miraclesThis miracle is a very strange one that happened to me. It is a great example of God knowing what is best for you, even when you feel like you are suffering. During the baseball season of my senior year, I broke my arm. It was a game against Detroit Lakes, and the first batter of their team walked up to the plate. After a second pitch, he hit a long ball in between center and left field. I played center, and another kid named Jace played left. We both sprinted towards the ball. It was perfectly in the middle of us, so no one called it. At the last second I dove for it. I felt the ball hit my glove and I squeezed hard. I came down with the ball and rolled. I heard a small crack, but still stood up. The ball was on the ground in front of me and my arm was in an “s” shape. I started yelling at Jace to look at my arm. As he was picking up the ball he glanced over and swore. The kid who hit it was on third base. Time was called and I started to jog in to show my coach, but everyone started yelling at me to not move. I did not realize how bad my arm was broke. When the coaches and ambulance crew got onto the field, I started to realize I might not be playing baseball anymore. I asked one of the ambulance crew to just pop it back in so I could keep playing. He just looked at me until my coach said, “Your arm is broken, you can’t play.” At this point I wanted to start crying, not from the pain, but from the idea of not playing my senior year of baseball. My whole future was being torn away from me. That fall I was supposed to go play baseball at Bemidji State University. The coach was looking at me, and at a possible scholarship. I was hitting .500 that year without many errors in the field. As I was contemplating how much this was going to affect my future, we walked over to the ambulance. My dad was waiting there. He just looked at my arm and asked if he could drive me himself so we would not have to pay for the ambulance. They said that I would be much safer if they stabilized my arm inside the ambulance. He did not argue, so I stepped into the ambulance. At this point, I was so emotionally confused that I decided to put off thinking about my baseball future. I talked with the ambulance crew and made some jokes. I remember how taken aback they were by my excitement to ride in an ambulance for the first time. I had never broken anything before, or even been in the hospital for anything serious. They asked my pain level and I said a “1” if even that. They asked if I wanted morphine, something I had never had before, so I accepted. It made my whole body feel warm. After we got to the hospital, I was brought into a room where they wrapped my arm in some kind of blue material, then I talked with my parents. I asked my dad how long He thought it would be before I could play baseball again. He just said I would be lucky to even play summer baseball. That was like three months away, so I just told Him that was not going to happen, that I would be back in for the spring. I was to have surgery the next morning. A doctor came in and put me under drugs to put my arm back into place. Apparently while I was under, I kept telling the doctor to take it easy on my arm. I honestly wished my dad would have videotaped that part because I guess it was funny. I went to bed that night and probably experienced the most pain and aching I have ever had. I do not think I really slept that night. The hydrocodone they gave me for the pain did not help much. I went in for surgery early the next morning. I was put under again, but longer this time. I really do not remember much, but I do remember counting down from 100 and making it past 90. Everyone says you do not get past 90 but I did. So, that was a minor victory. After the surgery, all I wanted to do was sleep, but the nurse made me eat a piece of toast, and my dad wanted to get home. After that surgery, I was mad. I was mad that God would take away my future so quickly. I was mad that I couldn’t do anything with my left arm. Everywhere I went, people wanted to know what happened. Even to this day, people point at my two large scars and ask “how I did that.” Right away life was fine because of the attention, but once the next baseball practice started up, I knew I couldn’t take having that arm for much longer. Only three days in and I was sick of my dumb arm. I decided that I was going to heal it in 3 weeks so that I could play the rest of the season. My mom and dad laughed at me when I told them this. The doctor had said 8-12 weeks before I will be recovered. I had laughed at him. I had about six screws and two metal plates keeping my arm in place. I was told I could get them removed later, but I always thought it was cool to be part metal. When I decided to heal my arm in three weeks, I researched how to grow bone back quickly. There obviously was not an overnight treatment, but I did read a story where a man healed his quickly by eating a lot of calcium. I knew what I had to do at this point. I went to the store and bought everything that had to do with calcium. Yogurt, milk, cheese, anything I could find. My dad laughed when I came home. He said I was just wasting my money, and that the bone would heal at the same rate. I wasn’t done though. I had my mom buy me vitamins to take at night. I took calcium, vitamin k, vitamin e, vitamin d, fish oil, and multivitamins. I was making sure I was as healthy as I could be for my bone to heal correctly. I was also starting to get big in the gym before the accident, so now I knew I was going to have to start all over again. I couldn’t use my left arm so everyday became leg day. I would lift legs, then ride bike for 20 minutes, then usually sauna. My friends were all pretty cool about it. I remember the night that I broke my arm, Chandler came over to see me and I almost broke down crying about it. He just gave me a hug and told me I would heal it quickly. That was something really cool he did not have to do. Now, I was still mad about my arm though. Every practice I did as much as I could. I hit balls by