Proof The Bible Is True

November 11, 2012, is a day Belinda Leal will never forget: the day her mother, Evangelina Garza, died. What happened next has left the doctors and nurses at McAllen Medical Center in south Texas baffled. But to Belinda and Evangelina—now very much alive—the explanation for the events that unfolded is quite clear… Evangelina: The first thing I heard that day was Onesimo’s voice. “Do you want to go out to breakfast?” my husband asked from the foot of the bed. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I’m 71, and have diabetes, and I don’t get moving as fast as I [More]

I hadn’t wanted to get divorced. I kept hoping my wife and I would be able to work things out eventually. But she was set in her decision. She packed up and moved with the kids to a new place, some three hours from the house we’d once shared as a family. She was already dating someone new. I looked forward to seeing my two young sons every Friday. But I dreaded the reminder of the way things used to be. We would never again have movie nights on a random Thursday after school. I couldn’t even see my sons on any [More]

“Dave!” I called to a fellow parishioner as he walked up to the church doors. “Have you lost weight? You look great!” “Thanks!” he said. “I took up biking. At first I could barely make it a mile. Now I ride everywhere, and I’m down 30 pounds!” I was impressed—and a little envious. Weight loss is a funny thing. Sometimes progress just plateaus. That’s what happened to me, and I’m no couch potato! I’m always dancing, walking and doing floor routines. Looking after the toddlers at the preschool where I work burns quite a few calories, too! But I’d been [More]

His name was Mitku. The orphan we’d ultimately decided not to adopt. Though my husband, Michael, and I’d prayed for guidance and believed we’d had no choice, I often found myself thinking about the sick baby who’d been found in the African bush.   Had we done the right thing? Who will care for him?   Read More: Mysterious Ways: The Other Orphan – Guideposts

Maybe I should have stayed home, I thought, bobbing my head to the music, scanning the party for familiar faces. When my friend invited me to come watch her husband’s band play at a retirement dinner for local teachers, I figured it would be fun. But now I just felt out of place. It didn’t help that my mind was somewhere else, worrying about the situation I was in.   I’m the director of Eaglecrest Alaska Missions—a Michigan nonprofit that helps needy families in the Mat-Su Valley of Alaska. It was almost time for our 10-week summer program to help needy [More]

Beans and rice again. Can’t really blame the kids for not cleaning their plates, I thought, scraping off the dishes into the sink. I was sick and tired of having the same thing night after night too. It was cheap and filled our bellies, but each sad supper made me feel emptier inside.   “Lord, we’re really struggling here,” I prayed. “I want some real food. Not tomorrow, Lord. Today!”   Read More: Mysterious Ways: Prayers Answered While You Wait – Guideposts

“God is concerned even with out small problems.” Admin   “It was one of those days I had anxiously awaited all summer—September 5, 2009, the opening day of the Florida Gators college football season. My husband and I, however, were in Vermont performing volunteer construction work on a church. Fortunately, we had a satellite dish connected to our motor home. No way we’d miss Tim Tebow and the Gators.   “Just before game time, my husband turned our television on. We could get no picture. We flipped through the channels. Nothing.   Read More: One Fan’s Inexplicable Tim Tebow Experience

The frozen, snow-covered lake sparkled under my feet in the bright noonday sun. It was the first Saturday in March, still cold enough in Michigan for a coat and gloves even for a short walk. I’d learned to love the rugged Midwest winters during my four years at seminary, one of many adjustments from where I grew up in South Korea.   My eyes traced my footsteps back across the ice, to the trees, then to the retreat center on the bluff, where I’d started my hike and had been staying since the evening before. Other than the caretaker, Robert, [More]

A family relies on faith and prayer to bring loved ones home in this heroic tale of survival.   KEISA: Not a cloud in the sky, sunlight kissing Charleston, South Carolina’s downtown market. This was the perfect way to spend the Saturday before Labor Day, shopping with my mother, sister-in-law Paula and our three girls, while the guys were off deep-sea fishing.   It was all my husband, Rex, had talked about for weeks, from the moment he got the new boat—a 38-foot cabin cruiser. He’d had it out only a few times before. I checked the time on my [More]

