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I just wanted to write you and say how much of a blessing both you and Lance Pittluck were. I was able to attend the evening sessions on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Seriously, from the Holy Spirit induced laughter I was experiencing to when you laid hands on me twice during the conference, I was absolutely rocked by the Father's Love. Especially, Saturday night. I was at the altar receiving prayer and I felt a hand laid on my heart. I opened my eyes and you had started to pray for me. From there, I started wailing, crying out and was somewhat hanging on to you to stand up. I felt like the Holy Spirit was pulling some very deep things out and also filling empty areas at the same time. You laid me down on the floor and I just got totally rocked that night. As context, when you came up to pray for me...I had asked the gentleman who was already ministering to me for prayer that God would heal my sexuality. In January 2008, God called me out of the gay lifestyle that I had been living for 12 years. It all started when I prayed before I went to bed one night and said, "God, if you can change me, do it!" I was frustrated and I dared him to do it. I had tried for 12 years to reconcile my beliefs with my life and I just couldn't. Within one week or so, an old roommate that God pulled out of the gay lifestyle called me on the phone. He was in Columbus, Ohio and invited me to come meet with him and our old roommates. He was absolutely on fire for Jesus. The end of it was we spoke over the phone and he led me back to the Lord. I prayed and surrendered everything, including my sexuality. I told God that I would trust him with it even though I didn't know how things would turn out. Needless to say, my life has been one wild ride ever since then. I ended up going to Vineyard Church of Columbus immediately upon suggestion of the friend who led me to Christ. Within 1-3 months I had a paradigm shift in terms of world view. Power encounter with the Holy Spirit after power encounter. Healing, deliverance...you name it. The amount of healing God has brought into my life has been absolutely amazing. I continue to grow in love with Him more day by day. One of the turning points in my walk was when I attended the Holy Spirit Conference "Current" in November of 2008 at the Vineyard in Cincinnati, Ohio. You spoke that weekend about the Father's Love. I had never heard that message or ever had a concept of what that was...or that I was in desperate need of it. During the 3rd session, Saturday morning (http://www.currentsummit.com/video3.php), you led us through a prayer of forgiving our parents and also asking forgiveness from our rebellion. Then you asked the Holy Spirit to make our adoption real. As you prayed over us, I absolutely lost it, standing in my chair and cried out to God. You invited people up for prayer afterward. I came down and you eventually prayed for me. You laid me down on the altar and it was like the Holy Spirit dug up rage, abandoment and a few other really strong emotions at the same time. All I could do was scream at the top of my lungs while I laid there. I heard you behind me speaking out a word that "...I had run away from home". And indeed I had. God tore something out of me that morning. And it was almost like I had a repeat experience, but in a new way this past Saturday night. - - - Ed, I just wanted to tell you that the ministry God has you moving in, concerning the Father's Love, is my favorite message. More than anything, knowing the love of the Father is amazing. It's the source, it's why I came home to Jesus. God has become so real to me...he has done so much for me, I really couldn't even fathom turning back to the darkness that I was living in.
The Night My Father Pulled the Darkness from Me I was standing in the pews of the Vineyard of Anaheim while others where receiving prayer at the front of the church. With my eyes closed and now my hands over my heart, I asked for God to move on me in any way He wanted. I asked to be open to whatever God wanted for me right then. I just stood there meditating on GodÕs love for me as described in the message Ed Piorek had just given. I had read both of his books and was deeply touched by his message that night. In response, I sang praise to Jesus and to my Father as if they where standing right in front of me. I was a bit started when I felt someone place his hand on top of mine. I quickly opened my eyes and realized it was a close friend who felt prompted to pray for me. Realizing I was startled he told me, ÒDonÕt worry, you are in a safe place.