Sharing a God story
Have you ever had a thought that is so “not you”? I recently had such a thought and I believe it is worth sharing. A little background, I rarely read the newspaper. In fact I must also confess I do not watch much TV. So now you know by modern standards I am “strange”. I justify this stance on 2 things, my experience and the scripture in Philippians 4:8 that tells me to think on those things that are of good report. My attitude and perspective is soo much better not engaging in all the negative stuff the media tries to feed me.
So now you have the background, here is what happened Tuesday. I was sitting down to lunch and the Shreveport Times was sitting on the table, it had on the front page President Bush’s visit to Alexandria. I scanned the article and for some strange reason I turned the page. On page 2 was an article about a fallen soldier and how his brother wrote a letter to the President. After reading the article, I was immediately moved to write the President an email to thank and encourage him to continue to see families.
I have never written a letter to any public official before so needless to say I argued with myself for the rest of the lunch. The conversation in my head went something like this, “You need to write the President”. “Write the President? That is crazy, he’ll never see it.” Ignoring my own sound reasoning I had the same thought again, “You need to write the President.” After about 3 or 4 volleys back and forth in my head I got the thought, “It will take 5 minutes, why would you not write him?”
I got up and wrote the President this email.
Dear President Bush,
You are a man of great honor and dignity. The story in the Shreveport Times
today sums up your heart and spirit. Thank you for visiting with the families
of fallen soldiers.
You are called every name in the book, daily, but the one that comes to my mind is honorable. May God continue to bless you and your family in this time of transition.
Rarely do I read the paper but today I had a weak moment and picked it up. I
was drawn to the story about a family I do not know, and will probably never meet, but I wanted to say thank you for giving your time to this family. Travis Nixon gave all he had to America and because of great warriors like Travis I am free to live my life.
You do not have to die to give all and I know you have surrendered 8 years of your life to serve America. Thank you for your service to this great country. While I have not agreed with everything you have done, (I don’t know of anyone I agree with all the time.) I have prayed and continued to support you because of your great character.
Thank you again, may God bless you and May God bless America.
Your brother in Christ,
Greg Ryan
President- One Drop of Blood
Haughton, LA
I wrote my letter, still not sure why, but I was at least obedient to the thought I had at lunch. That was Tuesday and as Paul Harvey has said so many times but now here is the “Rest of the Story”.
Friday I had a scheduled closing on a house (For those of you who do not know I am a Realtor). My Buyer was a very nice older lady downsizing to a smaller home, the closing was postponed a week because of an additional requirement of her mortgage company.
The closing went great, my lady signed everything and was excited about buying her new home, we were all about to leave when the Seller showed his Realtor a coin. Being across the table I could not see it but his Realtor said something like, “That is so cool, the President gave this to you?” My ears perked up and I jumped into their conversation. “Did you say the President, do you mean the President of the United States?” They said yes and handed me the coin the President gave this man. It was at that time I “came to myself” and notice the name of the Seller…Kurt Nixon. The man that wrote the President a letter and had inspired my email was sitting across the table from me.
Since I represented the Buyer I had no connection to the Sellers other than selling their home. I never pay much attention to the Sellers’ name because I do not ever have contact with them. With that said, I sat there in total amazement of how God put all of this together to minister to me. I told them my story and about the email. (They were also amazed)
When I wrote the email I thought it was to encourage our President. God knew the email was written to encourage me and build my faith. What an awesome God we serve. I am sure He speaks to me everyday. I pray I will become a better listener.
We overcome the enemy by the blood of the lamb and word of our testimony. (Revelation 12:11) We have built a company on helping you share your testimony with people who ask for it. I hope this encourages you, even though you did not ask, I had to tell someone else how God encouraged me. God is good all the time.
Good for you! As I read your testimony I was reminded of the first time we talked about some of the things I knew God had in store for you. I am continually amazed at the ways in which He leads us and how, every once in a while, He gives us a peek into His big plan….Our “steps” are truly “ordered of the Lord!” Bless you!
That is a great story, Greg! What a testament to the benefits of following the Holy Spirit, even in things that seem insignificant.
Great story my friend. Keep listening… what a time we are living in. Almost daily, I wonder if we need to be looking to the east… ed
God really just wants relationship/dialogue with us (his greatest creation). Thanks for hearing his voice and obeying. Ain’t it great?
Hey Greg,
That is Awesome! The Lord blesses us in ways that we can’t see at the time we are obeying him. It’s a “Faith” thing!
Hello Christian Brother: I was really blessed by this e-mail. However, this is not a testimony this is a request for prayer. I am a christian, but I need more than I have now. I am a member of the Baptist Religion. Albeit I was not raised in the faith. I grew up in a non-denomial church, speaking in tongues church. I had an experience when I was 12 or 13 I really can’t remember, was told I spoke in tongues. Since that time, I was saved in the Baptist church. But I get more from praising the Lord in my back yard with hands extended high and in my closet. ( My husband when I first started doing that years ago thought I needed to go to the emergency room.) I ask that you and each who read my plea pray for me that I will be obediate and listen for God to lead me where he wants me. Thanking all of you in advance. Debra S. Nettles
Praise God!!! I thank you for your testimony and I pray that this true story will touch some believing hearts. I agree that the President is a Honorable man and that He Loves the Lord.
I would like to share a recent miracle that God did in my life.
I went to the emergency room on a Saturday night unable to breath. After x ray and cat scan I was told I had pneumonia in both lungs. I have several other medical problems so they ran all the tests they could think of and everything was negative. They said I was an unusual host so they wanted to do a lung biopsy. I agreed and the surgeon came in my room and tried to talk me out of the surgery. I was torn so I prayed for wisdom to make the right decision. I said Amen and there was a knock on my door, It was another surgeon and he said he had scheduled the surgery for 10:00 am Friday (this was Thursday afternoon) I agreed because I believed this was my answer to my prayer. I had three doctors and they were all on board. I had been told that my lungs would look bad for months after I was well. Friday morning the lung Doctor came in my room at 8:30am and asked me if I would agree to another cat scan and if it was better would I agree to cancel the surgery, he said there was a little improvement in my Thursday x ray, I agreed. In 10 minutes I was in a wheel chair on my way to have a cat scan. In 30 minutes I was back in my room. In 10 more minutes the lung Doctor came in my room and said your cat scan is normal and he canceled the surgery. Praise God I was cured, my lungs were clear. It did not take months, God did it overnight and I was at home by 4:30 that afternoon.. I tell you this just to let you know of a miracle that did happen, so you can share with other brothers and sisters in Christ, that God is still doing miracles, and that it is a great testimony to share with the lost. I thank you for sharing your miracle. I can’t write as well as you do but I hope there is enough for you to understand what I am trying to say.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary
Thank you for the stories, encouragements and as for the prayer requested I have asked the Holy Spirit to help and comfort.
As a follow up to the story, I received a letter signed by the President. It came in “big” envelope and made me feel really good. I will say it again; I believe President Bush is a class act and a honorable man. All of the hate and anger against him comes from the evil one.
Remember we do not war against flesh and blood. I believe most of the people who hate this man have no idea why. May God continue to bless our President Bush and his family.
I would also encourage everyone to pray for President elect Obama and his family. Regardless of your politics the Bible is clear that we should pray for those in authority over us.
You do not have to agree with him to pray for protection, guidance, wisdom, knowledge and peace for him and his staff.
As I close, imagine how good you would feel if Jesus would write you a personal letter. He has it is called the Bible. Jesus Himself is the Word of God, so when you study the Bible you are hearing from Jesus. Read it today and listen to what he speaks to you through the words and His Spirit.