How I Found The Lord
Id like to take this time to talk about something other than racing or handcycling. Something that has turned my life around and has made me a better man. Before I was in a wheelchair I dont like to say it but I was not a believer in the lord. Due to past childhood issues I always had a negative connotation associated with church. When I was a child my father would force me to the front of the crowd in church to be prayed over and for some reason I did not like that. I was very young id say around 8 years old. Im not sure if it was me being shy or just maybe a little embarrassed to be up there in front of all those people. Either way it really stuck with me for years. Not to mention I always blamed God for my hard childhood. My father was in and out of prison until I was about 12, while when I was even younger some of my family was addicted to drugs. All this added up to having quite a bit of animosity towards God and this lasted until my adult life.
Fast forward to when I was 26 and had been an atheist for most of my life. On January 27 2010 I was in a car accident that left me paralyzed from the waist down. I remember being in the Intensive care unit with my dad and his pastor at my side. They both were praying over me asking if I was ready to come to God. I looked them both in the eyes and told them , “god hasn’t ever been there for me and I dont plan on asking him for anything now”.
It would be years before I would finally start to see the signs god was giving me. I was at a talent identification camp for Team USA when a fellow rider told me that god was trying to reach me. This rider would pray during a race. While praying he passed by me and his exact words were, “god told me that he is trying to reach out to you”. I brushed this gesture to the side continuing to live my life as normal. Taking no mind to what I was told. Then over the next few months I would have similar situations continue to pop up. It was always a man I didnt know that would see me, pass by me, or even take my order at a restaurant, that would stop and tell me the same thing. “God is trying to reach you”. Over a half of dozen of these encounters until I finally stopped thinking all this was a coincidence. Something in that moment came over me. Something immediately changed in me. It was like I could hear him calling me. Like he was talking to just me, like ive heard other Christians claim. It was at that moment my life completely changed. I decided maybe learning more about faith was in my best interest. From the day forward I have been a devoted christian. Going to church on sundays and reading the Bible which I never thought id ever see myself doing. Now I can be an example for those who felt like I once did. Becoming a Christian has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my life since. God is there for all of us we just have to listen and be willing to see the signs. Isaiah 41:10“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