Ó Truer words could not have been spoken. I was in the safest place possible. I was deep in my FatherÕs embrace and the Holly Spirit was upon me. I closed my eyes and my friend began to pray for me. Later he would tell me that he felt strongly prompted by the Lord to pray for me and that he saw the Spirit of God resting on me as I stood there worshiping. He prayed that I would have a child-like, although not a childish, faith. I began to feel warmth pouring into my heart, and it felt as if it was coming from a place that would never run out of this soothing ethereal warmth. My friend continued to pray that I would not be afraid to be foolish before the Lord. I knew he was referring to a previous conversation we had had about speaking in tongues. I had tried it once before, in the privacy of my bedroom, and felt some shame about it as if I was trying too hard to be godly. No doubt, this was the enemy robbing me of having intimacy with my Father. My friends left me resting in the love of God and I began to pray in tongues. As this new speech born of the Spirit broke out of my heart and across my lips I immediately felt joy and a childlike smile began to cover my face. Nothing would be stolen from me this night, and I would give into no doubts, no distractions, no tactics of the enemy. Another friend came over and placed his hand on my back and began to pray. Like the first friend he would later tell me he felt strongly prompted by the Lord to minister prayer over me. While he prayed I quietly continued to pray in tongues. After a few moments tears began to crawl down my cheeks. At that point I began to gather myself together and hold back the tears. Seven month earlier my wife and I had come to the Vineyard from a very traditional church that looked down on emotional encounters with God. Although I wanted such an experience with my Father, this was all very new to me. But God was not yet done with me. All I remember my friend praying over me was, ÒGod wants to touch you deeper.Ó With those simple affirming words, I began to weep uncontrollably. Then I felt a great deal of heat rain down over my body beginning at my head and pour down to my feet. I briefly opened my eyes and saw nothing but soft and enchanting white light surrounding me. It was not startling; it felt very safe. The light appeared as if coming from another far away place, yet at the same time it felt very close and intimate. My body then began to tremble, shaking very rapidly. First my hands, which where covering my weeping face, then my arms. Soon my entire upper body was shaking, and then finally my legs where as well. It was as if God has sent an earthquake through my entire body breaking loose things he was about to remove from me. I felt pulled over as if bowing before the throne of God. Immediately, I felt a deep constant pain in my lower stomach. It felt as if God was ripping something very deep and dark out of me. My body began to ache and feel incredibly weak. Through all of this, there was an intense sense of the gentleness of God. There was no fear. This pain had a purpose. The love of God and His peaceful embrace overcame the aching pain. It overcame all of me. There was a point at which I remember feeling very present with the Lord. I had no sense of a false self. I had no guard up to protect me, and I was unaware of what was going on around me. I was being cradled by my Father as a little child. My Daddy had come to be with me. His gaze was intent on me and I could look nowhere else. I have never felt so much intimacy before. I had never felt so loved before. It was a deeply Trinitarian event for me. I was well aware of the fact that this was earned for me by the life and death of Jesus. I felt the grace and peace we can only have through Jesus. I felt the love of my Father manifest in this moment. I felt the power of the Spirit ministering to me and penetrating every part of me. It was an intimate encounter with the Trinitarian I was so grateful and humbled. After this divine act of renovating my heart and soul, I felt a great joy rush over me like never before. I began to giggle like a little child on Christmas. All I could say was, ÒThank you Father, thank you Jesus, thank you Holly Spirit, thank you.Ó Sitting there in church I came to realize that what my Father had just ripped out of me was a deep and dark depression I had been carrying around with me since I was a young boy. I was the child of two divorces, a birth-father that abandoned me, an adopted father that was abusive, and a step-father I rejected and this had weathered my soul. A failed marriage and a daughter whom I miss so greatly when she is not in my home, had weighed so heavily on my heart and built up a storehouse of anguish. This was the center of my narrative for so much of my life; they where the events that defined me as a person. But now this had all changed. I had been given a new narrative, which centered on my identity in Jesus and as the son of a loving intimate Father. In deed, I was still a broken man; but a broken man attended by a loving Father intent on healing my broken heart. I was brought into GodÕs family when I was 18, and during my Christian life I had become convinced that I was damaged goods and through my own disobedience squandered my gifting and removed myself from GodÕs sanctifying grace. But, now 14 years since my conversion, I was receiving an inner healing I never thought possible this side of heaven. It has been almost three months and the depression I felt almost every day and that would overcome me almost weekly, has not returned since. What is more, it has been replaced with an