Michael's "God Thing"

What a great week! I’ve been having so much fun that I haven’t had time to sit down at the computer.

Darren and Danielle arrived home on Wednesday. There was much joy as all the siblings hugged and caught up on 5 months worth of happenings. I headed to bed just before midnight and left Sandra and the kids still laughing and talking by the fire.

Michael, who is 18 and a senior this year, made our sides sore from laughing so hard at his funny stories. He not only tells them but demonstrates with body language. He has a natural gift of making a dull story become fun and alive.

Don and I spent much time praying for Michael. He started wrestling at 7 years old and would spend every weekend at wrestling tournaments. We were concerned that he wasn’t going to church and learning about God.

When Michael entered the 7th grade he made all new friends at school. To our joy, these young men were Christians and very involved in their churches. Michael began attending their early morning Bible Study before school every Friday and has continued this throughout his Junior and Senior High years. He also began attending the youth group with friends and committed his life to Christ.

Michael had another experience in the 7th grade that made an impact on his life. He was making a veteran’s day poster about his uncle who had served in Viet Nam. His grandmother in California emailed some pictures for the poster. We tried and tried to pull them up on my computer but couldn’t get them up. Danielle tried, Michael tried, and then I called in a friend who is a computer wiz and no one could get the pictures.

The day before the poster was due, Michael was really sad when I picked him up from school. “I don’t want to turn my poster in,” Michael whined. “Everyone else has nice pictures on theirs.” I felt so bad for him. “Let’s go to my house and try once more,” I responded.

When we arrived home, I took Michael’s hands and said, “Michael, the Bible says, ‘... that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three comes together in my name, there am I with them.’” “Michael, I want you to agree with me and I’m going to pray that we’ll get those pictures up,” I continued.

After prayer, Michael sat down and began working with the computer. In only a few minutes, a big picture of his Uncle Lloyd popped up. “What did you do different?” I asked excitedly. “I didn’t do anything,” he responded. He turned around in his chair and looked at me with awe in his eyes and said, “It had to be a God thing.”

Yes, it was a God thing; God cared very much about a 13 yr. old boy that needed to know that God was real in his life. Today Michael is a student leader in his youth group and is an active witness to his school mates. He wants his friends to experience, as he has, that God is real in their lives.