Testimonies (Part 1)

[CajunBass]

CajunsMisty
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(1/22/04 10:16 am)
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Post anything you wish to share about how you came to find God, returned to God, what God has done for you.

God bless you all

Edited by: CajunsMisty at: 1/22/04 10:19 am

blazr21
Sore Mouther
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(1/22/04 1:23 pm)
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Well you may have seen my wife post about my stroke, This is how I became to know CHRIST. See it will be 3 years this April that I had an accident at work (no warning at all) when i fell at 10:30am and found myself waking up at 7:30pm in the trauma center. I was working that day all was good and that's when my life changed, they told me i fell an the concrete and hit my head and went into a seizure, then was life-flighted to the hospital where i was told that I had a slow growing glioma tumor on the left frontal lobe of my brain. I lost it. Was scheduled for surgery 3 weeks later (craniotomy) well i went to 4 different neurosurgeons and they all said that i would need to go through further testing to rule out other things. Well after an (eeg,ekg,sleep study,arteriogram,mri with contrast,echo,dopler,PET's,and blood work) is when they said i had a brain stroke. Never thought i would be happy to see a brainstroke but the outcome was a better prognosis.while undergoing the arteriogram. It took 2 years or better to come up with this answer. Right after the accident I turned my life over to GOD's hands and let him have it all. I have to say they next day was a different day and for the better. I still can't work or drive, but I am being watched over, he is always with me at all times. I truly know this. Well can't think of anything else to say at this time, but "thank you for getting this forum started", maybe we can help one another, or maybe the lurkers that are afraid to go to a church.That would be great.

Praise the LORD, Don



CajunBass1
Mid-Atlantic Rally Moderator
Posts: 1154
(1/23/04 1:04 am)
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Any doubt I had that the Lord was looking out for me, and had other plans for me vanished when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer a couple of years ago at the age of 48.

I was having a problem that according to the doctors treating me was not a symptom of prostate cancer. My PCP referred me to a urologist because he was a bit stumped.

My PSA tests were all normal. (<.6) but the urologist said he wanted to take a biopsy "just to rule out" cancer. No problem.

He took the tests, sent me home with the assurance that "I'm almost sure it's not cancer". Guess what. He was wrong.

I got a call the next week, and "Dr.K", (I will not insult him by butchering the spelling of his name.) told me that I had beaten the odds, and did have it.

It didn't take long for me to elect to have surgery and remove the problem, so right after Christmas I went in, had the surgery and woke up in the hospital.

The next day Dr. K came in and told me "Guess what. We sent your prostate over to the lab, and they can't find any cancer in it". Oh GREAT.... The "Oh Well. I guess this means I won't get it at least".

Dr. K said he wanted to send the sample to a friend at Johns-Hopkins to let him have a look. About a week later he called me and said. "I heard from Johns-Hopkins. They did find a very small amount of cancer in your prostate that we sent to them, but the only place they found it was right in the tracks where the sample needle had gone."

Now. When you think of how they do that test, and you realize there is no way that the doctor had anything to do with just exactly where that needle hit, you have to believe that there was a higher power guiding it, or you have to believe in "dumb luck".


CajunsMisty
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(1/23/04 10:35 am)
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The Lord does indeed move in mysterious ways. Don, I'm sure that God will show you what He wants you to, what direction He wants you to go in. I know how I felt when they told me I couldn't work anymore, but God has had me "working" in other ways. I may not earn any money but I do indeed receive benefits, and with Gods help I manage to touch other peoples lives in some way (I don't realize it at the time, but they've told me afterward). We all have our "jobs" to do. We just need to open ourselves up and hear the instructions.



