A refreshing read where one can experience on an emotional level the stages of the author's life, dramatic conversion, and miraculous answers to prayer. As the book shifts from a memoir to a more concerted defense of the faith and relevant social topics, you may find yourself saying, “Yes! Exactly! and wanting to share these thoughts with nonbelievers.
My heart's desire and motivation for writing is to strengthen believers and to reach those who are seeking God but are struggling with doubts stemming from competing world views.
This book offers more than a memoir of my life and miraculous answers to prayer. I trust it will serve as an inspiration and valuable resource not only to the reader but to family members, college students, and those who hunger to know God yet have questions that hold them back.
What sets this book apart from other books of a similar genre is the unique blending of a memoir containing intimate personal experiences, historical events, and dramatic answers to prayer together with a strong, scientific, and philosophical defense of the Christian faith. Writing it this way appeals to those encouraged by stories of faith and personal testimony, as well as those who are in pursuit of truth on more of an intellectual level.
This book is also unique in that great lengths are taken to avoid positioning Christians as better persons, a we-versus-them mentality, or saying things that might unnecessarily trigger a non-believer while reading the book. Much of our Christian jargon is not relatable to those who are not Christians. It takes more work to accomplish this without compromising the truth in the process, but it makes for a better read.
I think the readers will most enjoy the examples I share of miraculously answered prayers.
This mountain area was not a tourist attraction; the waterfall was secluded and difficult to access. The view was stunning: the water that poured powerfully and loudly over the rocky cliff and down the mountainside glistened as it caught rays of sun.
The long hike was well worth it. Having climbed about halfway up the side of the falls, I decided to sit down on a rock near the water. Wanting to cool off, I took off my hiking boots and stuck my feet in the cold current of water. Almost immediately after I set the shoes down, they were swept away in a sudden wave that rushed over the stone on which I had left them, and they disappeared down the waterfall and out of sight.
Losing my shoes would obviously prove to be a huge problem in any outdoor situation—not to mention that a good part of our chosen trail consisted of jagged mountain rocks.
It was midafternoon, and my friends decided to go down the waterfall and search the creek for my boots while I remained at the waterfall. Without shoes, I was confined to one flat spot.
I maintained a good degree of optimism that my boots would be found somewhere down the creek, but after an hour had passed with no sign of the other guys or the shoes, I began to lose hope. After about two hours had passed, I started worrying that something might have happened to them.
Wild thoughts began to run through my head. Did someone get mauled by a bear? I knew I couldn't walk the entire trail barefoot, and even if I could, there was little chance that I could find my way back to the camp since we deviated far from the trail to reach the waterfall.
The sun was momentarily obscured by a large cloud, which reminded me of how cold nightfall would be. I was wearing only a T-shirt and shorts. Temperatures went down to the low forties or high thirties at night, and for a native Floridian, this was downright frigid. I was not looking forward to a night of shivering or possible encounters with hungry wildlife.
After what seemed like hours alone with my thoughts running wild, I composed myself and began to pray. Shortly after raising my head upon closing my prayer, I was amazed to see someone off in the distance, approaching the base of the waterfall where I was sitting. He had a fly-fishing rod in one hand, a backpack, and something draped over his shoulder.
This fly fisherman was the first person I had seen, aside from my group, for the entire week and the only person I would see for the remainder of the trip. He called out after spotting me near the base of the waterfall. We exchanged greetings, and then I proceeded to tell him that my boots had been swept up in the water and carried down the waterfall. I was floored when, without hesitation, he said that he had a pair of hiking boots he would like to give to me. It's one thing to have someone show up out of nowhere. It is another thing for that person to have an extra pair of hiking boots strung around his shoulders and for him to be willing to give them to you. If that were not enough, the shoe size would have to be around the correct size. I could be wrong, but I believe my size of 9.5 wide is somewhat on the small side for an average adult male of his height. On top of that, I had just been engaged in fervent prayer.
The boots happened to be precisely my size. They were a perfect fit, even more comfortable than the pair I had lost. This hiker who found me in this remote spot, well off the beaten path, could have been unknowingly led by the Spirit of God to my exact location.
For the doubting Thomas, this would just be another coincidence in the game of life and nothing more. It saddens me to see people with this frame of mind completely missing out on one of the greatest communication and relationship-building channels prayer creates with God. This is mostly how He has chosen to reveal Himself to people.
Meanwhile, my friends finally made their way back to the waterfall. I could tell by the way that they carried themselves that they were unable to locate the shoes. I decided to act as if nothing happened and wait for their reaction upon noticing that I was wearing a new pair of hiking boots. It quickly dawned on them. “No way! Where did you get those?" I told them I had gone shopping at the outlet mall on the other side of the falls and asked them what had taken so long. It made for a good laugh.
One of the many lessons I have learned in life is that God often communicates to me through prayer when I am humbled and somewhat desperate. He sets Himself against proud, arrogant, and faithless behavior. It can be hard to get to know Him if we allow these traits to dominate us.