%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
Special UnOfficial Christian Newsletter about miracles and salvation experiences with God |
| The UnOfficial Christian Newsletter Co-Editors: Wes Roach, Cat Saxon, Grammapenny And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. Isaiah 65:24 UCN Newsletter Special Edition-April 13th, 2003 Stories of Miracles and Salvation Experiences From Writing.com Authors! First Edition for Easter
Thank you Grandmapenny! Through It All (ID #459813) What if this had been your son, friend, or former Sunday School student? by: grandmapenny   PJ: As I backed out of my driveway onto the icy road the morning of December 19, 1989, something spoke to my heart, "Look back. This will be the last time you leave this driveway." SANDY: My husband, Paul and I sat in front of the T.V. drinking our morning coffee as we watched the weather advisory. Since the roads were icy, Paul called our son, PJ to ask him not to try driving to work, but he had already left for work. PJ: When I arrived at work, my boss sent me to pick up a couple of co-workers. Passengers in tow, we headed to the Rest Center where we worked. As I came onto the bridge, I hit a sheet of ice and slid into the bridge rail. I was thankful no one was hurt, but angry at myself for my carelessness. I jumped out to check the damage to my car. A truck slid into my car, knocking it into me. I felt myself in midair. "I'm going to die!" I thought. I heard a voice say, "Close your eyes, my son." Then I was standing on the side of the road, watching my body hit the pavement below. My face hit first and my head bounced like a basketball. Next to me stood a grim reaper. He shook his head, and as he turned to the right, I started to follow him, but a round white cloud came over my left shoulder. When the grim reaper saw it, he started to curse and vanished right before my eyes. I floated into the cloud, feeling a sweet peace. SANDY: I prayed for my son's safety as we turned back to the news. A man had fallen off the overpass, 55' down, onto the pavement of I-77. Again, I prayed for PJ's safety as we watched six attendants place the man on a stretcher and roll him into the ambulance. A few minutes later, fear gripped my heart as the phone rang. Our son had been in an accident and we needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. What seemed like eons later, we ran into the hospital where we were led into a room that I realized was where they take you when they don't think your loved one will make it. A doctor came in and explained what was going on. It was PJ we had seen on the news. He had also been run over by 2 cars after he had fallen. He had a closed-head injury, the left side of his face was crushed, his neck was broken, he had compound fractures of his left arm, his pelvis was crushed and he was breathing, only by the help of a machine. They put in a trec tube, but later made a permanent opening in his throat. Christmas Day, PJ developed pneumonia. Still, all Paul and I could do for our son was pray. One day when our pastor, Herman Winkler visited PJ, he took him by the hand and said, "PJ, if you know who I am, squeeze my hand." PJ squeezed Herman's hand. Herman said, "If you want Jesus to come into your heart, squeeze my hand." Again, PJ squeezed our pastor's hand. PJ: I was still floating, but I thought, "Why did I squeeze that man's hand? He asked if I want Jesus to come into my heart. Yes!" SANDY: God, through His love and mercy brought our son to a conscious level so he could accept Jesus as his personal Savior. January 23, thirty-five days after the accident, PJ opened his eyes. PJ: When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was in the hospital. I heard voices in the hall. Slowly, I sat up, threw my feet over the side of the bed and tried to stand up, but my legs wouldn't hold me. As I started falling someone caught me and helped me back in bed. SANDY: On January 24, the trec was replaced with a permanent feeding tube to PJ's stomache. He was transferred to Charlotte Rehabilitation Hospital where we were told he had brain damage. Every afternoon, we'd read to him from the Bible and talk to him about Jesus. The therapists worked with him, teaching him to sit up, then to stand. After two months, I watched our son take his first step, just as we watched him learn to feed himself, dress himself, and learn how to talk all over again. He was in Rehabilitation Hospital for seven months. PJ: At first I'd get discouraged and quit trying, but finally I realized only my efforts would get me through. I went to church services at the hospital until Mama and Daddy were allowed to take me to my home church where I was pushed into the church in a wheel chair. The next time, I used a walker, then a cane. Then came the big day, when I walked in on my own and sat on the front pew. During the music service, I walked to the front of the church, sang a song, and walked back to my pew. Nearly 12 years after my accident, I play the guitar and sing. Everywhere I go I give my testimony and witness for Jesus. One of my favorite songs is, "Through It All". SANDY: Paul and I are disabled now and often, we become despondent due to our circumstances. But when we're at our lowest, PJ reads to us from the Bible or sings us a song, and as we watch our son, we're reminded that nothing is impossible with God, and His "Amazing Grace" will carry us "Through It All". © Copyright 2002 grandmapenny-is a genie (UN: grandmapenny at Writing.Com).
