Dad got saved...

​So I've been thinking about miracles and God's presence in our lives through the supernatural all week. Want you to know how it was that our family began to see the miraculous workings over and over in our lives.

When I was eight and a half, my dad got saved.  And I got saved the same night.  Dad was a man's man, a mechanic, a man who worked with his hands ...- always had grease under his fingernails and bangs and dings all over his arms from the farm or the garage or something. When he wasn't at work at the plant as a mechanic, he was on the farm with the cattle, brushhogging, working in the garage, tearing something apart and fixing it. Mom had taken Kim and I to church our whole lives at a little church down the road, but I honestly don't remember that much about it. I think the church tried, but it was an old, dying church and there wasn't much life to it.

One night at an even littler country church, dad got saved - I mean SAVED! He and his friend Jim Catron (now a preacher) got saved together in a revival, and the father I had one known was no longer anywhere to be found - he had been replaced by this man who cried for two solid weeks, cried at work, cried at home, cried on the farm, praising the Lord constantly and crying and crying. At age 12, that was embarrassing and kind of weird - you always hear that God takes us and we are reborn, but I literally saw it. My father had only cried two times that my mother had ever seen before this, and now he couldn't stop crying.


One of the coolest things was that dad and I got baptized together as well - in the Ohio River - IN DECEMBER WHILE IT WAS SNOWING! I will never forget that day - so cold but yet so right. I remember mom wrapping me up in a big towel and getting me dried off and warmed back up. Dad kept his clothes on and they were frozen solid by the time we got home. And NO ONE GOT SICK!
He also had a thirst for the Bible and the word - he wanted to learn everything he could. Dad was dyslexic before anyone knew what dyslexic was, so he struggled with reading. We tease him that the only thing he read was the Trader's Guide! He could tear apart an engine and put it back together and never miss a step, but just reading the newspaper was not easy for him.

He would sit and read the Bible out loud, and it was truly miraculous how God showed him what to read and how to read it - I was in awe - this amazing God we serve had recreated this man through a cleansing of his soul into a man after God's own heart, and he was preparing him for the journey. As I sit here typing this, I can see him sitting in our family room, reading the Bible, trying to learn all he could. I now am ashamed of myself that I was ever embarrassed at his crying, the crying that showed the washing of his heart and his life, that revived him into a man who had so much compassion for others, and now it just poured out of him.

He began to go to every revival he could to try to hear preaching and learn more about this new Savior he had. Around this same time, I get off the bus one day to be met by the neighbor, Sue Groves, and she tells me that my parents fell off the barn roof. Who FALLS off a barn roof, two people at the same time? Turns out dad had slipped (6'2", 200 pounds) and mom had tried to catch him (5'4", 110 pounds). They had fallen approximately 30 feet and NEVER BROKE A BONE, either one of them! The neighbor saw them fall and said they had gone so gracefully, they thought they had jumped. (Mom's version of the story below)

Dad began from day one to praise the Lord and tell about his miracle everywhere he went. He went to revivals all over and stood and testified about God's mercy on them, crying the whole time, of course! Praise was on his lips constantly. He didn't say they were lucky, he said the Lord spared them and carried them off that roof to land them in the safest place in that nasty barnyard.

I truly believe all of the miracles that followed flowed out of his praise. Let me ask you: Have you had a miracle and you called it luck, or a coincidence, or just took it for granted and never even gave God the praise? Or are you looking for a miracle and frustrated you're not finding it?

Our church had a revival last year that lasted 89 days and had over 600 people saved - it was truly the most incredible season I have ever seen in a church - there were miracles everywhere, deaf ears opened, locked shoulders lifting, cancer disappearing! Pastor Wright made a point one night that I had never before heard in relation to miracles, and I couldn't believe I hadn't - he said "Before miracles is salvation - salvation comes first, then comes the miracles."

Hebrews 2:1-4: "We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will."

Dad had just gotten saved, had praised his Lord for changing his life - then he needs a miracle and God reaches out his hand and delivers it - he probably didn't even have time to ask for it, to pray! One of the most incredible healings we had during our revival was a woman who had a brain tumor, and she got saved right about the time she was to get her surgery. She did not come to the altar and seek healing, just salvation. However, when she went to the surgeon to have her surgery, the tumor was gone! First salvation, then comes healing......

Do you know Jesus Christ? Have you felt Him pecking at the door of your heart? Do you need a miracle? A marriage that needs restored, a body that needs healed, emotional damage that needs soothed? I would encourage you to seek Him - not so you get a miracle, or you get in line for one - because once He comes into your heart and your life, you will realize that that is a miracle, the way He can remove grudges, cleanse your memory of painful and damaging events, give you a hope and a future....it truly is miraculous, and that's just the beginning! It is like being lonely your whole life and needing a friend, and now you have a best friend who lives right in your heart - wow.

Please comment and share your miracles or your struggles - let's grow together!