"Mommy, someone's at the door!"

 It was a Thursday morning. I had gone into H's room to change a diaper and the doorbell rang. I was wearing my jammies and glasses and my hair was in a messy bun accented with spit-up. Normally I would try to hide until they left, but a voice yelled out "MOMMY! Someone is at the door!" Oh G, I have trained you so well. I looked outside and saw two men wearing suits. It must have been mommy fog because instead of thinking "oh, it's the Jehovah's Witnesses," I thought "they are wearing suits, it must be important." Normally I would try to hide until they left, but again the mommy fog. I swung the door open. They handed me a watchtower publication and began talking. I immediately turned it to the back to determine that these were, in fact, Jehovah's Witnesses. Normally I would try to hide until they left, but I had already opened the door. So there I stood. In jammies, speaking with these men. We spoke for over thirty minutes. Since they were men, I did not invite them in, so we just stood in the doorway.
 This was a turning point for me in my walk with God. I think until this very day I was positive about what I believed, but not really sure why. The biggest question I had after that conversation was one I had never even considered. When we die, are we immediately placed before Jesus in heaven? I have always believed the answer to that is "yes!" But why? Jehovah's Witnesses believe in a "soul sleep" of sorts. We talked about so many other things, but this stood out to me. The only verse I had to go on was Luke 23:43, which states "Jesus answered him, 'I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.'" Why does this mean we will instantly be with Jesus? Because in English, the comma tells us exactly what Jesus was saying- "TODAY you will be with me." (Commas are so important. It is the difference between "The kids already ate, Nathan." and "The kids already ate Nathan.") There is a problem here. The Bible wasn't written in English! Oh NO! So I started googling. I googled all afternoon. The more I googled, the more I believed. You see in the Bible that the Jehovah's Witnesses use (yes, they have a different Bible), the verse is translated to mean  'Today I'm telling you that you will be with me in paradise (one day).' But in my Bible it is translated to mean 'I'm telling you that today you will be with me in paradise.' (verses paraphrased) I can not rely on a comma that was not in the original language to determine what I believe. But I can rely on this- I know the heart of Jesus. I don't believe that he would tell a criminal who just professed his faith moments before death "yes, I'll remember you-one day." No way. (See this for more information about the original language).
 This was the first of many revelations I have had regarding my own faith. I encourage you to examine what you believe. "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?" 2 Cor 13:5
 And don't think you can't learn a thing or two from those people knocking at your door. But follow these important guidelines:
1. Use your own Bible (remember they have a version that is translated to meet their incorrect beliefs)
2. Do your own research.

 If you are interested in striking up a conversation with someone at your door, I have found these sites to be extremely helpful:
Evidence Ministries
TowerWatch Ministries
 Oh, you aren't interested? I wasn't either. Like I said,  I normally would have hidden. But God has completely surprising and amazing things in store for us when we open our hearts. If you have made it this far into the post, please close with a prayer for the Jehovah's Witness women to return. I know I said this was a visit from men, but my journey began over a year ago with two women. I'm patiently praying for God to send them my way. Thank you for joining me!