Rtriton02
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(1/23/04 6:29 pm)
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First off I would like to say that this forum is one of the best ideas I have seen on BBC. As you all can see I do not posT much on here. However I come here 10 to 20 times a day. Guess you can say I might be a little shy. However talking about the good Lord and all his works is one thing I am not very shy about. This post may be a little long, and for that I am sorry. However I love to tell all that the good Lord has done for me and my family. I grew up in a christian home. My father was a preacher at the church we went to in Colorado. I was only 8yrs. old when I gave my life to Christ. Many would say that is too young to understand about that. I say not. The day I was saved I remember calling everyone I could just to tell them, "I gave my life to God". However I did not realize how much God was helping me until I was 10yrs. old. In March of '84 I was walking with my Mom into the bank. I had been having problems with my left leg. I told my mom that if the doctors would just take a picture of my knee, they would find what was wrong. So the next day my parents took me to the doctor, and there it was. I had a tumor in my leg. Two days later they removed it. It was not cancer. Thank the good Lord. Three months later I was having severe headaches. One day my older sister had taken me to a theme park. We got home and I got out of the car and passed out. I was rushed to the hospital and found out that I had a large "Pac-Man" in my head. This was the doctors exact words. LOL. Anyways come to find out that I had a brain tumor. And they had to remove it quick. They say I was within an hour of dieing. Kind of a lot for a 10yr old to handle. However I knew the good Lord would take care of me no matter what. Well in September of '84 my father took a job in Virginia. I fell as though that was one of the greatest things that had happened in my life. So here we are in Virginia now and I am 11 now and unable to play any sports and very limited to the things I was able to do. The doctors had to leave a small portion of the skull out, just in case they ever had to go in there again. I sit and think it must be nice to go outside and do the other things the other kids are doing. So one fine day I sat and asked the Lord, "What is it I can do God?" , "Why did you leave me here?". His answer came by way of my Dad. Dad says son lets go fishing. I had never been and only caught one fish that day. A James River Smallie. Thats all it took. Since then I have married and have one beautiful 3yr old girl. And the good Lord has showed me how I can work for him. Like many others on this board, my hopes are to become a Pro. God has showed me many ways to spread his word through my fishing. However no matter how far I make it, I know that it is God showing me the way. Once again I am sorry for this post being so long. However once I get started talking about God and his works in mine and my families lives I just can not stop.
Thanks for allowing us to now have a place to talk with others about God.

GOD BLESS ALL AND GOOD FISHING.
MARK

CajunBass1
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(1/24/04 9:02 am)
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Welcome to the board Mark. There is never any need to apologize for a long post here You use the number of words it takes, to tell the story. It's we who are blessed to have the words of your testimony, praise the Lord you're here to give it.

That of course goes for everyone. This is the Lord's board. If he calls you to tell your story, don't worry about how long it, or if your spelling is perfect or if you think you've rambled. The Lord will tell you what he wants you to say if you ask him.

[Z520C]

Hello brothers and sisters. I do not have an elaborate testimony other than one day in october of 2004 I heard the knock at the door and finally opened the door and let the Lord into my life. There were several different things going on in my life at that time I was going thru a divorce while training up for a deployment overseas. I kept looking for satisfaction in other forms. I made my public confession in front of all my peers on a firing range. God has since blessed me with a wife and 3 kids and we attend church togethr. My oldest (step) daughter is 8 and getting to the age of accountability and looking forward to the day makes her profession of faith. God is good.

[bassmaster658]

Hi to all Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Tim Lane here and I am a Christian borned again since 1997. My second daughter was on her way and my wife and I were headed in the wrong direction. Although she was living the life as she professed, I wasn't. I was at church with my first born and my wife one Sunday and the pastor was speaking to me or should I say God was speaking to me. The tug on my heart...it cleared my mind...my soul...and cleansed me from sin. Thank God each and every day for that day. My wife and I are closer than ever before as we have now grown together. My oldest is now married and my first grandchild is on the way...Amen. My mom always went to church but not my dad. Dad had always been a moral man but only lacked one thing in his life. I prayed for God to speak to him through me or whomever he would listen to. I am very proud to say that 7 years ago, I helped baptise my father. He is a great man and more importantly a great Christian man. I like to think that I am alot like him and that our heavenly father is pleased with both of us. I would ask for all your prayers that we can all live according to his will and that we can all meet in heaven some day and hopefully convince as many people as possible to accept Jesus as their Saviour....Amen and God Bless you all.

