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Post by Cepha on Jun 27, 2008 21:32:16 GMT -5
Hi all. I just thought I'd start a board where we can share our stories on how we came to God or how we reverted back to our life with God. My own story has always been odd and I've been wary on sharing it because it will definately seem like lies so I'm careful. But they are miracle. Anyway, feel free to contribute. I'll have mine up soon.  |
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Post by wonbyone on Jun 28, 2008 22:14:35 GMT -5
My own story has always been odd and I've been wary on sharing it because it will definately seem like lies so I'm careful. But they are miracle. That's exactly why I don't share mine often. I've even gotten a blank stare from some Christians when sharing it so I, too, am careful now. You're safe with me.  |
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Post by teresahrc on Jul 6, 2008 17:51:10 GMT -5
THEN TELL US YOUR STORIES GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I"M SURE I"M MORE CRAZY THAN YOU!!!!!
Teresa
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Post by cradlecathlic27 on Jul 6, 2008 23:49:25 GMT -5
Ive, told mine a few times, but here it goes....
I was raised Catholic(huge Italian family), forced to go to ccd whole life until CYO, then i was old enough not to have to go. I never believed, never trusted the priests(thought they were all fags), and to this day would never leave my son alone with one. I dont now think they all are, just being on the safe side. Then had a child at 24 and something really made me want to raise him Catholic. Had him Baptised and then started to study... Watched the Journey Home program and that just sealed the deal for me. My husband is Southern Baptist, he did try RCIA, but he is still sturn in his Baptist ways. We manage ok though. Thats about it. There is one other thing that made me believe, but will only share if askes. It really takes believing to believe it.
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Post by righteousone on Jul 11, 2008 7:22:13 GMT -5
Well, my story goes much deeper in a relationship with Christ himself. I to do not like to share it with others, as people will think you are crazy. I only told two priests from two different parishes and they both said I have a gift from God. They too told me not to tell anyone, but I will share it here.
One day in 2002, a friend of my mothers was having a relic of Padre Pio at her home. She was very wealthy and was able to obtain this relic from the church here outside Boston. I never even heard of Padre Pio and didn't want to go. It was at one o'clock in the afternoon. About five to one I decided to attend it. I don't know why I decided to go. We walked into her home and there were about a dozen people there praying as well as the parish priest. They started to pass the relic around (it was the glove he wore on his hands of the stigmata), it was my turn. I didn't know what to pray for as others there had cancer etc..so I prayed for my kids. That God may never take them from me.
I went home and the next day I had an overwhelming urge to go to confession. I hadn't gone in twenty years. I was so overjoyed at confession, my priest told me I was in a state of Grace. I started crying and had a confession for a half hour telling the priest about Padre Pio and all and how he led me to him. I started buying books about this man, started reading anything about the Blessed Mother, opened the bible and was not only reading Scripture, BUT UNDERSTANDING IT. I couldn't get enough. I went to church every day, Adoration every week, etc..then I walked into this church one day with a rosary with terrible anxiety with fear of this crucifix that was hanging there, it is life size of Jesus. I look up and he turned and looked at me. I ran out with fear and started to cry. I thought I was having a breakdown. Then the greatest miracle happened to me one night.
It was two weeks before Lent and it was a Monday night in 2006. I was crying trying to go to sleep because I kept asking God if this was of you, then why am I so afraid. I was so, so close to God then, it almost felt like the saints felt, that closeness. Then I was sound asleep and my dream was interrupted by 5 words. I got up in the middle of the night to write them down on a tissue box with an eye pencil. These words were:
"ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE, HAVE FAITH".
These words were so powerful, so authoritative, so strong that I knew they were from God. I couldn't believe this "locution" was given to me. I always knew God existed, but it was for certain after hearing Him speak audibly to me. Now later on I understand why I felt the way I did when I was having this "awakening" in my faith. I cannot get enough of this and all I truly read now a days is anything religious, I even went to Europe, Rome especially because I love Roman history. When this was happening, I paid a lot of attention to the Blessed Mother, but she led me to her Son instead. Padre Pio loved the Blessed Mother.
Now I know God exists, I am a great defender of my faith even more so. Thank you God for this miraculous gift you have given me.
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Post by teresahrc on Jul 29, 2008 16:27:54 GMT -5
Righteousone that is so awesome! I don't think you are weird at all, trust me. You're not weird, you're a mystic and one with a gift of faith.
I have a story I forgot about that happened a few weeks ago:
My husband left with our 3 girls to walk down to the park. As soon as they left, I went outside to finish painting our stage(deck). A few minutes later, as I was painting and thinking about nothing in particular except that I was slightly mad at my husband for something which I can't remember now what it was, and I suddenly got this feeling that there was an Angel near me. I have never seen an angel to my knowledge, but I often can "feel" when they are near. This time was really different because I was just painting and not thinking about anything spiritual. It was like the air was sparkling or something, it's hard to explain. So anyway, I didn't know if I was just imagining things or what so I prayed for myself and especially my husband and the girls and for the Lord to protect them. Nothing happened after that so I kept painting and totally forgot about it.