abundance of love, joy, and hope. That night was not the last of GodÕs work on my heart. Every day since that night, for two weeks, I continued to experience a powerful overwhelming presence of God. I would pray in tongues with one hand touching my chest and a deep warm sensation would gently pour into my heart. Each time it felt as if God was pouring new life into me. At times if felt as if God was breaking off an old dead brittle shell which had covered my heart. Often tears would come, but they where tears of joy, and I would praise and thank my loving Father. This experience continues to happen from time to time, perhaps once a week, to this day. Since this experience I have also felt a strong renewed prompting to enter full time ministry and after much prayer, reflection, and council, plans are taking shape to prepare for this. I have taken part in experiences of power evangelism, where words of knowledge where given to me for an individual, which resulted in them recommitting themselves to Jesus. I have prayed for the sick as well as the refilling of the power of the Spirit in fellow believers lives. This great work of the Father to pour out His love on me and heal deep wounds within me has set me on a path of participating in the life of His kingdom. These gifts are so much more than I could have ever asked for. Now all I want to do is to daily seek out intimacy with my loving Father and participate in the ministry of the Lord to bring others into this powerful, loving embrace of the Father. He loves me that much. He loves us all that much. Ed, thank you so much for brining the powerful message of the FatherÕs love to me and sharing your own experiences. Your ministry was the gateway God used to heal and change me. Thank you so much for being a faithful servant! 4/10/2009 12:17:00 PM 4/10/2009 12:17:00 PM
My name is Cindy Bolf and this is my lifeÕs testimony. I was born and raised in a rural community in mid-Michigan, the middle child of nine siblings. One older sister, three older brothers, myself, two younger brothers and two younger sisters. My mother was a home make for most of my childhood. Until finances caused her to seek employment outside of the home. My father worked as a truck driver for a tile company. He was home most nightÕs however when he was home he would drink, becoming verbally, emotionally, and physically abusive. Life around the home became very unpredictable you did not know from day to day what the day would bring. Would the day be ok or would you be in fear for your very life? When I was seven years old my two older brothers Mark age 9 and Alan age 10 along with my older sister Lorraine age 17 was exiting the school bus on a sunny day in Feb. 1967. We had to cross a two lane highway to get to our home. At that time it was not a national law for motorist to stop when the red lights where flashing on the school bus. As Mark proceeded across the road I followed quickly behind him long enough to see a semi rounding the curve which was approcemently mile from our home. Mark yelled for me to hurry that the semi was coming. Unknown to us Alan was totally unaware of the semi coming and walk directly into its path killing him instantly. As a child your mind is unable to understand the dynamics of what had happened. And God in his sweet mercies even then caused my eyes to focus on my dadÕs dirty socks instead of the trauma of the scene. That situation sent our family into a tail spin. My dear mother had a series of nervous breakdowns because of her grief. And my fathersÕ way of coping was to turn deeper into alcohol. A few years after AlanÕs death my sister Lorraine and brother Jim moved out of the home for college and career. My fatherÕs anger and abuse towards my mother, me and some of my siblings grew very intense at times. At times we would have to hide the knives or bullets to the guns, in fear of our lives. Many times we would spend the night under someoneÕs basement stairs to escape. One of his famous comments was ÒYou will all be dead before this is over withÓ. You see life and death are in the power of the tongue. Now that I had become the oldest girl in the home, I became responsible for my younger siblings especially when my mother would have another break from reality. By my early teensÕ the verbal abuse like Òyou are such a slutÓ and the physical abuse of being beaten with a steal rod from the sweeper. ÒFor the next time you are badÓ caused me to find an escape in drugs by the age of 13. When you think you have no power over the situation you are in you allow others to dictate who you are. Even my bus driver would abuse me by causing me to stand by his side whenever I wore a dress so that he might caress my leg. I soon learned not to wear dresses however his looks through the mirror at me would cause me to hate him and yet long for his attention. This abuse continued until I was able to drive to school in my own car. My brother Mark and I were very close. I felt more protected when he was around and yet I had no one to protect me from his abuse. Mark also carried a very heavy emotional weight for many years. On a family outing to the