[American Bassman]

Guess it’s my turn to take a crack at this. For the 34 years that I’ve been alive I’ve never been much of a believer in God. I have my reasons, but this is where I’m at right now in my life. I was brought up to work hard and stay out of trouble, and that’s been how I’ve been my whole life. I have never been drunk or drank for that matter, because I didn’t want to be like my Dad. I never even tried drugs of any kind. I started working in high school and never looked back. Well I got married in 2004 and in 2006 we had our first child, in a small town that I worked in, however I did not want to raise a family in that town because it did not have anything to offer. So I moved two hours away to where I grew up, even though I continued to work in that small town. I thought I was doing the right thing….. You know providing for my family. Well fast forward to 2012 and a second child later my Wife tells me on Christmas Eve that she wants a Divorce and she wants to move back home to the small town that she grew up in and that I work in. I was crushed!! I messed up.I put work first and family second and even though I tried to turn my life around a few months ago by falling in love with her all over again. It was too little too late. I never listened to her wants and needs, and she just let it build up till she couldn’t take it anymore. I begged and pleaded to do anything to keep our marriage together, but her mind was made up. Not seeing my kids every day is killing me, not to mention we're selling our house, so I have to find a place to rent for now. I don’t want to fish or hunt, or eat for that matter. I cry almost every day, and I’ve had a ton of bad thoughts go through my head, especially when I’m alone. My 2 kids keep me from doing anything stupid, but the pain is what I have never felt before. I’m alone!
It wasn’t till last week I decided to do a search here on BBC. I searched (Divorce) just to see if anyone was going through what I amr ight now. I found an old thread and a guy posted a music video of Sanctus Real(Lead Me) for the guy. I clicked on it and cried my eyes out through the whole song. Since then I’ve been on this board everyday just reading a little at a time and listening to Sanctus Real songs. Tomorrow I’m going to a book store to find the book The Case for Christ, because it was recommended on this board also. I figure it will help me understand the bible more. I do have a friend that is going to help me with believing when I move back. I actually want to go to Church and get Baptized and try to better myself and leave the old stubborn me in the past.
I know I have a good heart, and that I’m going to be the best Dad I can be to my two kids, but I think letting God in will help also. I said my first prayer the other day and it felt good. My best friend also keepsme moving in the right direction by telling me to Man Up and keep moving forward. And that my wife will realize that she made a huge mistake and regret it one day. I still love her and will continue to be her friend for the sake of my kids.
Well that’s where I’m at right now, but the worst is still to come at the end of this month when the divorce is final and the house sales and I have to move back to a state and town that I hate just to be close to my kids. The Perfect Storm. But my kids are all that matter right now.
I’m all ears if anyone wants to give advice or a prayer.
Josh

[Obsessed]

First, Thank You guys for all the testimonies! I read each and everyone of them. What an awesome thing to get to read other peoples testimonies, each one touched my heart!

I am a Christian, have been for many many years. A bad work experience has hardened my heart towards other people. I ended up leaving that job 10 months ago and taking a new job, close to the Lakes. Have been in Church my whole life, but after moving couldn't get in the routine of going. After a few months we found a Church and started going. Kids were more into it than I was if I had to be honest, it is a big Church and I come from a small one. Anyway after a few months it felt right so we went forward and became members, I forgot how uncomfortable going forward was. Anyway to make a long story short our new Church just started a new study......40 Days of Love! That is hilarious, yet so like God. I have lost the want to Love the people outside my direct family. I can tell you that deep in side me I never lost it, but I let something come between my want to show people love. I am excited to get into this study. My heart yearns for this, but I am going to be honest, I still feel that old I ain't gonna do it feeling. I want to be better at showing the love God has in me and am really itching to get these lessons done so I can be a better man.