Thank you Aaron who loves Easter! Coming To Christ (ID #480931) My testimony of how God has transformed my life by: aaronmatthew I have prayed for a decent portion of my life. When I was in sixth grade I can remember hearing someone at school talk about praying every night, so I thought that would be a good idea. I never really understood what it was, though. My prayers were filled with selfish wants and sinful desires. I have always thought of myself as a Christian, but I did not know what it meant to be one. Christianity in a whole was so skewed to me; it's safe to say I had created my own separate religion. So I lived the next few years of my life. All during my high school years I feared the future, not wanting to grow up. I really just drifted along, caught up in the flow of the world. Looking back, I see I was really drowning in my own sin. My life was spiraling out of control, and I was lost. Then what I see as no less than a miracle happened to me. I turned 19 on Sunday January 14th, 2001; but I remember that date for so much more. That day I went to my father's house in Lima after work. My day at work was particularly bad, and I was not in a good mood at all going there. My father had a friend over who cooked us some chili. It may have been that chili, or possibly something that had been stirring up inside myself for a while, but nevertheless I got sick. I should also note that I had just started the second quarter at the Lima branch of The Ohio State University about a week prior. Like I did the quarter before, I started skipping classes. To be completely truthful, I skipped them all. I so loathed college, but I saw no alternative to it. I was ignoring my problems; hoping they would just all go away. But things just don't go away. Sometime that weekend of the 14th I had decided that I was going to go all out, get everything caught up with college, and straighten out my life. Getting sick was not in those plans. I tried, but could not muster the strength to go to school. I became so miserable; I felt ripped off. I had finally got the desire to do what I had to do, and now something was keeping me from doing it. I slept most of Monday and Tuesday. I realized that there was now no way I could catch up with any of it. I didn't know what I could do. I was without hope, without direction, and without a clue. I am going to tell you something now that I cannot comprehend. I will not tell you what to make of it, just what I felt happened. That Tuesday, I fell asleep on the couch. I dreamt of three crosses, side by side, with the center one larger than the others. All of them had a dark reddish glow to them against the pitch black background. That is all I remember of the dream. After waking, I started to ponder the purpose of the dream. I believe it was a message from God. At the time I thought I was being called to be a priest or something. I soon realized that I was feeling a lot better. I got up and walked around a bit, ate some, and got on the internet. I saw someone on my instant messaging list that I cannot remember ever being on at the same time as me, or ever since. We had a short talk about my dream, and a little about what it might have meant. After a bit I felt sick again, and got off to lie back down. The next day I was still sick, but wanted to see if she had said anything else to me, and sure enough, there was a message. She said that she was happy that I wanted to become a Christian. This was a shock. I always considered myself to be a Christian, and here is this friend, one of the closest friends that I had, who didn't believe I was one. I sure told her I was, but something must have got to me, because I decided that I should start reading the Bible. All of 2001 I kept my father's Bible around the house, but rarely read it. Until November I had not progressed past Exodus. About that time I attended this church; the first church I had decided to go to since I was 5 or 6. In the 8 months that have followed, I read the Bible straight through, and have learned much about our God. It was not an easy journey at all; I kept hold of so many sins in my life. But I have learned that all sin keeps us from God. I have learned that Jesus was not just some guy that God sent to die for us, but He is one with God, and he took away all of our sins. I realize now where I was heading. I had thought that if I just went with the flow of the world that I would eventually get to wherever I should go. But this world is an ocean of sin. There is plenty worth living for in the world, but too much is caught up in this flow. You either fight it, or let it carry you away, but either way leads to eventual drowning. Thankfully God saves us; He pulls us out from the waters and brings us to dry land. He has done everything for me, and I know without Him I would still be drowning, or perhaps even have drowned in my own sin. I still find myself wading back into those waters from time to time, but God is never far from me, and always pulls me back. Praise be to Him! Looking back to January 14th, 2001, and the events that occurred shortly afterward, I see my folly in it all. In my naivety, I saw God sending me a message to preach for Him, and in fact He was, but not the way I saw it. God was not merely calling me to Him, but waking me up, pulling me out of that ocean of sin. Shamefully I had forgotton that He was there. Thankfully He was the entire time, still is, and will be forever, so that at the end of my life I can too go to heaven. God really pulled me through, even in my darkest hours. I was just drifting, even comtemplating suicide because I so dreaded the future. I didn't have anything to live for. He has been reminding me all along that He's still here and that He loves me, but I was always too absorbed in myself to listen. He communicated to me through that dream and through my friend I talked to online. He was still reminding me even after that, but I believe I was more open to it then. His love has really transformed my life. I have goals for the future. I have love for others. I am truly alive now, because I died to myself, and started letting Him live through me. This is but one powerful example of how God has worked in my life. I pray this testimony may touch your hearts, and strengthen your faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. © Copyright 2002 Aaron Loves Easter (UN: aaron2u2 at Writing.Com).