Mackinaw Bridge my father decided to stop to a bar to get a pack of cigarettes. After over two hours of the family setting in the car my mother sent Mark in to see if my dad was ready to drive us home yet. While inside the bar my dad spoke these words over my brother Mark, ÒI wish it would have been you that was killed and not AlanÓ Mark carried those words with him throughout the remainder of his life. And on Sept.24 1988 Mark took his own life. Once again life and death are in the power of the tongue. As we continued with our struggles at home, my mom would leave my dad from time to time only to return because he promised he would never Òdo it againÓ. Abuse is like that, filled with many broken promises. But I know of one personally that will never take advantage of you. His motives, thoughts, desires and actions are always 100% pure. And when he makes a promise to you, he will always remain faithful to his word. At the age of 15 I met my husband of now 28 years. What drew me to this man was his kindness and gentleness. And did I ever need both. However as they say kids will be kids. My mother would allow Fritz to spend the night, because she soon learned that if Fritz spent the night my dad would not carry on as he would otherwise. To my mom and my younger siblings Fritz was their knight in shining armor. And to me a source of affection. So we became sexually active at an early age. By the time I was 16 we were dating regularly and I was getting served alcohol at some of the local bars. The drinking age at that time was 18. With the absences of my fatherÕs love I looked for anything and everything to fill this void. With all my heart I just wanted to be ÒDaddyÕs little girlÓ. I remember one particular day when my dad came home from work. As he sat at the kitchen table my two younger sisters sat on his lap eating his bread and butter. I so longed to also set on his lap and eat bread and butter. And to understand, Òwhy doesnÕt he like me?Ó Along with Mark my younger brother Michael, knowingly and unknowingly also became an expression of my fatherÕs anger. My heart would break for this little boy. I longed to be able to take on his abuse myself. As soon as we could Mark and I moved into an apartment together along with MarkÕs girlfriend and Fritz. One summer night my mom called and asked for me to come and pick up her and my younger siblings. Once again my dad had physically abused her. After returning to the apartment with my mom and siblings Mark returned only to find our abused mother in his home. Furious Mark in his anger felt the need to even the score. So Fritz and I drove Mark back to our family home. Upon arriving we found my father setting on the cement porch in front of the house. I remember the dark evil look in his eyes as we circled around in the driveway. Mark got out of the car with a set of numb chucks in his hand. As Mark and my dad fought, Fritz and I remained in the car. After a time of fighting my dad returned to the house and Mark returned to the car. As we proceeded to exit the property we had to once again drive past the front porch. As we past the porch my dad came out of the house with a driver golf club in his hands. His intentions were to smash out the driverÕs window and hit Fritz with the club. When Fritz realized what was happening he pressed on the gas to go faster past my dad. As the club came down from the force it had hit the back quarter panel of his car. Now that car was his baby. It was a candy apple red, jacked up Grand Prix, with keystones all around. Nobody and I mean nobody touched that car in a wrong way. Ok back to the story. When the club came down and hit his car. Fritz threw the gear in park. Now Mark and Fritz were out of the car physically tangling with my dad. As Mark and my dad fought through the screen door and struggled on the landing inside the house my dad fell down the basement stairs. Only to emerge with a loaded gun. As Mark and Fritz hurried to get back into the car I remained in the middle front seat. It felt like I was in a movie. The one where the car doesnÕt start. That is exactly what happened. In FritzÕs urgency to get out of the car, when he threw it in park the car stalled. As he sat there trying to start the car my dad was making his way up from the basement with the gun in his hands. At the last seconds, and I do believe seconds, the car started and Fritz threw it in drive and we flew out of the driveway onto the highway without slowing down to turn. I praise God that there was no traffic coming in either direction. Once back to the apartment I convinced my mother that she needed to file for a divorce before he kills her or one of us. I helped my mom get an apartment to rent and moved in with her and my younger siblings to help off set some of the expenses. My dad was admitted to the hospital for a few days. After a few months of living in the apartment my dad called and wanted to talk to me. He told me he was ÒsorryÓ. I did not want to hear anything from him. Because they were nothing more than five letters. On Nov.15 1979, I was returning home from work. I stopped by FritzÕs parentÕs home. On the police scanner the officer reported, ÒThere is a car fire at 13100 M-52Ó. With terror in my heart I told Fritz that was my home address. Then the police officer came on once again and stated, ÒWe need a corrinor over here there is a body in the carÓ. Fritz, his dad, and I drove the eight mile stretch which seemed to take forever. I tried to call my motherÕs apartment before we left and there was no answer. I also tried to call my oldest brother JimÕs home but he too was not there. As we pulled into the driveway the fire department was there. As I tired to make my way towards the car a police officer stopped me and said I could not go any further. I asked him, ÒWho is in the car?