As a Christian we know we are to Love and to show Love. But sometimes we get a little callused to the world and what they do. I actually remember hearing people say this same thing in their testimonies and I thought to myself that I couldn't believe a person of faith would get hardened to the point they would stop showing people the Love of God. But I now have been there and I am on my way back. (wow, I feel like just putting this out there is actually helping me) If y'all have time pray for me.

Ain't God good!

[harlom97]

First, Thank You guys for all the testimonies! I read each and everyone of them. What an awesome thing to get to read other peoples testimonies, each one touched my heart!

I am a Christian, have been for many many years. A bad work experience has hardened my heart towards other people. I ended up leaving that job 10 months ago and taking a new job, close to the Lakes. Have been in Church my whole life, but after moving couldn't get in the routine of going. After a few months we found a Church and started going. Kids were more into it than I was if I had to be honest, it is a big Church and I come from a small one. Anyway after a few months it felt right so we went forward and became members, I forgot how uncomfortable going forward was. Anyway to make a long story short our new Church just started a new study......40 Days of Love! That is hilarious, yet so like God. I have lost the want to Love the people outside my direct family. I can tell you that deep in side me I never lost it, but I let something come between my want to show people love. I am excited to get into this study. My heart yearns for this, but I am going to be honest, I still feel that old I ain't gonna do it feeling. I want to be better at showing the love God has in me and am really itching to get these lessons done so I can be a better man.

As a Christian we know we are to Love and to show Love. But sometimes we get a little callused to the world and what they do. I actually remember hearing people say this same thing in their testimonies and I thought to myself that I couldn't believe a person of faith would get hardened to the point they would stop showing people the Love of God. But I now have been there and I am on my way back. (wow, I feel like just putting this out there is actually helping me) If y'all have time pray for me.

Ain't God good!

yes He is. Thanks brother. I needed that
S

[Finnegan]

Two Thursdays ago I had a Doctor tell me I had a cancerous liesion on my tounge. The Veterans Affairs Hospital put this diagnosis on the fast track and I saw a Throat and mouth Specialist at the Topeka, Kansas medical cent e r and it took him less than a minute to say I DO NOT HAVE CANCER.

The first thing I did after initial diagnosis was to go to St Francis Xavier Parish in St Joseph Missouri and seek a priest. They were all not in so I told the lovely sectratary what was going on and asked to a look me into the santuary to pray.
After that I came to you guy's and gal's asking for your prayers. Later that evening I told my dearest daughters the diagnosis.

I received prayers from great people including the members here. I continue to thank The Father Son And Holy Spirit for sparing my life.

I cannot thank you folks enough for your prayers that had such a positive impact on my time of need.

Thank you, thank you thank you for your prayers.

[jfunston]

I was in a revival and turned away from Christ during an alter call / I prayed when I got home and promised the Lord that I would come to the alter the next night, I thank Jesus that he allowed me the time.
I took one step out of my pew and Jesus saved me without question I felt HIS presence in my heart, I later backslid and again HE forgave me.
We need more REVIVALS and a lot more of the Holy Spirit to rain down on us.
I almost died from cancer and I had a 4 way bypass and HE is still with me and I am great Thank you Lord








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[digthemup]

I was in a revival and turned away from Christ during an alter call / I prayed when I got home and promised the Lord that I would come to the alter the next night, I thank Jesus that he allowed me the time.
I took one step out of my pew and Jesus saved me without question I felt HIS presence in my heart, I later backslid and again HE forgave me.
We need more REVIVALS and a lot more of the Holy Spirit to rain down on us.
I almost died from cancer and I had a 4 way bypass and HE is still with me and I am great Thank you Lord

Thank you for giving your heart to the Lord, and following what Christ said " But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. " Matt 6:6. Truly, I tell that only GOD can save anyone, since all that anyone can do is plant the seed to allow Him to bring it to fruition. Thus saith the Lord, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Rev 3:20
Stay in the WORD, and please make just a little time to read even a few passages from the Scriptures, preferably, start with the Gospel of John, and may our Lord bless and keep you and yours.