holding the bat and ball in my right arm and throwing it high enough so I had time to swing the bat around. Otherwise, I just watched. It was horrible. The games were worse though. I sat for two hours either watching my team win or lose without me. The worst was watching them lose when I knew I could be helping. Throughout this whole thing, there was something in the back of my mind that told me this was for the best, that this was God’s plan, but I didn’t like His plan. After a while of eating and exercising, about two weeks, the doctor let me take off my splint. I did not need a cast because the bone just needed to stay straight, there was no need for a hard cast. After I took it off, it smelled bad, mostly because I had to shower with it on, and sometimes the plastic bag covering it would rip and water would get in. After taking off the splint, my skin was gross. It had dead skin, and the glue that they used to keep the stitches in were dried to it. It took me awhile to clean my arm, but I felt much better knowing I could shower without it. I still had to wear a brace, but it was much better than the splint. At this point, I have had a broken arm for about 2 and half weeks. I was so tired of not playing baseball or doing anything but legs anymore, so I decided to start riding motorcycle again. My dad said it probably wasn’t the best idea, but I didn’t really care. I just needed to do something fun again. I started up the little 250 Kawasaki crotch rocket and swung my leg over. I could barely squeeze the left handlebar because my brace was blocking it, but that was all I needed. I started off down the road. It was so great to ride again. I started riding to school every day. People were probably wondering how a kid with a broken arm was riding motorcycle, but I did not really care. My life continued with the arm, and I started to realize that maybe this was for the best, because God was testing my resilience to see if I could get back to my old life by trusting in Him. So, I kept up the eating large amounts of calcium and doing legs so that when I got back to baseball, I would be faster than ever. Even though I was trying, I didn’t get back in baseball before spring, but after watching my team lose in playoffs, I was ready to go again. It was the first week of summer ball when I was cleared to play by the doctor. Honestly, I knew I was healed before that fifth week, but the appointment was in that fifth week, and my dad said my arm wasn’t healed anyway. I knew it was though, and by the fifth week, the doctor said it was fully healed and I could play baseball again. I cried on the way home from the hospital. I was so happy that I was normal again, except for a weak arm. I had to do physical therapy for a couple of weeks which I absolutely destroyed in just one. My coach couldn’t believe it when I came to practice that day with clearance. I had dreams of becoming the comeback kid who broke arm, but still went on to be great. My dreams were shattered quickly when I tried to swing a bat. My wrist had gotten so tight from the metal in it and from not moving for five weeks, that I could not swing the bat quickly. Usually you flick your wrists quickly when you swing, but I couldn’t. I could hardly hit a ball 50 feet. I didn’t get discouraged though. After practice I went to lift at the gym. Everything was so heavy, I had to start by curling 15 pounds when I was doing 40 pounds before my break. My bench press went down as well. I could hardly do 100 pounds when before the break, I was hitting 200. I didn’t care about that though, I just wanted baseball back. I worked hard to get my arm back to normal, but I just couldn’t hit the ball like I used to. I still remember the game we played against Bemidji, when the college coach was watching us. I had hit two doubles that game, which was alright for the old me, but amazing for the new broken arm me. I just remember him saying, “Keep working at it.” I just remember thinking that there was no way I was going to play on the BSU team. My batting average at the end of the summer ball season was barely .200. No college would give a scholarship or even let that player start with those kinds of stats. My life was crumbling again. I still thought that maybe I could do it though, so I planned to play at BSU. As soon as I moved in for college, I started to meet people everywhere. I met a few kids, Nate, Kaleb, and Jake who were lifters. I basically hung out with them the most, and I still do. I had a few flings with some girls, but nothing worked out for dating anyway. Then, my friendstold me about Chi-Alpha and Kings, two organizations that worshiped Jesus. I sort of went and thought they were okay. My real concern was still baseball. I went to the first day of sign and immediately was let down when I saw how many upper classmen and freshman there were. I quit right then and there. It was probably the best decision I had made, ahead of quitting basketball my senior year. It sucked too because I had quit basketball to lift for baseball, and then my broken arm wrecked 2 years of progress. Anyway, I started having time to do other things. I joined clubs, organizations, and started going to religious stuff more. Best decision ever. I had never felt so close to God. That is how I knew that God’s plan was good. If I was in baseball,I would never have joined Chi or Kings, and they have changed my whole life. I would probably be a partyer if I was in baseball, that environment does not really promote God. One of my friends from high school plays here at BSU and he has changed a lot from trying to be a good kid in high school to just hooking up with girls and drinking a little bit here. I relate a lot with a couple other guys who also broke or injured something during their senior year. It really was horrible going through, but I am so thankful that it did happen. It showed resilience and trust in God getting through it. God was trying to get my attention that that life was not right for me. I got much closer to God and now have a scar with a story behind it.
