Eyewitness to a miracle

I’m currently beside myself. I don’t have much time to write right now…but I had to tell this story. It’s kind of ironic that just last night I posted and was really down on everything. I was trying to be positive…but having a really hard time having hope in my own life. Let’s face it…this month has been extremely hard.

                Then today, my mom called me and asked me to go to Target to pick up some paperwork for her. She’s home sick…and was catching up on stuff that needed to be done. I was in a workshop for work…so I went after I was done with it. As I was walking out, I saw a man standing by my car looking at my bumper stickers. As I got closer, I started to unlock it, and walked over to the driver side. The man was still standing there reading. As I got to the door, he asked me how I got the one sticker, and pointed to the one that says “My Voice www.therecoveringskeptic.blogspot.com”. I explained that it was my blog…and that was a way for me to promote it.

                I figured that would be the end of the conversation, but instead the man’s eyes filled with tears, and he just stared at me. He came over and hugged me…and started to explain that he’d been reading my blog for the last few months (actually since it appeared in the paper). And that it had helped him get clean…that he hadn’t used since he had started reading. He told me that it had become a sense of inspiration for his daughter, and a warning to him…that he was tearing his family apart. I can’t even type all that he said to me…because I was in such a state of shock and amazement that I forget half of it.

                He hugged me again because at this point my eyes were filling with tears right along with him. He said how sorry he was that my father had died…but that I needed to know that my writing was helping people. He told me to “keep changing lives…you’ve already changed yours for the better”. He kept thanking me for changing him and telling me how happy he was that he’d gotten to meet me. Multiple times he told me how strong I was, inspirational, and said that the courage I’ve shown in letting people read about my life was amazing.

                I have NEVER in my life felt what I felt as I was talking to this mystery man. In a way, it broke me a little bit. This hard front I’ve been putting on since my dad died…broke down a little bit. But at the same time…it gave me the positivity kick I needed. While he was telling me how thankful he was for me…all I could think was how thankful I was for him. He may have been a stranger…but I’m so proud of the person he decided to make himself. He changed…for his family. He saw what it was doing…and showed real unconditional love. If anyone in this situation has courage…it’s him.

                I feel beyond blessed today. It seems like I got to witness a miracle right in front of my eyes. I may not have “seen” it…and I may never meet that man again. But at the same time…I now feel remarkably connected to this stranger.

                As my mom said to me a little bit ago…”God puts you where He wants you to be”. And apparently He saw that I needed a little bit of help with all of this. I needed some encouragement…and I can’t think of any better way He could have sent it to me.