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meejo
Hello, All -

I am new to this forum and this is my first post so please forgive the lengthy message.

I came to the Christian faith through a number of converging paths.

I was raised the son of a non-practicing Jewish father and a formerly Roman Catholic mother who rejected religion of any kind. Growing up in a largely Conservative-Jewish town, I was culturally Jewish by association, with only enough tribal DNA to legitimately skip school on the high holidays.

When I was twenty-eight years old, my best friend from High School was stricken with cancer and died after a painful illness. Although not particularly religious, he had been raised in a Kosher home by parents who had lost their parents in the German Holocaust. At the funeral, the rabbi read a short tribute to him that could have applied to anyone with just the substitution of his name and a few career-specific words. That was it. His whole life was summed up in a few paragraphs of boilerplate after which he was planted in the ground. It disturbed me tremendously.

A few years later, my aunt lost her courageous battle with cancer. Ten years earlier, she was given only six months to live. She was a deeply religious, Evangelical Christian who was very involved with her church. Her funeral was attended by most people of her congregation and her minister spoke with passion and sincerity about my aunt, recalling personal experiences of her. While we were all mourning her loss, there was also a general feeling that she had ascended to a better place where her life would be eternal. There was sadness about her death but happiness about her new life with Jesus. I wanted to know that.

A few years after that, I was married and had a little boy, Benjamin. Even though I had no religious preference, my wife was Christian and we wanted to belong to a community of faith and provide my son with a spiritual foundation that was lacking in our youth.

I had recently been diagnosed with MS and walking was difficult, sprinting impossible. One evening after returning from Gymboree, I handed two year-old Benjamin enrollment papers to give to my wife. No sooner had I given him the papers, and before I took his hand, he dashed across the street. Unable to bolt after him, I shouted his name, heard the screech of brakes and saw my precious little boy slammed into by a car. He lay motionless on the ground. Though I had never prayed in my life, I dropped to my knees and begged God not to take my little boy. The ambulance and paramedics arrived in seconds and raced to the hospital where a trauma team was ready and waiting for him.

After hours of every kind of test, the doctors were happy to report that Benjamin had suffered only some scratches on his head and knuckles. I immediately heard from the medical staff how resilient young children are but I knew that only Jesus could have saved my little boy from such an impact and I thanked him then and have not stopped thanking him since.

Just after Esther was born, I lost my well-paying job at a large New York financial institution. I had never lost a job in my life. I was the one who would survive the mergers and acquisitions emerging stronger than before. But, here I was: middle-aged, partially disabled and with two young children. We went through all our savings and investments and moved in with my father, but the time came when there was nothing left to sell or borrow.

Facing certain poverty and even homelessness, I started to have those “George Bailey” thoughts realizing I was worth more dead than alive. I still had my life insurance that would pay for the children’s education and support my family for years.

They say when there is no one to turn to give your burdens to Jesus. I prayed with all my heart and soul for an alternative. Aside from being a sin, suicide would have been devastating to my wife and children.

I frantically reviewed a business plan I had developed during the Dot.Com gold rush to see if it held any possibility for success. I scanned every paragraph and spreadsheet cell hoping to find some clue. I kept hearing “turn it around”, which I at first interpreted as encouragement to turn my life around. At the very end of the plan, almost a footnote was a suggestion to develop a children’s version of the website proposed. Then it struck me like a brick. I knew it meant to turn the plan around and create a website for children first. It was so obvious! In a microsecond I went from contemplating suicide to hope and excitement! Once again, the saving grace of Jesus had touched me. Since then, there has been no insurmountable obstacle. It has been like door after door to brighter rooms opening up for us.

The goal of my website, The Adventures of Ben & Esther, is to eventually earn money. But, if it never does that is OK too. It has already served its purpose.

The blessed love of Jesus to all,
Jonah
Glen
Praise God for His miracles in your life. I pray God's blessing on you, your family and your wonderful website.
INLJ
Amen! excl.gif
semi
meejo -

What a wonderful testimony. I join with Glen and IMLJ in praying that your mission and your finances will be blessed abundantly, In Jesus' Name, Amen,.

Shalom.
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