Another story written by Aaron who loves Easter! With two more following this one. Write on Aaron! {The Long Car Ride (ID #569837) My ever-continuing testimony...why I don't speed by: aaronmatthew On November 7th, I went to visit my friend John at his college in Chicago. Now for me, living in northwest Ohio, that's over a four hour drive. I have never driven that far ever. I really prayed about this, and asked others to pray for me too. I know I'm not the best driver, although I normally follow some very basic driving rules that others don't. For one, I rarely if ever speed. I've wanted to get bumper stickers that way things like tailgate me? I'll just go slower! and my grandmother drives faster than I do. I understood that driving into Chicago I might be forced to go above the speed limit, after all, it's rather hard to merge into lanes unless you are going at the speed of traffic. It's just a sad fact of our roadways today. If I don't, I'd more likely to cause a traffic jam or an accident. I got myself together and started to leave. I stopped by a local gas station and stocked up on supplies (starburst, combos, water) and got ready to go. The trip was, of course, incredibly monotonous. All I had was the radio, and God, but I forgot about him as the trip went on. I wasn't paying much attention to the road. Driving down state route 30 for 100+ miles might do that to you, but I know better. After a bit, I started speeding. I thought I'd be pressed for time, even though I left an hour earlier than I had planned, and even then I'd still have plenty of time. I was getting more bored. I had an idea; I'd listen to my mp3 player. I figure as long as I don't put the headphones on it'll be ok. That lasted less than a minute before I just put them on. So I drove for over an hour with my headphones on. I believe as time went on I realized that I wasn't paying enough attention to the road, but I didn't take them off. Then it happened. I was driving through Valparaiso, speeding, and I saw a yellow light. At the speed I was going I should have went through it, but I didn't. I stopped. Behind me was a truck carrying a trailer with something really big on it, and it slammed on it's brakes. It had to swerve halfway into the other lane just to avoid hitting me. At this point I realized I had been screwing up pretty bad, but still didn't really react. I took the headphones off immediately, and got focused. I should have got out of that lane though. About three stoplights later I was at the light, and that same guy was behind me. He got out of his truck at the light and came up to my window and started chewing me out, telling me how I almost caused an accident, and that he was going to call the city if I couldn't get my act together. That fixed me pretty good. I immediately turned out of that lane, and didn't speed unless I absolutely had to the rest of the way. I made it to Chicago safely, if you can put it that way. Yeah, this is all well and good, but what does this all mean? Really God had to be protecting me, because I was so absorbed into things outside of driving that it's a miracle I didn't get into worse. I followed a path of little sins and wrongs until it was getting worse and worse, like a speeding train out of control. It took that type of shock to get me back on track. This is the path I went down. First, I ate all that horrible food. Putting that fatty stuff in my body is just a temporary fix to eating...without something healthy or balanced my hunger won't be sated. A pretty good analogy to what I was doing spiritually at the time. When I started to speed, I took my trust from God, the trust that I'd make it there on time. I was taking my life out of His hands and into my own. Then I broke even more laws, like wearing the headphones, and truly put my life and others at risk. Looking back, I realize a few things. First off, I was really pushing the line. But at the same time, if that guy would have hit me at the stoplight, it would have been his fault. He was speeding, and the light would have been red by the time he got to it. I would have ran the red light too, but I was going way too fast into the light. I think I've learned a valuable lesson in all of this, and I hope that I'll treasure it, lest I have to get another one. Knowing all God did for me on this trip, my faith has been strengthened even more. I pray that in everything, unlike what I did here, I will just trust Him, for He has a plan for my life, and will take care of me! © Copyright 2002 Aaron Loves Easter (UN: aaron2u2 at Writing.Com).