[Basswhippa]

A very good thread.

[drifter106]

So interesting!!!! Gives me faith that no matter your choice of religion....if you believe in the One True God....repent your ways...life as Christ has taught us...your on the road to salvation!!

[drifter106]

On this forum I am tlmjl...

https://thepoliticsforums.com/thread...on-5-years-now

[smughal31]

Good Morning! I have stumbled onto this thread! I have been on BBC for some years now and have never clicked on this faith section. I have been reading, and am encouraged! I enjoyed reading the testimonies and felt the excitement to share mine!

I would like to share with you guys my testimony in a time line format!

2003 (11 years old)- "saved" by repeating a prayer at a church I attended on weds nights. (no real heart change, had no acknowledgment of Christ, just wanted to say the prayer and get the award badge...not really saved)

2006 (14 years old)- "saved" again at an FCA camp after repeating another prayer. (Again, no real heart change, Just said the prayer so i would feel good about myself...again, not saved and still doomed for hell)

Go on living my life for myself and of the world. Not living my life for Christ but assuming I was saved because people told me I was because I raised my hand and repeated a prayer some guys told me to.


2015 (23 years old) I WAS NOT LOOKING FOR GOD!!!! GOD SIDE SWIPED ME AND TURNED MY WORLD UPSIDE DOWN!! I am forever grateful to the Lord that by his grace he decided to wreck that 23 year old idiots world. This is where it gets amazing. SO I am in college at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, I was a junior at the time. Thought I had the whole world figured out. I had just finished playing Baseball at Tennessee Wesleyan University and decided to transfer to UTC because it was home and they had a great college fishing team, I had a nice boat, nice truck got to fish whenever I wanted and was partying the rest of the time. I was such a slave to sin! Fishing was my God and alcohol was my other escape. Fishing and drinking was all I could think about and do! I spent all of my time and money on it. every second I had I was fishing. It was my life. Very long story short I got out of class one day and decided I had enough time to make it back home in time to hit the water. I was driving home in my brand new 2014 Silverado, on I24 towards Jasper, TN.. I had just crossed the TN river and had cruise control set on 72 all of a sudden the person in front of me had to slam on their brakes really fast and I swerved and clipped them in the rear passenger fender, it immediately flipped my truck in the air like something on a Dukes of Hazzard episode and my truck landed upside down on its roof all the way in the shoulder up against the guard rail... (every one was fine, totaled my truck) so at this point I finally get back home. I'm laying on my couch and this is where the Lord sends the Holy Spirt to start to work in my heart OUT OF NO WHERE! I'm sitting there and I remember asking myself...where would I have gone if I would have died in that moment (Like I should have)? The only answer that kept coming to my mind was hell....I was doomed for it. and I knew it! The only way I can explain it is the Lord had placed it on my heart. So all of this happened on a Friday, I ended up getting a rental truck that evening so that only meant one thing....time to go fishing Saturday! Like I said, all I could think about! I had to serve my god which is fishing! Saturday I wake up go fishing and on my way home the Lord decided to humble me again... Trailer hitch breaks on the truck while on the interstate sends my boat up under the truck damages all kinds of stuff... I am mentally destroyed at this point. I've got nothing left in the tank. So I spend the rest of my weekend jus trying to figure out how to handle this mess I'm in. I am so lost...so confused...no hope! My god (fishing) is just letting me down, the world is letting me down! So Monday rolls around and I'm in class and I'm talking to a girl and we seemed to really hit it off (not really, she wanted nothing to do with me rightfully so) I end up messaging her on Facebook and I told her about the crazy weekend I had just had with the wrecks and what does she do? She shares the Gospel with me. Out of no where. She didn't even know me. She actually sends me some sermons to listen to (the pastor was actually her father) and I am HOOKED. I cannot stop listening to these sermons this guy is preaching. The Lord literally just lit me on fire for his word. for 2 weeks straight I am listening to these sermons every chance of the day. I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was so humbling! I quickly discovered I was a lost man. That I need a savior and it was not fishing. I needed Christ. I started to visit that church of the sermons I was listening to. it was 2 hours away in Muscle Shoals, AL. I went almost every Sunday. The Lord saved me through the preaching of his words. I had a heart TRANSPLANT this time. There was nothing I did, in fact I couldn't do anything. (For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, it was by grace along through faith alone in Christ alone. Ephesians 2:8) Only he could orchestrate something like what I've just told you and save a wretched man like me. If he can save me from the depths of hell he can save anyone.