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answered prayers I have always wondered what God wanted me to do with my life. I did not want to pick the wrong thing and then live a bad life. Well, one think I know now is that God is with you no matter what you do, just live for Him, and you will never go astray. Well, I was about to get a big sign at Kings one night. Now, this happened just a few days ago, it was the 20th of January in 2017. It was my brother’s 15th birthday that day. Anyway, we were at Kings and everything was going all right. The beginning was fine, we just were singing. We had brought a few new people and they were getting used to the environment around them. I did not really feel what I usually feel, but I still was enjoying myself. Kaleb, Nate, and I were planning for that night whether we were going to drive to Kaleb’s. His parents wanted us to wait until, but Julia and I had a Lions Club convention Saturday morning at 9 that we had to be at. The whole trip to Kaleb’s house was supposed to be for the convention, but then Nate and Kaleb decided to just hang out at the house while we went. The convention was located about thirty minutes from Kaleb’s house, and his parents were away so we could stay there. I really wanted to leave that Friday night so me and Julia would not have to drive to Grand Rapids in the morning because I hate to get up early. We also always stay up late on Fridays because of Kings. We stayed up until 3:00 AM that night and had to get up at 6:30 AM to leave. Anyway, it turned out that Kaleb and Nate did not want to leave that night, basically because they did not have to get up early for the convention anyway, and due to that we had to drive separately. This whole thing could have been avoided if we did not bring Julia, but she did not have a ride, and Kaleb only had three seats in his car because of all his ice fishing stuff that he did not want to take out. So, I drove up Julia in the morning and Nate and Kaleb came up later that day. So, I went a bit off track, but this explains some of the real story. So, during Kings, the worship was going fine until Nate and Kaleb said we were going to drive separate. Well, the road trip would have been half the fun so I was bummed out for a while during Kings. So, as I was sitting there thinking about how lousy this trip was turning out to be, Jake, one of the guys at Kings, came up to me. He said that he really enjoyed the speech I had given at Chi-Alpha the night before. I had given a speech about how we should not worry about anything because God has us, and He has a plan. The verse I shared was Matthew 6:25-34. It is about how the birds of the air do not even worry about food or shelter and God gives it to them. We are the children of God, so how much do you think He would give to us? The sparrows know that God will be there for them, so we should too. Then I showed them all the song “Sparrows”which has a great message from scripture. Then I prayed over everyone, then I was done. Jake said that the next morning, he read the verse again and started to cry. Then he said that he loved the speech and asked me if I had ever thought about being a speaker. Now, as soon as he said this, I was blown away because before that, all my friends were telling me that too. I had kind of thought that I was an all right speaker because I have confidence in front of others, but I always cast it aside because they were my friends and wanted to make me feel good. Well, I did not know Jake that well, so I believed it more. As he kept telling me about why I should be a speaker and about all this stuff that helped him, I was becoming more convinced that this was a sign from God that I should be one. I told him about how I felt so amazing when I would speak, and that if were to speak about any other subject, I did not get that feeling anymore. All my friends can testify that I get extremely excited when I talk about Christianity or anything about the Bible or God. A lot of times I start yelling or will dance around. I just do it; the Holy Spirit is in me. After Jake was done talking, he gave me some scripture to read. By this time, I was so convinced that this was a sign, then I read the scripture and became even more happy about everything. He told me to read Philippians 3 and Mark 4. I have not read Mark 4 yet, however Philippians 3 was awesome. It was about realizing what you have that God has given you. It talks about how people do not know they have a gift until they realize it. When they do, they realize that it has been there the entire time. The rest of the verse is about looking towards the future and not in the past. The Bible says that after we sin, we are not to look back one time after repentance, we are to look to the future. This was great for me and Jake to talk about. I told all my friends that night about what had happened, and do believe that God wants me to become a speaker, someone that goes around at conferences or churches and just talks about God. I had prayed for what God wanted to me to do with my life for as long as I can remember, so basically my whole life. He finally told me, probably a while ago, but I just was not listening. So, He used the people around me. The funny thing is…when Jake was walking over to me right away, I knew something incredible was about to happen to me.