Ó ÒIs it my mom?Ó With no reply he asked FritzÕs dad to please walk me into the house. When I went into the house it was dark and cold. I tried to turn on the kitchen and dining room lights but neither one would work. As I was trying to find a light switch to turn on, the phone rang it was my brother Jim. I told him there was a car fire. Someone is in it and I canÕt find Mom. He told me he would be right over. I went back outside and once again told the police officer, ÒPlease let me at least look in the barn to see if my momÕs car was there.Ó As I walked around the barn to look inside my mind thought, Òthis is not real! This canÕt be happening. Did he finally do what he always said he would do?Ó When my brother Jim drove in, he told me he did find Mom and that she was on her way over. What an overwhelming sense of relief that it wasnÕt her. My brother and I went inside and Jim was able to get the lights to come on. There on the dining room table were 5 one hundred dollar bills, my grandmotherÕs death certificate, and a note which read, ÒSylvia, if I canÕt live with you and the kids I donÕt want to live at all. Please forgive me. SteveÓ I have to be perfectly honest with you. That day was the best day of my life. I felt, Òfinally this is all over withÓ Ò ItÕs doneÓ ÒI donÕt have to worry about my mom getting killed anymore, I donÕt have to worry about me or one of my sibling getting killedÓ It took a long time after my dadÕs death before we could even bury his remains. Due to the fact it was by his dentures that he was identified. That alone brought on a whole new set of fears. What if it wasnÕt really my dad in that car? What if he killed someone else and placed his dentures in their mouth. For years, every time I would see a car that looked like his, a complete panic would rise up within me. Was he still out there stalking us? But as the years pasted, I was able only by GodÕs grace, to allow the assurance that he was really gone to sink in. In 1980 Fritz and I were married. And in Jan 1982 our first son Eric was born. Life was better but I still knew there was a major void in my life. I went to church every Sunday. But I still walked out the doors still hurt, still lost. Until one day when my boss at work told me I needed to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I was given the four spiritual laws booklet and in the back of it, it had a simple prayer that I prayed over and over again. Then one Sunday while setting in church awaiting Mass to start, I asked the Lord, ÒThere must be more than just going through the motion of set, kneel, stand.Ó I asked God, ÒIf you are really real, and if you are really the same yesterday, today, and forever. Will you show me that you are real?Ó At that moment a ray of light came through a beautiful stained glass window and fell on the pew just in front of me. I knew in my heart that God was very real and cared about me. I instantly became incredibly hungry to know this God and to know his word for myself. My sweet mother was the first person I shared my deeper relationship with Jesus to. And she too wanted to know him in a personal way. For you see it is not about religion but about a personal relationship. In Jan. 1981 my mother had a server hear attack where she underwent a triple by-pass surgery. Due to all the complications the doctors had to amputate her leg just below the knee due to poor circulation. It left my mother in a coma for about a month. When she had finally awakened she told me she thought she was on vacation in Florida all that time. See isnÕt God good to give my mom a well deserved vacation. The monthsÕ after her surgery were very difficult, she was depressed and now she felt handicapped. One day when my mom was going through a blue day. I finally told her, ÒLook you can still walk. You can learn to drive again and do these things if you really want to. And I will help you, but I am not going to listen to what you canÕt do anymore.Ó I told her, Ò Mom there are many people in the world worse off than just a fake leg.