My boyfriend Wayne and I, along with my older sisters, Sherry and Deb, were headed up I-275 from our home in St. Petersburg, Florida, to the small town of Hudson that July morning.   It was only an hour’s drive and I should’ve been counting down the minutes until we arrived. This was the moment I’d prayed for, reuniting with my little sister, Missy, after 30 years.   On my lap I held photos of us—celebrating her eighth birthday, eating pizza with everything on it, me pushing her in her wheelchair. Sherry held her old teddy bear. My stomach was [More]

The gladioli in my garden were in full bloom. On my way to visit my mother in the retirement home, I cut three tall stalks and wrapped them in a damp paper towel and waxed paper. Purple and lush, the flowers would make a beautiful bouquet for her room.   When I reached the home I passed through the lobby and walked toward Mother’s room in the G wing. Suddenly I stopped and turned around and headed down another hall to the nursing unit.   I had no idea why I had changed direction, and I cannot tell you why [More]

“A lesson in kindness and following Gods guidance.” Admin   Ron and I didn’t know where the food would be coming from for the Thanksgiving dinner we had in mind. We were both between jobs and didn’t have the money such a feast would require.   Still, about 10 days before Thanksgiving, a passage from the Bible had come loud and clear into our prayers: “But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.”   “Sunshine,” Ron said, “let’s invite some of the guys here for Thanksgiving.” The “guys” Ron was referring to were [More]

Opening the blinds early that morning, I wondered if I’d be able to catch a glimpse of Mount Baker 40 miles away. The 10,000-foot peak dominates the Nooksack River Valley. At least it does on the days when you can see it. Western Washington isn’t known for its clear skies. Even in late May, clouds can sometimes shroud the landscape for weeks at a time. But that morning, the view looked postcard-perfect.   All spring Chad Gruizenga, a part-time employee at my company, Pacific Pumping, had been after me to join him for a snowmobile run on Mount Baker. “I [More]

Elmer Hambaugh will never forget that Easter weekend. Especially that Monday morning when the doctors came to operate on his foot.   Good Friday morning, thinking to take a short work break, Elmer parked the city bus he drove for a living in front of a suburban Cincinnati police station. As he chatted inside, Elmer was dumbstruck to see his empty bus start slowly rolling downhill, straight for an intersection packed with rush-hour traffic.   Read More: An Easter Healing – Guideposts

Just another dreary March day, I thought, looking out the kitchen window. Not a bit of color. No hint that spring might arrive soon. And it had been a long, long winter.   My husband, Raymond, was sitting at the table in his wheelchair while I cleaned up after our breakfast. “Are you the lady who’s keeping me here?” Raymond asked in a testy voice from behind me. “I want to go home.”   I turned from the window and walked over to him. “You are home, honey,” I said, patting his shoulder.   This may have been the toughest [More]

I was working the 3-to-11 shift at Miners Hospital in Spangler, Pennsylvania, when a patient I was feeding asked, “Why don’t you have a little pin on like the other nurses?”   “I do,” I said, reaching to show him the golden, wreath-shaped R.N. pin on my collar—one of my proudest possessions. It had been given to me when I graduated from nursing school in Altoona, and it stood for years of hard work and study. But now, when I looked down, the pin was gone.   I knew I had pinned it to my uniform just before I left [More]

Did you know that in the Bible, there are 139 references to the healing power of God’s love?   Indeed, when Jesus walked on earth, he brought a two-pronged message of good news. First, he preached the message of forgiveness, offering imperfect people reconciliation to God and the promise of eternal life.   Secondly, he healed people. Physically, emotionally, relationally and spiritually, Jesus healed people.   Forgiveness and healing: two sides of the same coin that, according to the Bible, pretty much sum up what God is all about. I discovered it in a surprising way.   I was 24 years [More]

Fliers featuring our dog, Casey, were hung up all over our neighborhood. My husband, Al, and I had contacted all the shelters and put up posters at the veterinary clinics. Still, we hadn’t found our poodle.   Casey was skittish. We’d only had him a few days before he slipped under the fence. I knew he’d be hesitant about letting a stranger help him. Sure enough, Al took a call about Casey. “A lady spotted him, but he ran away.”   We got more phone calls over the next few days from people with similar stories. Again one rainy afternoon, [More]

