Another Wednesday; therefore, time to follow Wednesday's protocol. I woke up at 9 AM and began to get ready for my morning commute to class. My thoughts seemed a bit more scattered than normal and were pulling me in another direction. Lately, I've been absolutely burning for God. It's been this unexplainable passion. I've just felt connected with Him through prayer and every aspect of my worship. I opened my Bible the night before and began reading the New Testament. On this very Wednesday morning, I felt compelled to skip class and continue my reading of Matthew. At about 9:30 AM, I decided that's exactly what I would do.
After breakfast and my daily dose of ESPN, I continued to read. Something that caught my eye the most was in Matthew 16:8, Jesus addresses his disciples, "You of little faith." How could these men have little faith after witnessing all of the miracles they had seen Jesus perform? How could they not have more faith than any man walking on Earth? At 11:22 AM, I sent my girlfriend a text message expressing my view on how surprising that was. I often question my faith, as I'm sure many do, but the disciples?! No way. Well, let me tell you about a little miracle that occurred less than 10 minutes after I sent that text message.
At roughly 11:30 AM, there was a knock on my front door. "Odd for anybody to be knocking on my door at this time of the day," I thought, but I wasn't going to ignore it. I looked out of the peep hole in the door and saw nothing. So, I opened it up. Slightly to the right of my door stood a man, not very well dressed, hood up, and back facing toward me. Hands in his coat, he turned to me and stared into my eyes with what seemed to be a mixture of fear, anger, and hate. I'd estimate that about 10 seconds passed by, but it felt like an eternity before he uttered the words, "Is Mr. John around?" I was confused by his question and told him no. For another 10 seconds or so, he stared at me with the same look on his face as before and then walked away. I didn't think much of it other than, "Well, that was weird." Less than 10 minutes later, that same man went into the home of one of my neighbors and robbed him. Amazingly, nobody was hurt. In my opinion, the Lord was truly looking over us.
A little miracle. Looking back on the incident, the way the man was securing his hands, it seems likely he had some sort of weapon. Yet, for some reason after staring at me for a brief amount of time, he just walked away. Then, proceeded to rob a neighbor, but THANKFULLY nobody was hurt - another little miracle. I stayed home and that prevented somebody from breaking into our residence, a little miracle in itself. As a matter of fact, I can't even count how many little miracles I experience everyday. Can you?
Many of us focus on the negative occurrences in our lives as if nothing is going "right" for us at all. But is that the truth, or are we just focusing on all the wrong things? You woke up, you're healthy, you've got a roof over your head, transportation, internet, food to eat, people to love, clothes on your back... the list could go forever even if those particularly listed aren't cases for you. Those are all little miracles. Just because we expect things to happen, doesn't mean their happenings aren't special. You see, our world is full of miracles everyday, we just have to recognize them. So, now I ask MYSELF, "How can I have such little (or any question in) faith when Jesus performs these miracles in front of my eyes everyday?!"
Until next time...
Check me out on Twitter: @PrallyD
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Monday, April 1, 2013
Baptism Testimony
I was baptized yesterday and wanted to share the short testimony I gave in front of the church. I understand not all of my friends/followers are believers, but this isn't a place for religious debate. Just be happy that a peer of yours has found some peace in his life. Thank you.
"I'm 26 years old and I haven't always been a Christian. In fact, from the time I was 11 years old until I was 25, my life was.. I'll say, "lacking light." I say that because I don't believe that darkness exists. Darkness is only the lack of light because, when it's shed, light ALWAYS overcomes. Go strike a match in a room with no light and you'll witness the darkness cowardly flee. For 14 years, my life was plagued with drugs, alcohol, anger, resentment, and lust.
SO, what did it take me to finally let God into my life?... struggle. That's what brought me here today and led me to becoming a Christian. It was just about a year ago when my life changed forever.