Ó That was a huge turning point for her. She did learn to walk; she did learn to drive again. She became so good at walking with her prosthetic leg that she didnÕt even use a cane after awhile. One quick laugh. My mother and I were visiting my sister in the hospital. We were setting on a couch, and because the prosthetic leg can not bend, it was sticking straight out. As a man walked past her, he tripped over her leg pulling it out of her pant leg. The poor man was so embarrassed he picked up the leg and was trying to stick it back on. We laughed so hard On Nov. 16 1985 my 2nd son Adam was born five weeks premature. Weighing 4 lbs 11oz. He truly is my miracle baby. The doctors had to induce my labor due to my blood pressure being so high. Adam stayed in the neo-natal unit for about 1 month. And for the first year of his life he was on a monitor to watch his breathing. When I was able to return to work, my mother babysat for my two boys at my brothersÕ home, along with three other grandchildren. The date was May 14 1986, the Tuesday after MotherÕs Day. I went and had lunch with my mom at my brotherÕs home. I had told my mother I would pick her up after work and take her home. When I left, I told my Mom, ÒI love youÓ. And she said back to me ÒI love you too honeyÓ ÒI will see you in a few hoursÓ I was only back to work for about 45 minutes when I received a call to return to my brotherÕs home. When I arrived the ambulance was just leaving and inside was my precious mother. She had just suffered a massive heart attack and died while feeding Adam who was 6 months old at the time. I thank the Lord that Adam was in his car seat on the table so no physical harm had come to him. My son Eric who was 4 at the time, along with my nieces, knew enough that something was wrong and went next door to get the neighbor for help. So in May of 86 we buried our precious mother. Through out all of these trials and testingÕs the Lord in His sweet mercy and grace would reach down and help me walk through every dark valley. On March 19 2005 my two nieces where involved in a car-van accident. Where TrishaÕs car hit a patch of black ice putting her car side ways and a van t-boning the passenger side where my precious niece Jennifer was taken home to be with the Lord instantly. If the story had to end here I would have to say what a depressing life. But it dose not you see, ÒHis mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness to us is so great.Ó His word promises, ÒHe will restore what the locusts has eatenÓ Joel 2:25 And this is how I know that his word is true because on Nov. 15 2008. The Lord has redeemed that day back by allowing me to have a divine appointment with Him. I attended the current conference in Cinn. Ohio. The whole conference was based on a fathersÕ love and the importance of that love. My heavenly Father healed me of the unforgiveness and pain I had from my childhood. Because only Jesus can take tragedy and turn it into triumph. Pain into power and suffering into salvation. 4/10/2009 12:11:00 PM 4/10/2009 12:11:00 PM
While I was at one of the classes at the Kingdom School of Ministry last month, Eddie came and ministered to us and the Lord touched me profoundly. God took me back about 20 years ago when the Lord rescued me. I had been depressed for a while as my business was failing and I was not walking closely with the Lord at that time and I was drawing my identity from my business. I hit rock bottom. I had tried to commit suicide and the Lord encountered me in such a loving way while I was in a Christian hospital listening to a man talk. I literally felt the Father pick me up and rock me like I was a little baby. He just started speaking to me and telling me how much He loved me, had a purpose for me, and that I was going to be okay. Twenty years ago I didnÕt know what I was experiencingÑit was my first encounter with the fatherÕs love, and I was profoundly changed and healed. However immediately following this encounter my family went through a desert season with some trials that just stripped so much more away from me. So I am going to fast forward to this year, the Lord led my wife and I to attend the Kingdom School of Ministry and last month Eddie laid his hands on me and prayed for me to receive the fatherÕs love. Immediately a download of pure love flowed right through me and touched me to the core again. I flashed back to my encounter with the Lord in the hospital and I realized that his love was what I had been touched by and was being filled with again. I canÕt tell you all the wrong perspectives, all the judgments, and the religious garbage that He washed away from me in that short time. Then one week later I go to the MenÕs Retreat and God encounters me again with the fathers love. Pastor Mike was talking to the men about friendships and I wasnÕt even listening because the Lord began to download His love again touching some very deep hurts and wounds in me. I left the retreat completely different. Seven days after the September VCC MensÕ Retreat I get a call from my wife and she says, ÒGrace (our daughter) is in the hospital. She has been in a bike accident and her friends say she has lost all her teeth and her face is messed up. Can you go to the hospital because Caleb (our 4 year old) is sick and he is in bed already.