Godly Coincidence reinforces Jim's belief

(this blog has grown up and is now a full website.  Please go instead to www.wtness.org.)
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My friend Jim Deahl-Coy of Ferndale, Michigan was driving to meet me to car pool last week, early in the morning.  It was just about sunrise.  He told me that he was driving north on Woodward towards 11 Mile Road, and was saying out loud to Jesus, "Lord, thank you so much for this amazingly beautiful sunrise that you painted for us, to start our day!  It is wonderful!"  Just at that moment, Jim drove past a church that had a large custom-message sign out front (you've seen them).  The sign was an electronic sign that rotated between four messages.  At the exact moment Jim looked at it, the message changed to say, "You are welcome!"

It sent shivers up and down Jim's back because of the coincidence in timing, he said, and the perfectly appropriate double-meaning, and made him believe even more deeply in the reality of Jesus living today and caring about even the little things in our lives.

(Read the rest at Wtness.org)

God seemed to provide visual approval to an outdoor gathering of 20,000 people in Detroit

A throng of Christians walking from Comerica Park down Woodward Avenue to the Spirit of Detroit Statue

On April 16 2011, I was one of approx. 20,000 people who came to Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers, for a first-time prayer walk by the multi-church outreach organization in Detroit called E.A.C.H.  (Everyone a Chance to Hear).  That number alone is enough to make you pause and think about the sheer number of Christians who came to show support to this new Christian service movement in Detroit.  But it was more impressive when that number turned out in the rain.  Most were equipped with rain ponchos or umbrellas, because it was raining when we got there, and the forecast said it was supposed to rain all morning. 

In fact, one of the men who made that prediction was local TV weatherman Chuck Gaidica.  As the event started, the rain stopped, and Chuck said in a beaming voice, (paraphrased here) “My colleagues and I predicted rain here in Detroit all morning.  The sudden dryness at that very moment in this very place could only be credited to God.”  The crowd cheered in agreement.  It seemed to be a thought most of us had had prior to Chuck saying so...  

 

(Read the rest at Wtness.org)

Find Jesus in the Lasagna

No, this is not another tacky silly story about how somebody found a silhouette of the Lord on a burnt piece of toast.   No pictures in the lasagna.  Rather, two people I love thought of lasagna at the same well-timed moment, and it made us all think we were receiving ‘help from above’.

In the previous blog post,  I mentioned that I’d write two stories about real-life coincidences that indicate to me the love of Jesus in the days before my Mom's death, because someone was provided exactly what they needed in a surprise way.  This is one of those stories. 

Background:  at the time of this story, my mother was declining in health rapidly due to breast cancer.  My brother-in-law was in the hospital in a touch-and-go situation requiring daily attention from my wife and her sisters.  And my middle daughter Monica was getting less attention than she normally gets when she comes home from college for a several-day break.

So my wife Mary, stressed to the hilt but still mindful of the needs of her children, said to Monica, “Sweetheart; I haven’t given you much attention recently.  I’d like to do something nice for you. 

...


(Read the rest at Wtness.org)

The Lord's sense of humor, a mute man, and the sports section

This blog posting was submitted by the same man who wrote the Jan. 24, 2012 posting, “Feed My Sheep”.

I'm offering this experience because it has given me a personal insight into the Lord's sense of humor.

The Lord and I have had a love affair since I was a child because I have always felt the Lord's touch in my life. I have been blessed to have very holy parents but I have also known many truly spiritual people who entered my life briefly and positively influenced many of my life choices. I have always asked questions. Homilies, class lessons and reading assignments answered my questions while I was a student.

In the early 1970's I had just resolved a crisis of faith which led me to accept a role I had previously relegated to ordained people. Although I was certain that I loved God, I had lots of insecurities concerning my worthiness to become an active Catholic Christian lay person. (This was a time when we were losing lots of religious people and suddenly, there were much fewer ordained individuals to teach religion, visit the sick, and distribute the Eucharist.) Although I had theology and religion classes in high school and college I was very uncomfortable abandoning the passive lay person role I had accepted before I began sharing my religious beliefs as a CCD instructor (Christian Doctrine for school aged kids), bringing the Eucharist to the sick and volunteering to visit the sick. I was one conflicted, uptight person when I started.

"Friendly Visitor" was the title given at St Mark's parish in Catonsville, MD to volunteers who ministered to the aged and sick patients at local nursing homes. My first patient was a very ill paralyzed gentleman who was in obvious pain and who was attached to monitoring, IV tubes and breathing devices. He was dying, suffering, and unable to communicate besides. Fortunately, we were taught how to engage patients in discussion and to elicit responses from patients who were unable to speak by using eye blinks: one for no and two for yes...

(Read the rest at Wtness.org)

She felt God 'smiled' upon her college photo entry

Several years ago my mother won a Minolta camera at a convention and gave it to me as a gift.  I didn’t know a thing about how it worked, so I decided to start at the beginning with a basic black and white photography class at Oakland Community College. 

As the semester progressed, the weekly commitment of time in class and in lab as well as away from my daughter became a burden and I wondered if the whole thing was worth it. 

"Cross in the Woods" at Indian River, Michigan

Our final project was to shoot, develop and mat a series of four photos related by style, content or other means. I chose the theme, “Where does the cross appear in our daily lives”, avoiding obvious places like church.  My four pictures would move from crosses that were highly visible to those that were easily missed.  Would my classmates reject the spiritual subject matter displayed in a secular setting? Would the pictures turn out?

With time at a premium, I raced up north to photograph the largest outdoor cross in the nation at Indian River, Michigan. Puffy clouds cooperated to provide the perfect textured background.  Next I took several shots of my mother’s hands, workers’ hands, lovingly cradling the rosary.  I enlisted my brother’s help, photographing the tattoo on his ankle of a cross within a heart, his own creation... 

(Read the rest at Wtness.org) 

Terry Murray

During a painful time, he felt hugged by Jesus

"A long time ago now, I got divorced.  It was a really bad one.  Both of us were in real pain.  It was a horrible time and I needed some hope.  I stood outside of my trailer and saw a rainbow just at that exact moment when I needed to feel hope, and I felt "That's it! That's Him!"
When He really embraces you, and I mean I felt like the rainbow was a personal hug just for me, then you know there's a new beginning.  It made all the difference.

What that taught me was that as long as we stay near Him (have faith that is), He will hold us up.  It's been years since that rainbow, and I still feel the same way, and that's why I stay close to Him."


(Read the rest at Wtness.org)   

Jake from Troy, Michigan