Alcohol and Communion (ID #633801) Why I couldn't take communion by: aaronmatthew In June of 2002 I was confirmed at Redeemer Lutheran Church. Before I was able to do this, though, I took 'Catechism,' a class that will tell you of the Lutheran faith and beliefs. The class was very educational, and made me realize that my beliefs fell in line with those of the Lutheran belief. There was a problem, though. I was not very sure about the communion meal. For all my life, I have seen alcohol as something bad. I didn't understand why it had to be used. I had read in many places that 'the fruit of the vine' is what the drink was called; which could mean that any juice associated with grapes could be acceptable. I had never drank an alcoholic beverage in my life. The whole idea sickened me, and still does. I do not want to start bringing out my family laundry, but, yeah, alcohol is rather prevalent in our family. Many of my Christmas memories coincide with relatives getting drunk and driving home with their families. We have been blessed that no one has been hurt, but that doesn't mean it still might not happen. To their defense, many have either scaled this back, or quit drinking completely. Not only that, but I've seen countless videos, either at school, or on television, of people dying because of the influences of alcohol. It has been very hard for me to get over how destructive it is. From June until January I had taken grape juice instead of wine for communion. The Pastor at the time had no apparent problem with that. One of the church elders began to worry about me. He saw that I wasn't even taking communion, with the grape juice, for long times in between. I was really confused about everything, myself. I didn't understand why it had to be wine, alcohol, something I had loathed since the beginnings of my life. That same church elder talked to me while on a ski trip. He asked me why I hadn't been taking communion (it's his job to keep track of those things). I told him a lot of my concerns. What he had to say about alcohol and communion helped a lot. He also told me that I should talk with our new Pastor about it as well; that he might have something more enlightening to say about it. At this time I was a little more confused. I didn't want this part of my life to be messed up again. I prayed and prayed. I asked God that the choice be made clear for me. I had taken a vow a long time ago never to touch an alcoholic drink. I know I have the genetics for alcoholism. I was so afraid that if I let myself have alcohol in even one small arena in my life, that my sinfulness could use that against me to get me to drink in more social environments. I think this is when the reality of alcohol really began to sink in. Alcohol isn't inherently evil. Alcohol was made by God, for a good purpose. Alcohol isn't evil, the abuse of it is. It is the great perverter satan who has led people to use and abuse it. In fact, it has become a symbol of evil to many people, like it was to me. Because it is something God has blessed for all to enjoy, satan has taken advantage of that and turned it into a stumbling block for many, including me. Satan has used alcohol to do many things to people. It just confused me; and kept my faith off-base. Needless to say, I was still very confused when I met with our Pastor about this. What he said made perfect sense. All that was keeping me back was that nagging feeling that I'd be doing something wrong. God answered my prayer by letting me leave that meeting with a sense of peace I hadn't felt for a while. I wasn't afraid of becoming an alcoholic anymore. I know that God will protect me from such a thing; that He won't let Satan use the Lord's Supper for something so evil. On February 8th, I took the Lord's Supper with wine. I no longer feel like an outsider. The part of me that was confused is no longer. My life hasn't been magically changed, but a few things are clearer. I have all the confidence in the world that this decision was for the best, because it was a decision to just trust God and His word, and not to follow my own set of beliefs on things. Trusting God is always the best policy! May the glory be to Him who has saved me! © Copyright 2003 Aaron Loves Easter (UN: aaron2u2 at Writing.Com).
Snowed In, Without Water (ID #633820) One small way God has helped me by: aaronmatthew Just yesterday (February 17th), God gave me two very visible examples of His mercy. Our water pump blew three days earlier, Saturday night, to be exact. We assumed that plumbers aren't usually open for business on Sunday, so Mom waited until Monday (the 17th) to call them. This means I was without a shower since Saturday afternoon. Also, we had been getting lots of snow. Our driveway looked like a small hill, there was so much snow in it. Shoveling it would have taken hours upon hours. On that Monday, I woke up around noon. I had to be at work at four. I didn't see any way I could have shoveled out that entire driveway in time. Also, since we were without water, I needed to shower somewhere, probably at the YMCA, but that would require leaving earlier. I was a little pressed for time. It was nearing three, and I had assumed that I'd just go without a shower, just washing my hair with some bottled water. I figured I'd try bowling through the snow drifts with my car. I was really struggling, and I could tell that I wasn't going to have a lot of help from my family. The plumbers were there, and they were preoccupied with them. I was just about ready to go upstairs and wash out my hair, when I looked outside and saw that our neighbor had stopped by, in his tractor (he's a farmer), and plowed out our entire driveway! I could get out rather easy now! I was excited, and realized that God had taken care of me yet again. My hopes were up, so I decided to put off getting ready for work until the last minute, in case the plumbers got the water working before I had to leave. Sure enough, at almost the last second, it was working, and I was able to take a shower (it was cold, because the water heater was turned off, but a shower is a shower). God's providential hand was truly with me then. If my car got stuck, nothing too bad would have happened. If I couldn't have taken a shower, the world wouldn't have collapsed. That's what makes it more amazing! God wants to take care of our entire lives, even the small things. I left for work realizing that I am truly blessed. I have a God that watches out for me in everything that I do. His love endures forever! © Copyright 2003 Aaron Loves Easter (UN: aaron2u2 at Writing.Com) Thank you to both authors who have contributed their stories for us to read and rejoice with! I hope to have more stories from the rest of you to publish this month! Get cranking up on writing them and please send them to me soon! Please read and rate these authors with comments, for stepping up to the plate and being the first willing witnesses of God’s love. Cat Saxon, UCN Editor...Happy Easter Everyone!
If you have friends who are Christian on this site who are not part of this group send them this link and encourage them to send in their story on their salvation and miracles in their life! |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