miraclesThe first or second time we went to Kings, we decided to pray for one another. I think Julia was the only one with me. The person who was to get prayed for sat in a chair while everyone laid on their hands. When it was my turn I was pretty excited so I sat in the chair and waited for everyone to be ready to pray. They started praying. I did not feel anything right away, but after a few minutes I started to get this feeling. It only lasted a few seconds, but that was probably because I was scared and I opened my eyes. It was like when you feel dread, and your stomach drops, except instead of dread, the intense feeling was like a huge ball of excitement that shot up to my chest. When this happened, I got so scared that I opened my eyes, something that I regret doing because the feeling went away immediately. I wish I would have kept focusing on it, maybe something more would have happened. Anyway, after that I just told everyone what had happened and the rest of Kings went on. To this day, I still have not had that kind of feeling again, now I just feel warm or get chills when the holy spirit is in me.
voicesIt was about 3 AM and I was hanging out in Sara and Julia’s room. We were just talking when suddenly I heard this voice in my right ear that said, “Right now”. It was so clear, but at the same time almost blurry. If I could illustrate the words, they would be white, fluffy maybe, and in cursive. It was a man’s voice and it was a whisper. I asked the girls if they had heard it or maybe said something like it, they didn’t. I still don’t really know what God was telling me, nothing was happening right then and there that I knew related to that, but it was still an amazing thing. I am trying to figure out that maybe God wanted to tell me that I can do all things through Him “right now” at my own will if I do it for Him and the right reasons, and it makes sense because I invited Jesus down to the basement that same night, and on Sunday of that weekend, I started my dead car with faith. I am not sure that it was for those reasons, but I am going to have faith that it is for that.
miraclesI was a freshman at BSU. It was a Sunday morning at about 10:50 AM. I was going to church which started at 11 o’clock at St. Phillips, a church about 2 minutes away from the Bemidji campus. I made my way to my car and pulled the door open. I jumped in to start the car quick and then scrape the ice off my windshield. I turned the key and nothing happened. I tried it again, still no sound. Then, the red battery light showed up on the console. I checked all the lights and nothing was left on, the car was just too cold it seemed to start. So now, I am thinking that I could run to church, but it would take me a good 10 minutes and I would be late. I also thought I could borrow a buddy’s car, but then I would have to wake him up and still probably be late. So, I decided to pray. I first started with the generic “please help me to start this car, God.” I turned the key and nothing happened. So now I am thinking I am going to really be late, but then I think, “no, this is an opportunity for God and for me.” So, I started praying again, only deeper, and then I broke out into tongues for about a minute, then I started to think about what had happened at Kings, our Christian group, the last Friday, and how Jesus was there and He was coming down the steps to the basement where I was calling him. As soon as I realized how much power I really had through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I tried the key again and the car roared to life. I was so excited I jumped out of my car and screamed “yes” like ten times. I made it to church like one or two minutes late.