Ó I walked into the E.R. in San Clemente and she was so messed up. Her jaw had been shattered and displaced. She had been riding her bike downhill at approximately 25 to 30 mph when a car cut her off and she lost control and crashed, her chin impacted the nut in the middle of the handlebars, then she hit the corner of the curb with her lower jaw. Her neck, chest, and trach had also been injured by the impact of the handle bars. Everything in her lower jaw was shoved in, shattered, and cut up badly. The area under her chin was all cut up too. I knew from looking at her that she had been partying before she rode her bike. My first thought was, ÒIf she hadnÕt been intoxicated this would never have happenedÓ. But a holy rage stirred up inside of me and I said ÒNoÓ to the judgmental thoughts. Instead of speaking judgment, I went and hugged my daughter. I held her for three hours. I felt the FatherÕs love pouring out of me all over her. God was doing a deep connection between us. She had not been close to us for the past year and usually did not like being hugged. She was 24 years old at the time. But God rested on me with such a peace in that emergency room while holding her. ItÕs been two years since I have been able to hug her like that. Her friends left and I was comforting her. She said, ÒDaddy, my face is all deformed. I think I swallowed all my lower teeth. I felt them go down. I donÕt have insurance and you donÕt have insurance. How are we going to take care of this?Ó I am going to be so deformed and messed up. I replied, ÒYour Daddy in heaven is going to take care of everything. Your teeth will be fine, and your face will be good as new.Ó In the natural I was feeling panicked. I just spoke something that just looked impossible. How was God going to take care of the medical expenses this would generate? Yet I felt the fatherÕs love reassure me and I was swallowed up in his peace. ÒDaddy, would you sing me a song,Ó she asked. I sang her a song while I continued to hold her. ÒDaddy, would you tell me a story?Ó God immediately gave this story that was all about her. It was about a land called the Land of Rose. There was a princess in the land whose job was to hand out a rose to each person she encountered each day form the kingdom. Her special role was to choose just the right type and color rose for those she would see that day. Then she would give them out as she met people throughout her day. I didnÕt know it at the time the Lord gave me the story, but my wife later told me that Grace loves fresh flowers and likes to go the farmers market in San Clemente, California to get the freshest ones each week. Later I realized the story the Lord gave me for her was really a prophetic story about her and her future. The peace of the Lord fell upon her and she was actually able to go to sleep for about an hour when the doctor came back in. After she was seen, I brought her home with instructions to see a specialist the ER doctor referred us to. We called the next day to make an appointment but could not get any time sooner than in 2 more days. I felt this was too long but we were at a loss as to what we could do. She was in incredible pain and could not eat. The next day following the accident, I went to see Pastor Mike to pray for Grace. After we prayed he shared with me that he just had a peace that everything would be ok. I also felt this peace but I had no idea how. Thirty minutes after leaving his office I got a call from one of my clients who had just heard what had happened to Grace. He asked if she had insurance and I told him she did not. He said he was going to come and take her to a doctor for a second opinion. His doctor saw Grace and immediately referred her to a specialist who is well known for being the best surgeon in the area for these types of injuries. He told David he would take her there because he personally knew the doctor and he agreed to do the surgery the next morning for her as she was already infected in her mouth and in incredible pain. My client told us not to worry about the money because he would take care of the expenses! The surgeon told us she would have lost everything had we waited any longer to do surgery. We put her on the crisis prayer list at Vineyard Community Church in Laguna Niguel, Ca. where we attend. When the surgeon finished the three hour surgery, he came out and told my wife, Cheryl, that he didnÕt understand how she did not break all her teeth and the jaw joints (which usually break first in a jaw injury of this magnitude). Miraculously he said he was able to save all the teeth. This was the first of three surgeries she would have, but it was a miracle to us. This surgery alone would have cost her $30,000. The next day after the surgery she was out taking her puppy on a walk and an older couple saw her face and asked if they could pray for her for the swelling to go down. Thirty minutes later almost all the swelling was gone. Praise God! The best thing that happened is that now I can hug her any time I want and she has decided to come back to church with us. The love of the Father I received, the Father gave me an opportunity to give away to my daughter and it has changed us both forever. Her face by the way is perfect with no sign of the trauma she went through. Praise God! 3/12/2008 2:57:00 PM 3/12/2008 2:57:00 PM
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