On March 17th, 2012, around 2 PM, one of my best friends, Matt brady, and my cousin, Kenzie Rife, visited me at the fish farm. They brought me lunch and I gave them a tour of my workplace. I'll never forget the looks on their faces when checking out all the fish and alligator, they were like children in the toy aisle at Wal-Mart. It was time to go.. We exchanged hugs and they left. That same night, around 11PM, I received a phone call. Matt and Kenzie had been in an accident hours after leaving the farm, taking them both. I was confused and I felt destroyed. "How could this happen to those two," I kept asking myself. For the first time in my life, I began looking for God, but I didn't necessarily leave my heart open for Him. Why wasn't I getting any answers from God?! "Where IS He," I kept asking.
A few short weeks after, Carla Renee visited home from college while I was house sitting for her parents. We weren't dating at the time, just friends. Here, she told me the news that she was pregnant. At first, I paused in anger and confusion. My mind raced, I wanted to scream. She cried, but suddenly and seemlingly out of nowhere, my heart was overwhelmed with the light of God. This was the first time I ever felt His presence in my heart and that moment has forever changed me. "Everything will be alright," I could feel Him telling me. Within weeks of one another, I experienced the loss and the gain of life. Within weeks of each other, these events led me to walk with Christ and faith became the rock, the foundation of my life.
I battle temptation everyday, but battling that temptation and working to overcome it rather than succumbing to it.. to me, that's what being a Christian is about. It's a daily battle to take up our cross & make the right choices, yet also the realization and acceptance that we are imperfect. I'd like to thank my family, the Stoltzfus family, and every person here today for helping me along this journey. You are all truly great people. Here I am, ready to begin the rest of my life as part of the Christian community, faith, and as a follower of Christ."
Until next time....
Check me out on Twitter:@PrallyD
"I'm 26 years old and I haven't always been a Christian. In fact, from the time I was 11 years old until I was 25, my life was.. I'll say, "lacking light." I say that because I don't believe that darkness exists. Darkness is only the lack of light because, when it's shed, light ALWAYS overcomes. Go strike a match in a room with no light and you'll witness the darkness cowardly flee. For 14 years, my life was plagued with drugs, alcohol, anger, resentment, and lust.
SO, what did it take me to finally let God into my life?... struggle. That's what brought me here today and led me to becoming a Christian. It was just about a year ago when my life changed forever.
On March 17th, 2012, around 2 PM, one of my best friends, Matt brady, and my cousin, Kenzie Rife, visited me at the fish farm. They brought me lunch and I gave them a tour of my workplace. I'll never forget the looks on their faces when checking out all the fish and alligator, they were like children in the toy aisle at Wal-Mart. It was time to go.. We exchanged hugs and they left. That same night, around 11PM, I received a phone call. Matt and Kenzie had been in an accident hours after leaving the farm, taking them both. I was confused and I felt destroyed. "How could this happen to those two," I kept asking myself. For the first time in my life, I began looking for God, but I didn't necessarily leave my heart open for Him. Why wasn't I getting any answers from God?! "Where IS He," I kept asking.
A few short weeks after, Carla Renee visited home from college while I was house sitting for her parents. We weren't dating at the time, just friends. Here, she told me the news that she was pregnant. At first, I paused in anger and confusion. My mind raced, I wanted to scream. She cried, but suddenly and seemlingly out of nowhere, my heart was overwhelmed with the light of God. This was the first time I ever felt His presence in my heart and that moment has forever changed me. "Everything will be alright," I could feel Him telling me. Within weeks of one another, I experienced the loss and the gain of life. Within weeks of each other, these events led me to walk with Christ and faith became the rock, the foundation of my life.
I battle temptation everyday, but battling that temptation and working to overcome it rather than succumbing to it.. to me, that's what being a Christian is about. It's a daily battle to take up our cross & make the right choices, yet also the realization and acceptance that we are imperfect. I'd like to thank my family, the Stoltzfus family, and every person here today for helping me along this journey. You are all truly great people. Here I am, ready to begin the rest of my life as part of the Christian community, faith, and as a follower of Christ."
Until next time....
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