Answered prayersIt was a Friday night at Kings, our Christian worship group at BSU. Me and my friends were there, Nate, Jake, Sharnae, Julia, Sara, Gizhik, and Kaleb who came after all the cool stuff happened. So, G and Jake were new to it, and we prayed for them and they fell over, which is normal honestly, so they were touched by the Holy Spirit. Anyway, most people went out to pray for people at Walmart or other places they went. I stayed behind with a few other friends to pray for intercession and to pray in tongues. I tried to pray with everyone upstairs, but I really didn’t feel anything and other people were starting to break off into their own groups or go off by themselves so I did the same. I explored the building, and went to the lowest level, the basement. No one was down there, and I don’t think anyone even knew it was there. I was a large space with little clutter in the front and open space in the back. A checkered design colored the space in the back floor. I was excited to find such a cool place so I knew I should start praying, so I did while playing music off my phone. I walked around and started to pray, and I could feel something, but not as I usual do. I turned off the music and really concentrated. I felt like yelling, so I did. I yelled “c’mon Jesus!” and “Jesus” three or four times. I felt great after that so I started praying in tongues for about 2 minutes, after that I heard someone upstairs yelling “yes freedom” and they named off all these things that should be free in the world. I smiled and went back to praying in tongues for 10 minutes. Then I went back upstairs to find that everyone was freaking out. Apparently, someone had yelled “freedom!” and people thought it had come from the basement. I was the only one in the basement and I had not yelled it. James, a leader at Kings, had heard someone yell “freedom” so he started to yell it. Everyone heard it who was upstairs because it was very clear and loud. It even echoed through the pipes they said. One girl, Danea, said that she had visions of caged animals after “freedom” was yelled. She said the world thought the caged animals were ugly, but God saw them as beautiful diamonds. I did not hear the “freedom”, but then three of my friends, Julia, Sara, and Sharnae said they heard someone walking down the steps to the basement and speaking in tongues, they thought it was James, but he said that he never went over to the steps, and no one else went over there either. The girls said they never saw anyone reach the bottom of the stairs either, but someone was there. So, I was praying in tongues in the basement, and I was praying that Jesus and the Holy Spirit would come to this place and fill me and this building up, and the girls heard someone coming down the steps toward me, and everyone heard someone yell “freedom” from the basement where I was. There isn’t even evidence that this was a coincidence, it was answered prayers.
Answered PrayersSo, it is just about winter break for my freshman year at BSU. I needed to get a job for winter break and my regular job at Kit Masters back in Perham did not need me. My mom mentioned UPS hired for winter break so I applied to that online, the only problem was that they wanted to interview me in Detroit Lakes, which is an hour and a half away from Bemidji. I had work and class that day at about the time they wanted to interview so I basically gave up hope. I tried calling the lady who had the interview, but I could not get a hold of her. A different lady told me that they did not do interviews over the phone, so that option was out. So, I had to go to regular class that dayof the interview, so I was walking there and I decided to just start praying for my problem. As soon as I did the sign of the cross and uttered “Dear, Lord”, a UPS truck drove right in front of me. I said, “That’s all I need Lord, thank you” and walked the rest of the way to class. It was the day of the interview at about 10 o’clock in the morning, and my class started in 5 minutes. The interview was supposed to be at 11:30 or something. UPS called to see if I was still coming. I told them no that I could not leave because of work and school, but then the lady said that she could transfer me to the lady who was interviewing me. She said she was going to be in Bemidji the next day, and if I wanted an interview at 11:15, then I could have one. I said yes, and the next day I got hired, trained in, and given a location all at once. Instead of the job being 20 minutes from where I lived, it got changed to 2 minutes away. I love the driver that I am working with, and I make $15 an hour just for the break. Everything worked out perfectly, all thanks to God and a little prayer.
Answered PrayersWhen I was a freshman, I was only 5’9”. I prayed since the beginning of high school that I would grow to be at least 6 feet tall, however if God would make me it, 6’3”. Well, my next physical my sophomore year, my doctor told me that I could be 6’3”. I am pretty sure he was joking kind of because I was only 5’10” at the time. However, the summer before my senior year, I hit 6’3”. I did not really notice that I was it until I actual measured myself. My prayers for 4 years or so had been answered.
voicesIt was my sophomore or junior year, a few months after my great grandmother died, I woke up at about 2:30 in the morning after having a nightmare, I am not sure what the dream was about, but it seemed very real. I woke up and heard a lady’s voice saying “Hello? Hello? Andrew, are you there?” I am not sure if I was still dreaming or not, but I think that I really heard it because it scared me a lot. I kept waking up at about that same time for about a week as well.
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
August 2017
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