The very next day we were all at a park and all of a sudden my husband says "I think I saw an angel yesterday!" Now he is not someone who usually see things like that and when he said that, I remembered what had happened to me. He said that as they were walking to the park (which was the same time I had my experience) a man on a bike came up right beside them. He had a long beard and a white t-shirt. He was riding his bike on the sidewalk and so my husband said "You shouldn't ride on the sidewalk, it's not safe" but the man ignored him and said something like "I must be in heaven because these girls are so beautiful!" He said something else, but now I forget. My husband said that he was actually tempted to ask him if he was an angel because he said that the guy looked exactly how he would picture an angel disquised as a person. I asked my husband if he has ever seen anyone that he thought was an angel. He said "not really, except for this guy". The other crazy thing was that this guy was carrying in his arms two loaves of bread. But not the kind that's all sliced up and stuff, it was the kind that you would get at a bakery. And the strangest thing was that he had hand-written on the back of his shirt "Morgantown, the center of the universe" (we live in Morgantown)
Now to me at first I thought well he couldn't be an angel with that written on his shirt, but my husband said that is actually consistent with Orthodox theology because of the belief that God is everywhere and where God is is the center, and also the belief that we as Christians are partakers of the divine nature, so in a sense, where ever the CHurch is or even an individual CHristian there is the presense of God and therefore the center of the universe . The two loaves to me was a reminder that although right now my husband and I are in 2 different churches(Orthodox and Catholic) we still partake of the one loaf.
what do you think? Comments welcom..
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Post by righteousone on Jul 29, 2008 19:15:56 GMT -5
Teresa that makes so much sense to me! I too believe in angels, that they walk with us here on earth. You definitely felt it and it sounds like it really was an angel and no coincidence with you and your husband. God Bless you.
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Post by yarddog on Jul 29, 2008 23:49:22 GMT -5
I had an occurance about 30 years ago which I believe an angel protected me. I was working in downtown Louisville, Ky and was walking to my car late at night. I had parked in a lot around the corner from our store and the street was quite dark there. There was only a couple of cars left in the lot.
As I neared the entrance of the lot, a car pulled along side of me with four guys in it. I turned to confront them if they tried to assault me and I heard one of them, "Naw, look at how big that guy is."
I was 6' and about 170 lbs. Not big in very many people's eyes, especially when there are four of them. I have always felt that they saw an angel standing there with me.
On another occasion, my brother and sister had come to town to visit. Being single, I had only one bed, so I let my sister have my room and my brother and I slept in the living room.
I had to work the next day so we went to bed early, 11 pm. My sister came into the living room, sometime after midnight, and woke me up and told me she wanted to talk with my brother. She wanted me to go to my room so I could sleep.
The next day my brother told me why.
I had an old B&W TV in my room that had a problem with the volume control. From time to time the volume would go up by itself and it was hard to get back down. It had happened to her but she thought that it was just a commercial that the sound was loud on.
As she was lying there waiting for the commercial to end, she started to smell a sweet perfume. Then something poke her in the back and she heard a female voice say, "Turn that down because Alan has to work tomorrow."
It scared her so much that she refused to ever stay the night at my house and didn't like to be inside at any time but would for a while.
I think that it was my guardian angel.
Yarddog
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Post by teresahrc on Jul 30, 2008 8:08:15 GMT -5
Wow Yarddog! That's really cool. I bet that's how the Apostles got out of bed in the morning when they had an appointment with the courts. They didn't have alarm clocks back then, so maybe angels woke them up.
I wonder how many times we have all come close to being harmed and were protected by an angel but didn't know it. Maybe sometimes God lets us know so that we can trust Him more and not be afraid.
teresa
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Post by yarddog on Jul 30, 2008 16:19:40 GMT -5
Wow Yarddog! That's really cool. I bet that's how the Apostles got out of bed in the morning when they had an appointment with the courts. They didn't have alarm clocks back then, so maybe angels woke them up. :)LOL, that's pretty funny. I've had a number of experiences while driving where I may not be paying enough attention to what was ahead of me and I would hear my name called. When I focused on the road, something would be happening up ahead, like the traffic stopping, and I was able to adjust my driving to avoid an accident. I've also had others things, as well. Yarddog teresa[/quote] |
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Post by righteousone on Jul 30, 2008 20:38:09 GMT -5
It's good to discuss things that may of happened to us without being judged that we are crazy. When God spoke to me (testimonials), I was gifted as my priest says. I will never forget those words or the sound of his voice. Believe me, there really is a God.