Bread, milk, cereal, peanut butter…   My grocery cart rattled through the aisles. Like a lot of New Yorkers, I went to the grocery store on foot and carried my bags the eight blocks back home to my apartment. I wasn’t planning to buy much food today, so I’d left my trusty portable cart at home.   I turned into the produce aisle. Everything looked so fresh. I took some carrots and blueberries, then some plums and lettuce. I wouldn’t be able to fit it all in my canvas shopping bag. Can I carry all this eight blocks? I had to try. [More]

Skiing was all I had on my mind.   There was nothing I liked more than grabbing my cross-country skis on a sunny winter day and leaving everything else behind. I drove out to the local nature preserve. There was real freedom in being out there alone, just me, the snow and the sky.   The day was so beautiful, I stayed out way later than I should’ve. How can I go back to my day-to-day life when I’ve got all of this? I thought as I whizzed down a small slope. The sky darkened and the wind picked up. Better get home [More]

Eleanore had warned me about going out alone to grain the horses.   My wife knew I wasn’t as steady on my feet as I used to be. But I had a lot of errands to run that day. Best to take care of the horses early. The stables were on the farm my sister-in-law managed, several miles away.   I parked by the barn and grabbed my cane. I could see the horses scattered about, some near the tack shed, the rest down by the tree line at the end of the property. I scanned the pasture for my [More]

As a budding amateur genealogist in the 1950s, I collected all the family heirlooms and records I could find—including an early ninetieth-century scrapbook.   It was so delicate I decided to photograph every page. That way I could study the pictures and preserve the book’s contents.   But on the day I meant to take the film to the developer, I couldn’t find the roll for the life of me. I sank into a chair. Lord, I prayed, all that work for nothing. If you could help me find that roll of film, I’d be forever grateful.   Read More: Retouched by an [More]

I come from a family of rescuers. My two sons are officers in the military—one in the Army, the other in the Coast Guard. They come to the aid of those in need every day. You could say it’s in their DNA. My Dad was a “lifer.” He served first in the Navy during World War II, and then the Coast Guard, where he spent the remainder of his military career conducting dangerous air search and rescue missions for lost mariners. But the most important rescue mission was one that my family, more than 60 years later,   Read More: [More]

Drew opened the door of the kayak rental shop for me. I couldn’t help but admire his wedding ring, chiseled silver rimmed with gold. Our Hawaiian honeymoon was almost over but our life together, symbolized by our polished bands, was just beginning.   I’d prayed long and hard about marrying Drew, even after I’d accepted his proposal. I’d been married before, for 36 years, only to see it fall apart. Drew was divorced too. We’d met on an internet dating site, but I needed to know with absolute certainty that it was God who had brought us together.   Now, stealing [More]

You might think I’m lucky to live where I do—on the big island of Hawaii. And you’d be right. But I’m also lucky to be alive, period.   Not all that long ago I was a hopeless addict. I waited tables, working just to make enough money to buy whatever drugs I could get my hands on. If I’d kept on like that, I’d be dead by now. Instead, I’ve been clean and sober four years and counting.   It’s not always easy. Some days I still hear the little voice in my head tempting me to get high. Times [More]

Maybe a 1986 Mercury station wagon wasn’t the best vehicle to drive across the Mojave Desert, but it was all I had. And I won’t have it for long, I thought as my engine coughed and sputtered. God, just let me make it to the next town.   I’d left my teaching job back in Colorado and was going to San Francisco to stay with my sister Joyce for a while. I packed my clothes, my books and my old guitar into the back of the Mercury and headed off.   I’d first taught myself to play folk music as [More]

I hugged my husband’s picture to my chest one day while I wandered from room to room, alone in our big house. “Bruce, I miss you so much.”   Missing him was nearly unbearable, but it only accounted for one layer of my grief. Bruce and I had rarely been apart during his long and valiant battle with cancer. We’d fought the disease side by side for years. But when my husband passed from this world, I had been sound asleep. Less than two feet away from him, I was oblivious in his last moments on earth. That wasn’t the way [More]