took the doll
out in the alley and took a brick and smashed it all to pieces and
buried it, but that didn't take away the sin or the guilt. I had sinned
against God and was still a liar and a thief. Oh, how bad I felt! I had
been taught to pray from a little child, and had always prayed, but
every time I would try to pray that sin would come up before me, so
finally I quit praying.

School was soon out and a few weeks passed by. Bro. John Wilson came to
our house from Missouri and held a few nights' meeting at the chapel.
One night he preached on hell fire. Oh, I could almost feel the fire of
hell around me! I trembled, but hurried out as soon as meeting was over
and the invitation had closed. I went home and to bed as soon as
possible, but not to sleep. I rolled and tumbled on my bed. The weight
of sin was so heavy on my heart that it seemed the mattress was on top
of me instead of me on the mattress. I knew I was on the road to hell.
Finally, toward morning, I told the Lord that if He would spare my life
until I heard the alarm go off in my parent's room that I would get up
and go ask my father to pray for me to get saved and I would seek
forgiveness for my sins from God. This calmed me, and I lay there
waiting. When I heard the alarm, I ran to their room and knelt beside
their bed. I began to weep and beg Papa to pray for me to get saved. He
prayed for me and I prayed. I asked the Lord to forgive me of my sin of
stealing and lying and promised I would make it right. I told the Lord I
would tell the girl I had stolen the doll and pay her for it. God took
my word for the act and He forgave me and flooded my soul with peace.
Oh, I had found the key to peace for my inner longings! The key was a
desire to find peace and then obeying God's Word which said, "If we