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Post by yarddog on Jul 30, 2008 21:04:36 GMT -5
It's good to discuss things that may of happened to us without being judged that we are crazy. When God spoke to me (testimonials), I was gifted as my priest says. I will never forget those words or the sound of his voice. Believe me, there really is a God. You certainly don't have to convince me on that. I have had many events of hearing God's voice and a few healings. The feeling of the Holy Spirit coming upon you and praying in the Spirit is incredible. I haven't heard God's voice or had the Spirit come upon me in a few years and I really miss that. I must remain in the faith and wait for God to do his will. Yarddog |
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Post by yarddog on Jul 31, 2008 9:33:14 GMT -5
A thing that I thought that was pretty neat was in the time just before God told me to get baptized and fellowship with other christians, in order to keep from falling back into my prideful ways.
I used to inspect tracks for a major railroad and worked in the Louisville yards. I was going through some rough times and God was doing wonderful things in my life. As I would walked along the tracks, many times I found myelf rapted in prayer and not paying much attention to inspection. Many, many times, as I was walking along, the Spirit would tell me that I had missed something. I would retrace my steps for a rail length or two and in every case would find something that could have caused a derailment. (broken rail, loose or broken angle bars, missing or broken bolts, wide gage, etc.)
It was truely amazing and great for faith building.
Yarddog
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Post by righteousone on Jul 31, 2008 15:02:58 GMT -5
A thing that I thought that was pretty neat was in the time just before God told me to get baptized and fellowship with other christians, in order to keep from falling back into my prideful ways. I used to inspect tracks for a major railroad and worked in the Louisville yards. I was going through some rough times and God was doing wonderful things in my life. As I would walked along the tracks, many times I found myelf rapted in prayer and not paying much attention to inspection. Many, many times, as I was walking along, the Spirit would tell me that I had missed something. I would retrace my steps for a rail length or two and in every case would find something that could have caused a derailment. (broken rail, loose or broken angle bars, missing or broken bolts, wide gage, etc.) It was truely amazing and great for faith building. Yarddog Thank God you were on that railroad! What Christian denomination are you? |
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Post by yarddog on Aug 1, 2008 12:09:11 GMT -5
Thank God you were on that railroad! What Christian denomination are you? Roman Catholic |
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Post by righteousone on Aug 1, 2008 15:46:02 GMT -5
But you say God told you to get baptized, are you a newly Roman Catholic? Because we get baptized at birth. If you are new, that's great and what were you before?
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Post by Cepha on Aug 1, 2008 18:23:16 GMT -5
Thank God you were on that railroad! What Christian denomination are you? Roman Catholic (She's going to love that answer! ) |
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Post by yarddog on Aug 1, 2008 20:03:34 GMT -5
But you say God told you to get baptized, are you a newly Roman Catholic? Because we get baptized at birth. If you are new, that's great and what were you before? I was raised in the Baptist Church but quit when I was about 13 because I didn't like the message of that minister. He kept talkibng about us going to hell for every little thing that we did. My 2 older brothers had been baptized about 4 years before but I refused saying that it wasn't time yet. I was asked later by my ex-wife's family and told them that I knew that I would but that God had a plan. After some truely miraculous events, I asked God what I needed to do to keep from falling back into my prideful ways and God told me to get baptized and fellowship with other christians. I decided to join the RCC because of the incredible love that was present. I never heard the preists talk in a judging way. It was all about love and forgiveness. I did, in the past few years, begin to get lazy about going to Mass but God reminded me that all of my healings came as a result of the Mass. I was healed of the flu upon receiving the Euharist, another time the Spirit came upon just after the Eucharist and I began to pray in the Spirit, when I got home there was a message on my phone informing me that I had won the drawing at a raffle I had bought the week before, after Mass. I more recent time, as I was going to Church the Spirit came upon me and I knew that there was going to be a healing. The next day a place on my left leg which I had injured in the 90's began to ache and get feverish. This lasted for a few days and then began to subside. The place on my leg, which had been hard and turning brown, began to soften and the natural colr returned. The doctors had been worried about a blood clot but when an ultrasound was done, the veins were clear. I had also lost the hearing in my right year and most of the hearing was restored, in another instance. God has been wonderful. Yarddog |
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Post by righteousone on Aug 2, 2008 7:53:17 GMT -5
Wow, you have been truly blessed by God. I am happy you found your way into the church Jesus founded. doesn't it all make sense now? Have you studied the history of the Catholic church? You will get your conclusion from that. To bad other Baptists like yourself haven't seen the light yet. (Sorry, former baptist). Maybe you should also get into the baptist forum and tell people your story, but they'll probably ban you as soon as you mention the word "Catholic". Pretty close-minded to the history of the church. They think God just dropped down a bible and that was that. |
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Post by teresahrc on Aug 2, 2008 11:44:41 GMT -5
Not just any Bible righteous one, a King James Authorized version, but not the original printing because it had the Apocrypha!
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