My faith journey began with pain. I grew up in an agnostic home. It’s not that we didn’t believe in God. I think my parents felt there was a higher power, but during my childhood and through my early thirties, I was more or less indifferent. Maybe we’d go to church on big holidays if it was convenient, but in terms of Jesus, relationship, and faith, those didn’t really exist for me.

When my wife and I had children, she would force me to go to church. I begrudgingly went along to appease her. Then on June 28, 2012 darkness came upon me and my family.

From March of 2012 to June of 2012 Cooper, my then 2-year-old son, had a black eye that wouldn’t go away. We passed it off as a normal bruise little boys get. Coop was scheduled for a MRI, and then the doctor said the word cancer. My 2-year-old son had stage IV cancer. Life went black.

Over that next year, I watched Coop go through more physical pain than most people could possibly experience in a lifetime. I was helpless, and during this time God gave me a choice. I started to believe, to put all my hope and faith in a “concept” that I was indifferent to most of my life. I saw miracles first hand that I couldn’t possibly explain in the time that I have here. The world passed these off as coincidences, and I confess in the beginning, I did as well. However, “coincidences” kept happening. I felt things move in me that I have never felt. I saw strangers become family. I witnessed miraculous healing. I saw faith, strength, and perseverance that words do not give justice to.

My faith in Jesus was a baptism by fire. It was a process of many months and years. Honestly, it’s still a work in process today. You see, I never really fell in love with Jesus the way one might hear about in a song or even a sermon. It happened slowly for me, and it’s still going on now. It has been a subtle ever-growing relationship.

Jesus healed Cooper. He is a healthy, happy 10-year-old growing boy. He has been disease free since 2013, but God saved me, too. He saved all of us. We hear that His ways are greater than our ways. He can turn the worst circumstances into His good. That’s true for me. I’ve seen it first-hand. I wouldn’t be here today if that horrible circumstance wouldn’t have happened. Jesus changed everything for me. I thank Godevery day for rescuing me and for adopting me as his son. Jesus is not a “concept”. He is mine and I am His.