2021 (29 years old) I am now a member of that Church (Grace Life Church of the Sholas) Moved here in 2017 so that I could be a faithful member of the Church and Serve Christ. The Lord has blessed me so much more than I deserve...The girl in class that didn't know me and shared the gospel to me.... well... she's now my wife of 3 years and we are expecting our first daughter in October. We are so thankful and excited. (Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. James 1:17)

I ended up stepping away from fishing for a few years, I just needed to get away from it and grow and mature in the Lord. Thankfully I feel I have done so by His grace, I now get to enjoy the great outdoors in such a better fashion and not in an obsessive way. I now find myself thinking on the creator of the woods and waters while out enjoying fishing and hunting. it so much more enjoyable when your true joy is in the Creator not the creation.

I don't know if anyone or who will read this. but there is HOPE in only one person and that is Christ. Call out to him!! Beg him for mercy. If there is any way i can pray for you or lend you any words please reach out to me, I cant save you...but I can point you to the one who can!

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit - Titus 3:5


Visit us!
Grace Life Church (gracelifeshoals.org)

[CajunBass]

Amen Brother Sam. Praise God in all His Glory...

And welcome to the forum.

[Chisco]

Smughall31……. Praise God!

I followed a similar path. I attended varying churches as a kid and went through the motions just as you did. I said the prayers and said that I accepted Christ on at least 3 occasions throughout my teen years yet never truly knew God. I essentially went through my childhood as a “good person”.

However, I joined the Navy at 18 and my life began to spiral a bit as I began to drink each weekend, lie and chase women throughout my enlistment. I even still claimed to be “saved” although I did not know God. I married at the age of 25 and it only lasted a very tumultuous 2 years. As the marriage crumbled, I continued a sinful life (adulterous, alcohol, drunk driving, pride, and much more) and cared only about myself. This life continued until I married my second wife at the age of 42. While I became a “good person” again, I still didn’t know God.

At age 45, God led me to start reading the Bible although it still made no sense to me. One day, I was reading Psalms 22 and God “opened my eyes”. I became a believer in Christ and truly felt the Holy Spirit overcome me. The Word of God became clearer and clearer as I continued to read scripture. I am so thankful for Gods Grace and Patience that He allowed a lowly fellow like me get to know Him.

Through faith (alone), I am saved through Christ, who died on the Cross to take on the sins of mankind, was buried, and was resurrected. He is now sitting at the right hand of God and guides me in my life. Praise the Lord!

[Wyldbill]

Immediately after JESUS admonished HIS disciples faithfullness, the HOLY BIBLE then states: "...he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, AND IT WAS COMPLETELY CALM." (Matt. 8:26)

