A spiritual memoir of one man’s journey from faith lost to faith found again. He suffered survivor’s guilt after escaping death many times and lived to tell the tale. How God pulled him from the brink of suicide and proved to him that there is a God.
Gary is a survivor of a deadly hurricane as a child and many other death-defying moments along the way. He suffered physical abuse, sexual abuse, poverty, racism, emotional trauma, and despair. But with God’s help, he overcame it all. Today, as an independent contractor, he is a Lead Engineer for the National Aeronautics Space Agency (NASA).
Escaping death 9 times and living to tell the tale of how God saved me and turned my life around 180 degrees.
My life has been anything but a smooth ride and I believe God
has been a huge part of why I was able to make it as far as I have.
So I say to you, don’t tell me there ain’t no God, cause I know
better. I have also worked hard to get where I am today and I am
proof that you can overcome anything. I came from a family who
had nothing and I worked my way to where I am today—I worked
to attain the American Dream. If you’re thinking that your life
is nothing and you’re down and out about what you can achieve,
pick yourself up and work for what you want, being mindful that
with God, all things are possible!
For most of my early life, I lived without faith—faith in myself, faith in humanity, faith in God. During that time, I cheated death more times than I can count. I’ve told these stories to people who have come and gone in my lifetime and have always received the same reaction and response, “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
Don’t be sorry. There’s no reason to be. Why? Because I was spared each and every time. But my question was always why. Why was I spared? Was there a specific purpose for me to be alive? Was there something I was destined to accomplish?
As I look back on my life while writing this book, I realize that this is my destiny—to write this book. To share my life’s story as a testimony and deliver a message from God. To show all the bad that can happen but, more importantly, how possible it is to overcome it all through faith in God.
This book is my testimony—written in His name and for His purpose—to my children, my family, and to the world. This is my message that there is a supreme being, called God, who created Heaven and Earth. He created the first human beings in Adam and Eve, whom He loved with the greatest love ever known. To prove His love for them and their offspring, He came down to Earth as a man, Jesus of Nazareth. He allowed his creation to wrongfully convict Him, mock Him, beat Him to within an inch of his life, and then nail Him to a cross while He suffered unimaginable pain. He had the power to come down from that cross and to destroy.
His enemies but He did not. This, I believe, is what is meant by, “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NIV)
After agonizing for hours, He died and was buried, but arose from the grave on the third day and was seen by many witnesses. After 40 days, He ascended to heaven in the sight of men and sat down at the right hand of His Father. At the appointed time, He will return to vanquish His enemies and keep His promise that those who believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.
My life has shown me that there is a God and His word is true. My life and the stories of escaping death are my proof. Therefore, I am sold out to God. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything in all creation will be able to separate me from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39 NIV).
“He who testifies to these things says, Yes, I am coming soon. Amen. Come Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen.” (Revelation 22:20-21 NIV