My Story

I've decided once again that writing and keeping this blog is really important and something I'm going to be committed to doing again on a really regular basis. I've got some good ideas of formats for different themes I want each day of the week to be about. The theme for Monday fits in exactly what church was about yesterday. I've come away each Sunday blown away by what I'm hearing and I need to start taking notes so I can look back on what I'm hearing so I can remember to apply that. Yesterday was about telling the entire story of Christmas and putting all the scripture together so we can see the entire picture. Dan mentioned that we need to be people that share our stories as they need to be heard and I felt challenged to share... so here we go.

I can honestly say that I'm the most fortunate person to walk this planet as I have a real defining experience in my life that I will always look back on to know how REAL God is. Not too many people have experienced what I did, but I wish everyone did as it makes your belief in God so real and beyond just having faith.

We were living in Fremont, CA and I was a teenager. We were doing a remodel on the house and I was helping the contractor rip down the ceiling in the garage as we were converting that into a living room. As I was looking up and we were ripping the ceiling, some small tiny piece of debris landed in my eye. At first, it was one of those things that you'd normally blink a few times and let the eyes water a bit and it would be gone in a few seconds. Strangely, it didn't come out. After a few minutes it was still there. I could hardly open my eye and tried to rinse it out in the kitchen sink. We tried looking in my eye for something, but nothing could be found. Hours went by and this thing was still in my eye and all I could do was walk around the house with my hand covering my eye so it could stay shut as it would hurt to open it.

12 hours later, I went to bed with this thing still in my eye thinking maybe magically it would be gone in the morning when I wake up. Of course when I woke up, it was still there. I was so annoyed. I remember standing in the shower with my eyes open into the water trying to rinse it out. That didn't work. I remember, filling the bathtub with water and dunking my head in the water thinking it this thing in my eye would come out as it would wash away like swimming in a pool with the eyes open. Nothing was working.

So my parents took me to the Doctor to see what they could do. He looked in and could see nothing. He decided to try and flush out my eye with some sort of bag that looked like an i.v. solution. He went through 2 bags of fluid and nothing worked. I remember leaving the office frustrated as whatever he tried to do couldn't work and there was no action plan other than wait and see what happens. So I went through the rest of the day miserable and just holding my eye closed hoping to just go to bed and couldn't wait until night.

I woke up the next morning thinking that there would be no end to this eye problem once again. It was Sunday morning and I really didn't want to go to church as I was embarrassed having to walk around with my hand covering my eye as it was going to look weird. We had a youth service at our church and I remember going through motions of listening to the 1st set of songs and listening to the youth pastor preach. He did his typical thing at the end of his sermon saying that during the closing worship if anyone wanted any sort of prayer to come forward and see one of the youth leaders in the front.

I thought to myself, I feel really weird going up front asking for prayer. What are people going to think of me? I was in so much pain and frustration that I figured, "What the heck, lets get some prayer. I'll take anything at this point." I sat down with the youth leader and explained the situation. We closed our eyes and he did the most simple prayer of asking for healing. We both knew that this sort of thing just doesn't happen, but we asked God anyways. This prayer was about 30 seconds in length, probably less than 30 words... possibly 50.

I opened up my eyes after the prayer, It was gone! Whatever this possible thing that was in my eye for the past 48 hours was gone. There was absolutely no tears shed during the prayer if you are possibly thinking that I cried it out. The youth leader even looked at me like "What the heck just happened!"

It was the weirdest thing that ever happened to me in my life. But, I'll always look back in my life with the understanding that I went through an experience in my life where God healed me and showed me how real He is. Most people walk their life believing in God and living in faith. Surly some people think to themselves of the thoughts that they might die and figure out that Christianity was a waste of time and a fraud. What I went through showed me how God is real through an incredible but simple miracle. There could never be any doubt as long as I live that even though we can't see Him... He exists and His glory was shown through that experience. I just wish everyone could have an experience like that as it would change the way we think and live. It would make a die-hard atheist change their beliefs.

So that is my story and my testimony. You just never know how God will respond when you pray, but remember today that He is listening every time you speak to him. He's listening and I hope you get blown away like I did! God is real, no doubt!