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 Have you ever thought of this? If YOU were to die today and stand in front of God at Heaven's gates, what would be your answer to this question? "Why should I allow you to enter Heaven?" Never thought of it? Well, maybe you should. On Saturday May 22, 1999, in the early hours of the morning, Lisa Marie Roberts, aka "Shaquisa," along with Lora Beth Hernandez were both faced with that question. The night had been one packed with good wishes for Lisa's dad, sister and all the other Mount Vernon Nazarene College graduates. We had been at the baccalaureate ceremony. Friends and family filled our house that night..all of us happy and excited. Lisa's brother, Adam and best friend, Carrie Thornton all decided they would go meet their friends, Lora, Amanda, and Ben in Columbus to see a late movie. Never in our wildest dreams could we ever have imagined how all of our lives would be changed within three hours time. The call came at 1:15 am. Our son, Adam, said, "Mom, you need to come to Gahanna. There's been an accident! Lisa seems to be alright, but Lora may not have made it." What we found out shortly after was that Lisa had, in fact, died at the scene of a severed aorta and Lora would die early that morning.  Lisa was always such a character. She was the wild and crazy one in our family. She had a unique personality and a laugh which was totally contagious. She even had her own little vocabulary. As I look back over her life, I remember much insecurity and pain that Lisa endured. She always struggled with inferiority, feeling like no one liked her. She grew up in the church, found the Lord at the age of eight, and made her place in the church youth group. She also found a place in the marching band at school in Bedford, Ohio. These two things helped to change those insecure feelings and she grew into a lovely young Christian woman. Her spiritual walk wasn't always what it should be, as most of us can probably identify with. She wanted to be loved and sometimes did things she knew weren't right, just to fit in. The reason I mention this is because it describes so many of us. We think we can live the way we want and come back to God when we're ready. What we don't realize is that we might not have the time to come back. Lisa was doing great spiritually when she went to be with the Lord. For that, I am so very thankful. If it had happened earlier in her life, we may not have had the assurance we have. Does this sound like you? Are you up and down spiritually? Neither Lisa nor Lora had any time to decide after the accident. Thank goodness that when they stood in front of God, they knew the right answer to the question of "Why should I let you into Heaven?" They knew their sins had been forgiven and washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ. Not perfect... just forgiven. Could you give the same answer if your turn came today? Talk to God about it. His grace is available upon request. Although this is not what we would have wanted for Lisa, and we miss her very much, it would give us and Lisa great pleasure to feel as if this tragedy weren't in vain. It is our prayer that many lives would be changed...how about yours?  Pray: "Lord Jesus, please wash me and cleanse me with Your blood. I receive You into my life. Please keep me faithful to You by infilling me with the Holy Spirit, for I am weak and faithless on my own. I want to know You and love You, now and forever. Amen."  TO LORA'S ARTICLE 
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