I am a seasoned prayer warrior and have walked with my Savior Christ Jesus many years having accepting HIM as my LORD and MY Savior at the age of five years old. Grew up in church, experienced life, fell into the same entrapments and experienced many of life's frustrations as many here have also stated. As one of my former Bible teachers often stated: "I am only here to show everyone else where some good food can be found." July 7th of this year, one phone call completely changed the current direction of my life as an OTR truck driver in the music industry for the past 20+ years. "Billy, the doctor says that I've got cancer and you need to come home." I stopped my truck for fuel only one time between Nashville and a small town in East Texas. Momma was sick. I had never seen my Mother laid up in a hospital bed my entire life and I'm pushing 60 years old. My 9k a month job was gone. My lengthy engagement to a wonderful woman came to an end. My Dad, whom Mom had daily cared for and who has dementia, had to be relocated to nursing care. My daughter's marriage fell apart. The phone rang non-stop for two weeks and was often fielded using both hands and held to each ear. The adage, "GOD will not put on you more than you can handle" is non-scriptural. HE will and HE did. I cried out: "LORD GOD, WHERE IS YOUR MERCY?!??" Three minutes had barely past and my phone rang. In despair and frustration, I almost picked it up and threw it across the room when suddenly; that "still small voice" implored me to first look and see who was calling.

A very very dear Brother-To-Me-In CHRIST was calling me on my phone. (We almost NEVER talk by phone but almost ALWAYS text and message one another). "Billy? You doing alright? I just received a deep and compelling needful desire to stop everything here and call you. What can I do for you?" GOD... showed up. In the weeks that past, I came to deeply know that GOD IS SOVEREIGN...HE IS HOLY...and again reminded that HE ALONE IS GOD! Another phone call came in a few weeks later that just buried my human pride and self-sufficiency. I was caught completely red-handed in my despair, overwhelmed by life's UNPLANNED and devastating circumstances, embarrassed and spiritually crushed in witnessing GOD'S complete faithfullness and control in EVERY single facet of our lives. My former employer was calling me to inform me that an end-of-tour music bonus check was being sent from the office to my home and that I needed to ensure that I was in expectation of receiving it. A week later, the letter arrived with a check in excess of $90k....more than NINETY THOUSAND DOLLARS. GOD provisioned for me to become debt free as I stayed and cared for my Mother and Father. Additionally, and I had been saving up funds to buy myself a bass boat, a used one of course; however, without employment as of July 7th, that dream was crushed.

Again my phone rang. A dear friend of mine had spotted a really nice but USED bass boat at a dealership near me and encouraged me to go look at it. After taking Mom to one of her hospital appointments, I stopped by and asked about it. The dealership brought me around back and there before was the most beautiful 21 foot Triton bass boat with a HUGE Mercury 250 on its transom. The asking price was the EXACT same amount that I had been savings towards in a much lesser and smaller boat. Mother is doing better and her initial chemo treatments are coming to an end BEFORE she goes in for re-assessment and re-diagnoses. Her hair has thinned considerably and Dad has become a fall risk at the nursing care facility. This past Sunday, my BIL and I boated sixteen fish on my new boat.

The Book of Mark chapter 16 and verse 7 says that JESUS sought that HIS disciples and Peter were aware of HIS presence and where HE was going. "But go, tell my disciples and Peter..." Was not Peter one of JESUS' disciples? OF COURSE he was but in the very hour that Peter could have stood strong, he failed...not once but three times. JESUS knows exactly who we each are. Many many times in these past few months, I have been just like Peter. Many of us, perhaps all of us can substitute Peter's name in this passage for our own. In the end of all things this remains: GOD IS FAITHFUL!

[digthemup]

Wyldbill

I am glad to hear that your mother's cancer prognoses has improved with the chemo treatments she has received, and I pray that her side affects are minimal without the severe nausea which can come from them.
This has been a life changing yr for me as well, since on Jan 6, the day of epiphany, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I have received 15 rounds of chemo and radiation therapy, and Lord willing, I will have a follow up CT scan on Nov 29 to determine the type of surgery.
I am truly sorry to hear about your father's decline, yet as you have stated and experienced, God will no burden us with a challenge we cannot bear. I will pray for y'all, that by the power of our loving Father and by His mercy, y'all shall overcome these troublesome stumbling blocks before you.
May the love and grace of Christ be upon y'all,
Frank

[Wyldbill]

Praying for you this day, Frank, as you undergo your surgical procedure. GOD IS FAITHFUL and HE IS GOOD.